Patrick Hickey announces Commission for the inaugural European Games Rome; 12 April 2013: The President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC), Patrick Hickey, today announced the membership of the Coordination Commission for the inaugural European Games – Baku 2015.
The European Games is a multi-sport event for elite European athletes and will be held every four years with up to 7,000 athletes expected to participate in Baku, Azerbaijan, in June 2015. The composition of the EOC Coordination Commission for Baku 2015 is:
Chairman:
Spyros Capralos President, Hellenic Olympic Committee
Deputy Chairman:
Zlatko Mateša President, Croatian Olympic Committee
Members:
Alejandro Blanco – President, NOC of Spain
André Bolhuis – President, NOC of the Netherlands
Guido de Bondt – Secretary General, NOC of Belgium; Chair, European Youth Olympic Festival
Sergey Bubka – Vice President, IAAF; President, NOC of Ukraine
Andrew Craig – Advisor
Nese Gündogan – Secretary General, NOC of Turkey
Janez Kocijančič – President, NOC of Slovenia; Vice President, FIS
Denis Masseglia – President, NOC of France
Niels Nygaard – President, NOC of Denmark
Pierce O’Callaghan- Advisor
Artūrus Poviliūnas – Honorary President, NOC of Lithuania
Bernhard Schwank – Former CEO, Munich 2018; Sports Performance Director, DOSB
Roger Talermo – NOC of Finland
Albert Woods – President, European Canoe Federation; Vice President, BOA
Each member of the Commission will take responsibility for specific technical areas to ensure a robust and rigorous assessment process for the Games preparation. The Commission will also enjoy the full and active involvement of President Hickey; EOC Vice President, Alexander Kozlovsky; EOC Secretary General, Raffaele Pagnozzi; and EOC Treasurer, Kikis Lazarides.
Patrick Hickey said:
“This is a very strong Coordination Commission for the inaugural European Games – Baku 2015. Each member comes with a wealth of expertise and experience that will help the EOC to ensure that these historic Games set the highest of standards for the next edition of the European Games to follow in 2019.”
The Baku 2015 Organising Committee, chaired by Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Lady of Azerbaijan, will also nominate technical experts who will be announced in due course.
Patrick Hickey continued:
“I am confident that with such a visionary organising committee and this powerful Commission overseeing the Games preparation, we can meet our ultimate aim: to engage and involve more of Europe’s youth in sport through innovative and flexible means.
“These Games will enable new markets to gain experience in hosting major sports events whilst giving elite European athletes an opportunity to compete on their home continent.”
The European Games was launched following a majority vote of 49 NOCs during the EOC General Assembly in December 2012. The majority of European Federations of summer sports have since committed to partnering with the EOC to help deliver a significant Games programme that will be announced later this year.
Since the launch, the EOC has received enquiries from a number of European cities wishing to host the 2019 European Games and the EOC will soon start to review the bidding process.