New Look and Feel Greets Co-Comm in Baku

(ATR) A vibrant new look for the inaugural European Games greets the EOC Coordination Commission in Baku.

The co-comm begins a two-day visit on Wednesday, marking its fourth of five meetings with organizers, at the Fairmont Baku Flame Towers.

Chairman Spyros Capralos tells Around the Rings that Baku 2015 was "lagging" in developing a signature look when the co-comm last visited the Azerbaijani capital in April. The new branding was unveiled a week ago on the relaunched Baku 2015 website, which was updated based on another commission recommendation.

"These are the early signals that since last time there's been tremendous progress, both on the communication, but also on the commercial side," Capralos says. "Many things have been fixed."

The new branding for Baku 2015, which is already decorating taxi cabs and official vehicles, features a pomegranate tree that symbolizes unity in Azerbaijani folklore. Athletes are interspersed within the branches of the purple tree.

Big Announcements for BEGOC

Baku 2015 also made three major announcements in the days leading into the meetings. On Monday, organizing committee BEGOC said it had signed its first international broadcast agreement with leading Turkish sports channel NTV Spor.

"What is very important is that we develop all the broadcasting contracts with the various countries," Capralos says. "There are more in the pipeline, and there is also interest from outside Europe, in Asia and the Americas, to broadcast the Games."

Then on Tuesday, Milla, a premium dairy supplier, became the third official supporter of the European Games. Milla will advertise in more than 5,000 stores around Azerbaijan as well as through an extensive television campaign. All of its products, staff uniforms, and delivery vans in the country will carry the Baku 2015 logo. During the European Games, Milla ice cream vans will sell treats at competition venues.

Last week, Baku 2015 added a 20th sport, sambo, to its program. More than 6,000 athletes from 49 countries will compete in the European Games June 12-28, 2015.

"We are very impressed with what they are doing," Capralos tells ATR. "Every time we come we have issues on our agenda and challenges, but then after we hear what they've done, we are very impressed. And I hope the same thing happens this time."

Jam-Packed Agenda

Capralos says the co-comm has a "very heavy agenda" for the next two days.

The agenda for Wednesday includes a morning tour of venues apart from the main stadium, then the opening and official ribbon cutting at BEGOC headquarters.

Presentations in the afternoon will address sport, readiness of test events, communications, commercial, marketing and ticketing issues, transport, the volunteer program, services to NOCs and medical and anti-doping.

On Thursday, the schedule covers what Capralos calls "the heart of the Games," the village for the athletes, Games services and protocol and accreditation.

Capralos, chief operating officer Simon Clegg and Azad Rahimov, minister of youth and sport, will participate in a press conference on Thursday afternoon. As a fitting final official event, the CoComm and media will tour the main stadium.

"We are confident that they are doing a fantastic job here," Capralos says.

Even the ride from the airport was illuminating for visitors. Capralos says he noticed "huge progress" in the construction of the stadium. On the other side of the road, he saw what he calls the "spectacular" gymnastics venue, which hosted a test event, the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, in June.

"From the early discussions we've had with the people of the organizing committee," Capralos says, "it seems they have a grip on many of the issues that we had on our checklist -- and we have a quite long checklist."

The checklist doesn't get shorter; it just has different items.

"There are always issues when you organize such a big event with 20 sports and such a large group of people that you need to take care of," Capralos says. "Now we are getting more into operational mode from the planning and we need to look after the details, because the devil always lies in the details."

Importance of Innovations

Some of those details include innovations that could become the norm at other major events, including the Olympics, if they are successful. For example, Baku 2015 will rely heavily on a taxi system to transport officials, which adds flexibility.

"Our role is we are trying to find new ways to make it more affordable for the organizers," Capralos says.

At the urging of the co-comm, Baku 2015 agreed that athletes will parade early in the Opening Ceremony so they can then sit down and watch the show. The Pan American Games had a similar format in Guadalajara in 2011.

"We as European Olympic Committees said that the European Games are going to be innovative," Capralos says.

He says it is possible that some of the things tested in the European Games will appeal to the IOC, which could implement them as part of the 2020 reforms.

Among the 16 commission members, Capralos says only Alejandro Blanco, the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, would be absent due to a health issue.

Also among the missing will be Patrick Hickey. The European Games have been a key initiative for the EOC president.

Roles for President, First Lady

It is unknown if First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, the chairwoman of the organizing committee, will participate. Her husband, Ilham Aliyev, is president of the national Olympic committee of Azerbaijan, and both have been active with the European Games preparations.

"I don't think it's so important if we have their physical presence at these meetings," Capralos says. "We have the chance to communicate with them on several occasions, and I think many times their intervention has helped tremendously. We are very honored and very happy that they are helping."

Although an idea for a European Games was on paper in 1967, it took almost 50 years to bring it to fruition.

In that time, Capralos says, "We've seen that European sport has come down in terms of medals at the Olympic Games, and maybe through the European Games, we'll revive again European sport."

Even just reducing the drop, he says, "is also success."

The final co-comm meeting will be held in February. Major stakeholders will come to Baku in November for the General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees.

Throughout his time on the co-comm, Capralos says he has had a chance to see more and more of Baku.

On his first visit, he acknowledges being "very surprised that we saw something much better than what we expected. I think everybody who visits here in Baku realizes that Baku is a cosmopolitan city with a lot of nice construction.

"They have shown a commitment and up to now they have delivered on their promise."

Written by Karen Rosen

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