Baku 2015 Sells Out Opening Ceremony

(ATR) The inaugural European Games begin Friday with a sold out opening ceremon at Baku’s new national stadium.

Tickets for the sporting events selling out quickly as well. Over 100 sessions of sporting events have been sold out, according to Azertac.

Organizers will stream the opening ceremony at Baku2015.com as well as on YouTube.

Athletes will compete in 20 sports, 16 of which are also in the Olympics. Athletes will be able to qualify for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in 12 of these 16 sports.

The host country is also providing monetary incentives to Azerbaijani athletes for their performance in the games. Gold medals will earn an athlete $95,300, silver awards $47,600 and a bronze results in $28,600.

Despite news earlier today of the Netherlands abandoning its bid to host the 2019 European Games, chief operating officer of Baku 2015 Simon Clegg says this will not be the first and last European Games.

"We now have 20 sports. We turned away seven sports. Of the 16 Olympic sports, 12 are offering direct or indirect qualification for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This demonstrates the event is here and it is here to stay," said Clegg.

The European Olympic Committee president Pat Hickey says he has "no doubt" they will be able to find a suitable host country for the 2019 games.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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