(ATR) Kazan and Krakow are battling it out to secure hosting rights for the third edition of the European Games.
The European Olympic Committees deadline for candidates is on Friday.
Krakow, an early candidate for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and the Russian city are the only two cities expected to submit bid dossiers to the EOC.
The EOC will officially name the candidate cities for its flagship multi-sports event following the May 31 bid deadline.
That date was extended from Feb. 28 to ensure bids had garnered sufficient political support and financial guarantees for their European Games ambitions under the fast-track bidding process which only launched last September.
Krakow replaced Katowice as Poland’s candidate city for the 2023 European Games earlier this month. Strong regional and city governmental support for Krakow’s bid was expressed in meetings between EOC chiefs and Polish NOC leaders in May.
The Polish city may have now have the edge on Kazan in terms of political support and the necessary government guarantees.
The EOC has held discussions with the Russian NOC and Kazan officials but no confirmation of face to face meetings and an inspection in Kazan have come from the European Olympic body.
After the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015 and this year’s second edition in Minsk, the EOC may be keen to take the Games further into western Europe.
EOC president Janez Kocijančič, in a statement to Around the Rings, declined to comment when asked if Kazan was still a candidate and whether on-site meetings had been held between the Olympic body and city officials.
"As you know, the procedure of candidature is not concluded and we are confident to have suitable candidates," he said.
"We will call an Extraordinary General Assembly on the occasion of the Minsk European Games, where the NOCs of Europe will elect the next host city."
The EOC’s executive committee discussed the 2023 bid process at its May 17 meeting, when Kocijančič announced that the vote would be held ahead of the Minsk 2019 opening ceremony on June 21.
Polish Olympic officials will be hoping Krakow’s attempt will work out better than its campaign for the 2022 Winter Games when the city’s bid was torpedoed in the early stages by a failed referendum.
Kazan hosted some 2018 FIFA World Cup games and previously hosted the University Games in 2013 and FINA’s 2015 world swimming championships.
The May election to the EOC ExCo of Yury Yuryev, deputy secretary general of the Russian Olympic Committee, may yet influence the EOC’s view of Kazan as a candidate, though it will be the 50 member nations who ultimately decide the 2023 host.
Following the submission of bids this Friday, the EOC evaluation committee has just three weeks to examine them and make recommendations to the extraordinary general assembly before the host city vote.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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