(ATR) EOC coordination commission chair for Minsk 2019 says the Belarusian capital is ready for the second European Games.
"There has been a lot of work done in Minsk so that we reach the second edition of the European Games, and I would like to congratulate the entire team and I am sure that the Games will be a big success," said EOC co-com chair Spyros Capralos.
"All venues are ready and operational and are waiting for your athletes."
His comments came after Minsk 2019 officials gave a progress report at the 40th European Olympic Committees Seminar in Vienna on Sunday. Discussions also took place about Minsk 2019's readiness at the EOC's executive committee meeting on Friday.
Games deputy CEO Anatol Kotau outlined how the organizing committee has grown from a staff of 33 in January 2018 to 811 at present.He said some 190,000 tickets for the Games have already been sold, and that the medals for the Games will be unveiled on Tuesday – May 21 marks one month until the start of the EOC’s flagship multisport event.
Capralos confirmed that a flight has been chartered to fly EOC members and European NOC presidents to Switzerland on Olympic Day, June 23, for the opening of the new IOC headquarters. They will return to Minsk later the same evening.
At the Vienna meeting, attended by the EOC’s 50 member NOCs, reports were given by Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Games organizers. The IOC’s 2024 Olympic coordination commission chair Pierre Olivier Beckers delivered a progress report on preparations for the Paris Games.
Delegates also received updates on preparations for upcoming editions of the summer and winter European Youth Olympic Festivals.
The EOC announced that the 2021 summer edition would be held in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. There are 10 sports on the program of this summer’s EYOF, which takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from July 21-27.
ANOC secretary general Gunilla Lindberg was among other speakers at the meeting along with ASOIF president Francesco Ricci Bitti and SportAccord/GAISF chief Raffaele Chiulli. The IOC was represented by deputy director general for relations with the Olympic Movement, Pere Miró, director of the NOC relations department and Olympic Solidarity James Macleod and IOC legal director Anne van Ysendyck.
Also in Vienna, the Spanish NOC presented its CONpaas Project, a shared platform for NOCs that provides them with a range of advanced tools and services, from data management and document filing to the creation of an Olympic digital library. The project is supported by Olympic Solidarity and will be tested at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympics before going fully operational for Tokyo 2020.
Austrian NOC officials gave a presentation on the evolution of Snow Volleyball. The sport’s origins lie in the mountains of Wagrain, it’s now practiced in a number of countries around the world and is vying to become part of sports program for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.
Homepage photo: EOC
Reported by Mark Bisson
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