Istanbul to Host 2027 European Games
Event will give city a high-profile event as it eyes being candidate for 2036 Olympics
Posted On: May 20, 2024 By :Istanbul and the European Olympic Committee signed an official agreement for the Turkish capital to host the 2027 European Games, giving the city a chance to show it can stage an international multi-sports event as it eyes the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games.
The European Olympic Committees picked Instanbul as host in March, although the decision still needs to be approved by national members at a meeting in June.
Turkey will co-host soccer’s 2032 European Championship with Italy. Istanbul city officials have said it wants to bid for the 2036 Olympics, having finished second to Tokyo in the then-bid contest to host the 2020 Games. India is also planning to bid for the 2036 Games.
EOC President Spyros Capralos, Turkish Olympic Committee Vice President Kazim Ali Kiremitcioglu and Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu signed a memorandum of understanding in a ceremony in Rome.
“Our first and greatest step toward our goal of becoming an Olympic city will be the time-frame when Istanbul will host the 2027 European Games,” Imamoglu said.
The European Games were first held in 2015 and serves as a continental championship and Olympic qualifier for a number of sports. The previous three European Games have been 2015 in Baku, Azerbaijan; 2109 in Minsk, Belarus, and 2023 in Kraków-Małopolska, Poland, where 50 nations whose National Olympic Committee is recognized by the European Olympic Committee compete with nearly 7,000 athletes competing in 29 sports, including athletics, boxing and table tennis.
Capralos said Istanbul would not be required to build new venues for the European Games.
“The EOC team has already visited various venues in Istanbul and was very impressed,” Capralos said. “Our objective is to use existing facilities and for the government, the municipality and the Olympic Committee to spend money only to improve existing facilities.”
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