Istanbul ready to organise EG2027

The general assembly of the European Olympic Committees was held in Istanbul on October 6-7. The main topics were a summary of the 3rd European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023 and a discussion of the challenges awaiting European sports in the coming years in connection with the summer and winter Olympic Games: Paris 2024 and Milan Cortina 2026.

The meeting, which was held in Istanbul, was attended by representatives of all European Olympic committees, but also by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and the organizing committees of Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026. Representatives of the organising committee of the Krakow-Malopolska 2023 European Games were also invited to make a summary of the largest multidisciplinary event on the Old Continent this year.

As the host of the third edition of the European Games, the speech was delivered by the Marshal of the Małopolska Region Witold Kozłowski. A presentation summarizing the event in numbers was made by Chairman of the Organizing Committee Marcin Nowak. The directors of two key departments – Krzysztof Augustyn, director of the sports department, and Tomasz Pichlak, director of the HB&TV department – also received a chance to present their results.

In the unanimous opinion of observers, the TV production stood at the highest level. – The biggest challenge was the lack of time, but thanks to the fact that we created a strong team together with Media Pro, EBU, EOC and Atos, we were able to prepare a TV production at the level of the Olympic Games – stressed Tomasz Pichlak.

During the general assembly, the results of its research on the Krakow-Malopolska 2023 were presented by the international company Deloitte. The high evaluation of the organization, given to this year’s organisers, aroused considerable interest in hosting the next editions of this great sports festival.

At the end of this part of the session, Organizing Committee President Marcin Nowak together with Vice President Janusz Koziol presented posters designed by Tycjan Twardowski of the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts to the President of the European Olympic Committees Spyros Capralos, EG2023 Coordinator Hasan Arat, EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi and Treasurer Peter Mennel.

Significantly, according to a report presented by the International Testing Agency, 1040 tests for banned substances were performed during the Krakow-Malopolska 2023 European Games. All of them came out negative. Not a single case of doping was found during the event, which shows that the competition of Europe’s top athletes was clean. A total of 981 athletes were thoroughly tested, taking 1058 urine samples, 153 blood samples and 75 DBS samples.

Readiness to host the Fourth European Games in 2027 has been announced by Istanbul. Several other cities, as well as national Olympic committees, have expressed interest in the next edition in 2031.

-After conversation with European Federations, we now know for sure that the next edition of the European Games will feature sports gymnastics, as well as swimming in the rank of European under-23 Championship. We will continue our efforts to make the European Games the main qualification in many sports for the Olympic Games – EOC President Spyros Capralos said at the press conference.

The assembly also focused on the challenges facing European sports in the context of hosting the upcoming editions of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. – Europe will be at the center of the world’s attention. I hope it will once again put on an excellent show, winning more than 40% of the medals in Paris and more than 70% in Mialno Cortina 2026. In this way we will highlight the strength of European sports – Spyros Capralos said.