Inaugural European Games to be held in Baku in 2015

PanARMENIAN.Net - The inaugural European Games were approved Saturday, Dec 8, by continental Olympic committees and assigned to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku in June 2015, The Associated Press reported.

The secret ballot of European Olympic Committees ends years of debate, passing with 38 in favor, eight against and three abstaining. The capital of Azerbaijan was the sole candidate.

Other continents already have regional competitions, such as the Asian Games and Pan American Games. The biggest obstacle to a European Games had been the fact that two major sports — athletics and swimming — already have established continental competitions.

It remains unclear if athletics and swimming will participate in 2015.

Dates have not been fixed yet, but as many as 7,000 athletes are expected to participate. The event will include 15 of the 28 summer Olympic sports, plus two non-Olympic sports, which haven't been selected yet.

Sports that could be confirmed include: archery, badminton, boxing, canoeing, fencing, handball, judo, rugby sevens, shooting, taekwondo, table tennis, triathlon and volleyball.

Negotiations are also under way with the European Union of Gymnastics.

The games will be held every four years.

Baku submitted a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics but was eliminated when the IOC selected a shortlist of three finalists in May.