ATR Exclusive - EOC Delays European Games Vote

(ATR) Around the Rings has learned that the European Olympic Committees is postponing a vote to determine if its European Games plan gets off the ground or is shelved for good.

Following months of consultation with the continent's sports federations and a Deloitte feasibility study, the issue of whether to create a continental multisport event along the lines of the Asian or Pan American Games was to be put to a vote of the 49 NOCs gathered at the EOC's Extraordinary General Assembly in Moscow on April 12.

But that timetable has now been abandoned to allow for further consultation on the European Games proposal – and no date has been set for a decision.

In a letter sent to the European NOCs and seen by ATR, EOC secretary general Raffaelle Pagnozzi says the Feb. 17 deadline for feedback regarding Deloitte's feasibility study has been postponed.

"Due to the Christmas and New Year holidays many NOCs have not had time to study it in detail, therefore the Executive Committee have decided to extend the deadline right up to our meeting in Moscow in order to give more time for you to evaluate the document," says the letter dated Feb. 1.

Pagnozzi goes on to inform the NOC chiefs that they can make written submissions up to April 12 as well as oral submissions at the Moscow EGM, which convenes on the sidelines of the Association of National Olympic Committees general assembly in Moscow.

The EOC's Feasibility Study Commission will make a presentation at the meeting before the floor is opened for questions, the letter said.

"No decision will be made at the Moscow meeting and we will collate all the comments, information and advice and it will be passed on to the Feasibility Study Commission who will then further study this information and will report back at a date in the future," Pagnozzi added.

Despite the delay, EOC president Pat Hickey tells ATR that progress is being made, although he offers no timetable on a decision on the EuropeanGames plan.

"We are in no rush to make a decision and we want full consultation with all parties," he said.

It's the second time the EOC has abandoned a vote on the European Games after dropping plans for a ballot at its last AGM in Sochi in November because the feasibility study was not finalized.

Hickey has previously indicated to ATR that plans are gaining momentum following positive feedback from 28 European sports federations.

But ATR understands the European Athletics Association, a seemingly important stakeholderin a European Games, has yet to get behind the project.

Hansjörg Wirz, president of the federation, met with EOC leaders in Paris last month in order to get a clearer picture of the scale and logistics of a European Games.

Among the EAA's concerns are what value a European Games would add to an already crowded sporting calendar, the impact on its own events and the implications for athlete preparations for the event in the year they are held.

"There are a lot of questions coming up. When we lose value on our side, then it's not a solution for us. I am open to look at the facts, the possibilities," he said.

The EOC has said it hopes to launch the first Games in 2015; Wirz said all its events are contracted through that year, meaning the timing of events could not be switched.

A European Games could be lucrative for federations. But other issues pose significant challenges for EOC officials and federations such as how the Games would be funded as well as how marketing and sponsorship revenues would be divided.

Reported by Mark Bisson

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.