EOC Urges Minsk 2019 to Accelerate Preparations

(ATR) Leaders of the European Olympic Committees have called for Minsk 2019 organizers to intensify their efforts, saying there’s "a lot to be done".

EOC coordination commission chair Spyros Capralos made the comments at the conclusion of a two-day inspection of plans for the second edition of the European Games.

Suggesting that preparations were languishing behind schedule, he said: "We are now in our second and last half of our preparations. Now is the time to intensify our efforts and to set the grounds for success," Capralos said following the CoCom’s second check-up on preparations.

"The success of every major international multisport event is dependent on the flexibility and quick decision-making of the organizing committee. Because of the size and scale of the event, the Minsk European Games organizing committee (MEGOC) must be as flexible as possible as they move towards the operational readiness phase," Capralos said.

During the two-day meeting, MEGOC delivered presentations on all operational areas, including the sports program, competition venues, marketing, catering and transport.

Capralos said the updates allowed EOC officials to better understand the progress and the challenges of the organizing committee: "MEGOC is doing a good job but there is still a lot to be done."

Members of the CoCom were taken on a venue tour of the 12 facilities to be used for the Games, including the Falcon Club, where the Belarus International Badminton competition is currently taking place, the sixth of 22 test events scheduled ahead of the European Games.

Capralos praised the work carried out to build new venues and refurbish others, adding: "Now we need to work on the temporary infrastructure."

In the wrap-up press conference, EOC President Janez Kocijančič also said Minsk 2019 had "a lot to do". Earlier this week, he received assurances from the Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko that the government is doing everything to keep the project on time.

He noted the success of the marketing program for the Games and the success in recruiting volunteers, saying it was an indicator of the event’s appeal.

"I think that we will have excellent European Games here in Minsk. I expect that over the next eight or nine months we will face some challenges and smaller organizational issues but due to the meetings I had with President Lukashenko I think we are absolutely able to deal with those problems," said Kocijančič.

"The preparations are going very well, there is a lot of enthusiasm invested in this event and I think that Belarus would like to use it to open up to Europe and show that it is a new, modern nation."

Minsk 2019 CEO George Katulin said Wednesday that all venues would be fitted out and ready by May 6, 2019, a month before the Games open.

Speaking about the EOC chief’s talks with the Belarus president about Games preparations, he added: "We know the direction we must take. The priority is to implement qualitatively all plans that we have."

Also part of the EOC inspection team were secretary general Raffaele Pagnozzi, CoCom vice chair Zlatko Mateša and the heads of European federations, including European Athletics chief Svein Arne Hansen and European Judo president Sergey Soloveichik.

In total, 4,082 athletes from 50 European NOCs will compete in 15 sports on the Minsk 2019 program.

Winners of three sports – archery, shooting and table tennis – will qualify automatically for the Tokyo Games, with another six sports offering qualification points for Tokyo 2020.

There will be 91 men’s events, 89 women’s events and 20 mixed events in total, with 115 universality spots available.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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