Polish Deputy Prime Minister pledges to support the organization of the European Games

Krakow-Małopolska was unanimously chosen to host the event by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in 2019.

No formal or binding contract regarding funding has yet been announced, but the WCC remains confident that Krakow will sign the host city’s binding document soon.

Progress has reportedly been made by Krakow and the Polish government on disagreements over funding and investments needed for the Games, which could pave the way for the contract to be signed.

Gliński, Polish Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sports, gave new cause for optimism in a meeting with Hasan Arat, the head of the EOC Coordination Commission for the Games.

The meeting was attended by the President of the Polish Olympic Committee Andrzej Kraśnicki and Vice-President Tomasz Poręba.

Gliński reportedly stressed that Poland was committed to hosting the third edition of the Games.

“Granting the role of host of the European Games to the city of Krakow and the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and – we await official confirmation of this information – to Silesia will undoubtedly contribute to the dissemination of a positive image of our country not only in Europe, but all over the world, ”said Gliński.

“We are ready for great organizational challenges, we declare our commitment and our support for this project.

“Despite the difficult pandemic situation, this year we are organizing four major sporting events.

“Behind us are the European Indoor Athletics Championships, which took place in Toruń and the 2021 Silesia World Athletics Relay Championships.

“These experiences show that we are ready to take up major organizational challenges, including the organization of athletics competitions during the third European Games.”

Silesia is also expected to support the Games.

Officials from the region held talks with the EOC in March, with the 55,000-seat Silesian Stadium hoping to host athletics competitions at the Games, although the sport is not yet on the program.

“Our station does everything to ensure the best possible preparation conditions for the players of the national team representing our country at international events,” added Gliński.

“In 2023 we will focus particularly on the sports in which the European Games will become the European Championship and qualify. [athletes] for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“I know that six sports have achieved European Championship status at the moment, and the upcoming Olympic Games qualifiers have achieved qualifying rank for Paris.”

The sports program currently includes archery, badminton, 3×3 basketball, beach handball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, karate, modern pentathlon, muaythai, shooting, sport climbing, taekwondo and triathlon.

European athletics is in talks with EOCs on the potential inclusion of athletics.

Athletics at the 2019 European Games in Minsk took the form of an experimental format of European athletics known as Dynamic New Athletics (DNA) and involved 24 of the top 30 teams at the 2017 European Team Championships.

At the inaugural European Games 2015 in Baku, athletics took the form of the third league competition of the European Team Championships.

The European Games in Krakow and the Małopolska region will take place from June 21 to July 3, 2023.