June 16, 2015 The European Games, which kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday June 12, will eventually become the first major continental multi-sports event to establish itself on the international calendar, according to Simon Clegg, the Chief Operating Officer of the body.
He said “What we have done is we have created a big bang moment for the European games. If you are going to have a big bang moment, particularly if you are going to fight your way into a congested sports calendar then you want to have it for the inaugural event.”
The ongoing competition features some 6,000 athletes representing 50 European Olympic Committees, and will end on June 28.
To those who feel the competition isn’t necessary, Clegg said “When we were awarded the Games in December 2012 there was not one sport committed to the programme. We now have 20 sports, we turned away seven sports. Of the 16 Olympic sports, 12 are offering direct or indirect qualification for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,”
Clegg also said the European games will not be a replacement for the Olympics, but definitely want to be one of the global sport events.