A seminar for Belarusian sports officials led by European Olympic Committees (EOC) sports consultant Makis Asimakopoulos is held today in Minsk. Managers of sports facilities and 23 disciplines are gathered together in order to get a better idea of the preparation to be done prior the 2nd European Games.

– I am glad we bring together so many people today, – began his opening speech the CEO of Minsk European Games Organizing Committee (MEGOC) George Katulin. – The meeting with representatives of federations and managers of sports facilities shows that our preparation has moved to a new phase, where we will begin the actual preparation at the facilities. The main speaker of today’s seminar is the experienced EOC consultant Mr. Asimakopoulos. He was responsible for the preparation of various multi-sport international events. In our case, the phrase “multisport event” is the key, emphasizing the nature of the upcoming forum.

Makis Asimakopoulos began his part with an introduction on the history of the European Games project and spoke about the standard that was established during the 1st European Games Baku 2015. At the same time, Mr. Asimakopolous noted that EOC expects that Minsk will demonstrate a completely new model for hosting the main continental competition which will guarantee the sustainability and successful future of the Games and will enable any country to host such a forum. After all, the Belarusian version of the multi-sport competition is based on the principle of compactness, reduction of funding, by investing in the quality of the tournament rather than in quantity of the participants. Therefore, the Belarusian capital will gather fewer athletes, but all of them will be top-level. The competitions themselves will last for two days less than in Azerbaijan, and the sports program will be reduced to 15 sports. In addition, another factor of the exemplary nature of the Belarusian model is that we will only use the already existed facilities, instead of expanding the problem of white elephants.

– Today is a very important day in terms of delivering the Games in Minsk. The people who gathered here are key managers because the Games will not take place at the headquarter of MEGOC, but at the sports facilities. During the seminar, we will inform managers about all aspects of preparation, which is moving at a fast pace. We are glad that sports facilities already exist in the country and we have only to prepare them for the competitions, to debug the functioning of the services for client groups such as athletes, coaches, European federations, media and others. At the same time, the main challenge for today is the question of integration, i.e. the need to combine all services and people like pieces of a puzzle. This is the key to the success of the Games, – shared the goal of the seminar Makis Asimakopoulos.

After the first break, a series of presentations prepared by the managers of the sports areas of MEGOC will be delivered.

-The compactness of the 2nd European Games asks additional responsibility from MEGOC due to the fact that the EOC promises to ensure the participation of the best athletes of our continent since most of the competitions are qualifying for the next Olympics in Tokyo, – said George Katulin. – We, as organizers, must ensure the level of competitions, accommodation, and other services, corresponding to the athletes participating in the Games. Now we need to create a battle-worthy team at each facility, who will hold smooth, the bright event with many spectators, and a magnificent television coverage. It is the main thing that we must provide. Through the eyes of television companies, the whole world will see us, and it is the main goal of the Games.

Belarus has to declare itself as a sporting country where people happily visit competitions and have an excellent infrastructure. Guests and fans, whom we hope to see a significant number, should have bright impressions about our country. We will try to make these days in Minsk unforgettable and try to spread pleasant impressions through all fifty participating National Olympic Committees to the whole of Europe.

Jean-Michel Brun, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee secretary-general, praised the progress made by Belarus in preparation for the 2nd European Games 2019 in Minsk during his meeting with Belarus’ Ambassador to France Pavel Latushko.

The Parties discussed further development of Belarusian-French cooperation in the field of sports and the Olympic movement. The Secretary-General and the Ambassador also discussed the participation of the French team in the 2nd European Games 2019 in Belarus. Jean-Michel Brun highlighted the interest in continuing close cooperation with the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus.

In his turn, Pavel Latushko noted that the Embassy is ready to assist the development of the Belarusian-French cooperation in the sports sector, including professional and amateur sports.

Both agreed that sport should be the basis of friendly international relations and serve as a means for united the world.

The Minsk 2019 European Games Operations Committee (MEGOC) and the International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) have signed their European Games Cooperation Agreement today at MEGOC office.

The agreement, signed by MEGOC CEO George Katulin and ISB Managing Director Manolo Romero, lays the foundation for how MEGOC and ISB will work together so that ISB can produce the highest quality broadcast of the II European Games coverage. ISB will also manage the sale of broadcast rights.

“The facilities that we visited during the two-day visit are organized very well. They have hosted a number of international competitions in the past, which means they are well-prepared for the 2nd European Games and ready to operate in accordance with the international classes standards. Now we are starting to prepare a production plan that will clarify key components of the production, such as how many people will be involved in this process, including local specialists. We also plan meetings with the Belarusian broadcaster. In addition, your television will provide technical infrastructure, we also plan to involve as many Belarusian specialists as possible. I can assure all together we will provide Games with Olympic-level broadcast”, Mr. Romero said.

ISB has a great experience in sports broadcasting for many of the world’s leading sporting events, including eight Olympic Games, six Paralympic Games, numerous World Championships and World Cups, and continental events such as the Pan American Games and Asian Games, inaugural European Games in Baku. Complete with pricing proposal, image and marketing appeal it became a key factor to choose ISB as a host broadcater of the 2nd European Games.

In the context of cooperation with ISB the representatives of the National State Teleradiocompany of the Republic of Belarus – the TV-rightholder for the territory of the host country will have a great opportunity to enhance their professional competence. Belteleradiocompany will also become a subsupplier of the technical broadcasting services. ISB will produce an anticipated 600 hours of broadcast coverage during the event from 21^st to 30^th June 2015. It is also expected that the feed will be available in 160 countries.