All sports facilities for the European Games Minsk 2019 will be fully prepared for the event by May 2019, Minsk European Games Organizing Committee (MEGOC) CEO George Katulin said Wednesday.
“The deadline for all venues for the 2nd European Games to be ready is 6 May 2019,” Katulin said ahead of meetings of the European Olympic Committees (EOC)’s 2nd Coordination Commission for Minsk 2019. “This also means all our specialists will be ready. We have already hosted a number of tests events at the venues that will host competitions during the European Games – beach soccer, judo, canoe sprint. In general, we have received very good feedback. However, after each of these events, we also compiled a list of issues that still need to be improved. Our venue teams are working on them.”
Katulin added that an important meeting took place on Tuesday between the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and EOC President Janez Kocijancic, during which the preparations for the 2nd European Games were discussed. “We know the direction we must take,” said Katulin. “The priority is to implement qualitatively all plans that we have.”
Coordination Commission chair Spyros Capralos underscored the fact that, with only 289 days to go until the start of the Games, there is no time to lose in preparations and streamlining collaboration between the different stakeholders is paramount.
“Of course, much has already been done but we still need to progress further,” Capralos said. “Now the main success factor is the speed of decision-making and, of course, its effectiveness. Good preparation will be based on the cooperation between a large number of institutions and the consistency of their actions. The organization of major sports events such as the 2nd European Games requires an enormous effort. At this stage, we need to consider in detail each functional area and also give specific recommendations and identify ways to improve the work.”
The participants of the EOC Coordination Commission were welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Petrishenko and EOC President Kocijancic. The CoCom also was attended by the Minister of Sport and Tourism Sergei Kovalchuk, First Vice President of the Belarus NOC Andrei Astashevich, Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee, Chairman of the Board of MEGOC Andrei Shorets and other officials.
The programme of the Coordination Commission includes MEGOC presentations on all operational areas and a venue tour of the facilities to be used during Minsk 2019, scheduled for 21-30 June.