The European Games will be held in Krakow and the Malopolska Region

The briefing was attended by Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Krakow,  Witold Kozłowski, Marshal of the Malopolska Region,  Andrzej Kraśnicki, President of the Polish Olympic Committee,  Tomasz Poręba, Vice-President of the Polish Olympic Committee and the Plenipotentiary of the Management Board for the European Games,  Niels Nygaard, acting President of the European Olympic Committee,  and Zlatko Matesa and Józef Liba, representatives of the European Olympic Committee.

In recent days, representatives of the European Olympic Committee and the Polish Olympic Committee visited Krakow and the Malopolska Region. They had opportunities to see the facilities that are planned for the organization of the Games in Krakow and the Malopolska Region.

–The European Games are an opportunity to increase and improve regional infrastructure, not only the road infrastructure in Krakow and the entire region. Thanks to the funds that we will obtain from the government, we will be able to implement the investments that the city would have to spend money on in the future, said Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Krakow, during the briefing.

The cost of the event will be known no earlier than at the end of September. The organizers will then make the final decision on the choice of disciplines. However, due to the pandemic, it is already known that they cannot be too high. The games will be organized on a different basis than in Baku, they will be held at venues that already exist.

After the final list of disciplines is known, which facilities need to be modernized and which are to be built will also be known. A 50-meter swimming pool, a shooting range, a flat kayak track and a stand at Wawel are required.  Modernization of the Wisła stadium will also be necessary.

– In terms of sports arenas, eighty percent of them are already prepared to host the European Games. There is also a need to modernize road and rail transport, but a large scope of investments is already underway, e.g. on the Zakopianka highway. The cost of its construction is not at the expense of the Games, but this route will also be used by the guests of the Games, said Witold Kozłowski, Marshal of the Malopolska Region.

Athletes will compete in 20 disciplines and additionally in at least two show disciplines in the Malopolska Region. In Krakow, we will see fencing, rugby 7, a modern pentathlon, men's volleyball, wrestling, judo, flat and slalom kayaks. The final choice of all disciplines will be made in Rome in mid-September. Fencing finals will be held at the ICE Krakow Congress Center in three years.

–We really want the European Games to host the sports disciplines that will qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. We want the level of the European Games to be as high as possible - at least at the level of the European Championship. This will ensure the interest of the entire sports world and Europe - said Andrzej Kraśnicki, President of the Polish Olympic Committee. - The Games we want to organize will be an impulse for Krakow and the entire Malopolska Region - added Kraśnicki.

On June 22, 2019, in Minsk, the decision to award Krakow and the Malopolska Region with the role of the host of the 3rd European Games was made by the national committees associated in the Association of European Olympic Committees. The first edition of this event was held in Baku in 2015, the second in 2019 in Minsk.