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Baku 2015 European Games

Events	253 in 20 sports
Main venue	Baku National Stadium
Website	www.baku2015.com
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The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games (Template:Lang-az), are the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Europe. It is currently taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 12 to 28 June 2015, and will feature more than 6,000 athletes from 50 NOCs competing in 20 sports.

Host city selection

Baku was awarded the right to host the first European Games at the 41st EOC General Assembly in Rome, on 8 December 2012. The European Games will take place every four years thereafter, with the next competition due to be held in 2019.

The decision was made as a result of secret balloting, where of 48 votes, 38 were in favor of the sole bidder for the event. Eight votes were against, and two more abstained from voting. The representatives of Armenia refused to take part in the voting.

Prior to the vote, Patrick Hickey, EOC President, according to Guardian reporter Nick Cohen, had tried to "woo the dictator of Belarus. He charmed Alexander Lukashenko and gave the murderous old brute an award for his “Outstanding Contribution to the Olympic Movement”. His flattery was in vain. Lukashenko’s ill-governed country was too poor to afford the games." Instead Hickey turned to "the mafia state of Azerbaijan, whose ruling Aliyev crime family will spend whatever looted petrodollars it takes to win international prestige."

Organisation

The Organising Committee responsible for the inaugural European Games in Baku was established by decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Committee is chaired by the First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva., member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Baku 2015 European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) was established under the direction of the Chairperson of the Organising Committee.

The Chief Executive Officer of BEGOC is Azad Rahimov, Minister of Youth and Sport while the Chief Operating Officer is Simon Clegg.

Venues

There are 4 clusters and 18 competition venues for inaugural European Games. Number of permanent venues is 12. Five of them are new builds such as, National Gymnastics Arena, BMX Velopark, Baku Aquatics Centre, Baku Shooting Centre and Olympic Stadium. There are 6 temporary venues such as, Water Polo Arena, Beach Arena, Basketball Arena, Mountain Bike Velopark, Triathlon, Cycling road race and time trial.

The Athletes Village is located in Nizami raion of Baku. The village comprises 13 buildings, 16 different types of apartments with three to four bedrooms per apartment.

Village cluster

Flag square cluster

City cluster

Other venues

Ticketing

Baku 2015 European Games launched an online sales page on its website to allow fans purchasing tickets for the inaugural event.

Adult tickets for sport sessions range between AZN 2 – AZN 5, according to competition round (for example preliminary or final), seat category, and venue.

Volunteers

12,500 recruited volunteers will play key roles during the Games, including assisting athletes and dignitaries, working at sport competitions, or providing assistance to spectators or the media. Baku 2015 European Games volunteers are called Flamekeepers. 6,000 Ceremonies Performers will voluntarily take part in the opening and closing ceremonies.

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony started on 12 June in the Olympic Stadium and was directed by artistic choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou who was praised for his work during 2004 Summer Olympics. Singer Lady Gaga performed "Imagine", a cover from John Lennon at the event. The shapeshifting scene featured the representations of Yanar Dag and the Gobustan rock carvings, in particular. The woman on the stage (Nargiz Nasirzade) and the man (Aydemir Aydemir) embodied the arrival of spring. Two thousand artists gathered at the scene to perform the yalli dance at the end. The opening ceremony was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Games. The ceremony was attended by several heads of states and other officials.

Closing ceremony

The Closing Ceremony will be held on 28 June in the Olympic Stadium. James Hadley has been appointed as the Artistic Director of the Closing Ceremony.

Games

Participating NOCs

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Sports

A total of 20 sports will be represented: 16 Olympic sports, two Olympic sports contested only in non-Olympic formats (basketball and football) and two non-Olympic sports (karate and sambo). Twelve of the sports (archery, athletics, boxing, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball, wrestling) will offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The aquatic sports are only open to junior-level competitors, and the athletics competition forms the third division of the European Team Championships.

Calendar

The competition schedule consists of 253 events. The Agenda as the competition schedule may change.

June		12th Fri	13th Sat	14th Sun	15th Mon	16th Tue	17th Wed	18th Thu	19th Fri	20th Sat	21st Sun	22nd Mon	23rd Tue	24th Wed	25th Thu	26th Fri	27th Sat	28th Sun	Medal Events
Ceremonies		OC																CC
Archery						●	1	2	●	●	1	1							5
Athletics											●	2							1
Badminton												●	●	●	●	●	2	3	5
Basketball (3x3)													●	●	●	2			2
Beach soccer														●	●	●	●	1	1
Boxing						●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	5	5	5		15
Canoe sprint				●	5	10													15
Cycling	BMX															●	●	2	8
	Mountain biking		2
	Road cycling							2		1	1
Diving								2	2	2	2								8
Fencing													2	2	2	3	3		12
Gymnastics				●	2		1	2	3	10	16								34
Judo															5	6	5	2	18
Karate			6	6															12
Sambo												8							8
Shooting						3	3	2	2	3	3	3							19
Swimming													7	8	9	7	11		42
Synchronised swimming		●	●	●	2	2													4
Table tennis			●	●	2	●	●	●	2										4
Taekwondo						2	2	2	2										8
Triathlon			1	1															2
Volleyball			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1	●	●	●	●	●	1	1	4
Water polo		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1								2
Wrestling			4	4	4	4	4	4											24
Total			13	11	15	21	11	16	11	18	25	13	9	10	21	23	27	9	253
June		12th Fri	13th Sat	14th Sun	15th Mon	16th Tue	17th Wed	18th Thu	19th Fri	20th Sat	21st Sun	22nd Mon	23rd Tue	24th Wed	25th Thu	26th Fri	27th Sat	28th Sun	Medal Events

Medal table

1	Azerbaijan	6	2	5	13
2	Russia	5	0	2	7
3	Turkey	4	2	6	12
4	Switzerland	3	2	1	6
5	France	2	2	3	7
6-21	Remaining NOCs	4	16	15	35
Total		24	24	32	80

Key

  *   Host nation (Azerbaijan)

Broadcasting

International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) will be the host broadcaster of the European Games. During the Games, ISB will produce an anticipated 800 hours of broadcast coverage.

Europe Territory Broadcaster Ref  Albania Tring Media  Austria ORF  Belarus BTRC  Belgium Sport 10  Bulgaria BNT HD  Croatia SPTV  Czech Republic ČT • DigiSport  Denmark TV 2  Estonia ERR  Finland Yle  France L'Equipe 21  Georgia GPB  Germany Sport1  Greece ERT  Hungary DigiSport  Ireland Setanta Sports  Israel Sport 5 • Sport1  Italy Sky Sport  Kosovo RTK  Latvia LTV  Lithuania TV6  Luxembourg RTL Group  Moldova Moldova Sport TV  North Macedonia MKRTV  Monaco L'Équipe 21  Netherlands NOS  Norway TV 2  Poland Polsat  Portugal Sport TV  Romania DigiSport  Russia Russia-2, Sport-1  Serbia Radio Television of Serbia  Slovakia DigiSport  Slovenia Šport TV  Spain RTVE  Switzerland Sport1  Turkey NTV Spor  United Kingdom BT Sport  Ukraine NTU

Rest of the world Territory Broadcaster Ref  Africa Fox Sports Africa  Angola Sport TV  Arab States ASBU  Australia Seven Network  Canada Universal Sports  China CCTV  Cuba ICRT  Hong Kong TVB  India NEO Sports  Iran GEM GROUP  Japan TBS  Latin America América Móvil  Mozambique Sport TV  South Korea SBS  New Zealand Sky Sport  Turkmenistan Setanta Sports  United States Universal Sports  Uzbekistan Setanta Sports

Controversies

Human rights

Amnesty International have been a vocal critic of the Baku 2015 European Games, stating in March 2015, "Azerbaijan may be a safe country for athletes taking part in the 100 metres, but defending rights and free speech is a dangerous game here. Those who champion them receive harassment and prison sentences instead of medals.". In August 2014 the human rights organisation highlighted the 24 prisoners of conscience being held in Azerbaijan prisons as an example of abuses. Western countries also criticized Aliyev's intention to close the OSCE offices in Baku.

Several European heads of state and government refused to participate at the opening ceremony, sending mid- or low-level representatives instead. Among those who did participate were Vladimir Putin of Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, Aleksander Lukashenko of Belarus, Boyko Borisov of Bulgaria and Victor Ponta of Romania. Ponta faced significant criticism at home for his participation.

Barring of journalists

In June 2015, The Guardian reported that its own reporters, along with those of other media outlets, had been barred from entering Baku to cover the games. Human Rights Watch, in the same article, stated it had observed “the worst crackdown the country has seen in the post-Soviet era”.

Bus accident

The safety conditions of the athlete's village were called into doubt after a bus driver ploughed into a group of Austrian athletes leaving three requiring hospitalization including the 15-year-old synchronized swimmer Vanessa Sahinovic who was placed in an induced coma and flown to Vienna for emergency surgery.

Marketing

Logo and mascots

The official logo for the Baku 2015 European Games was unveiled on 16 June 2014. Designed by Adem Yunusov, it was inspired by country’s ancient and contemporary culture. The logo includes flame, water, the Iranian mythical Simurgh bird, an Azerbaijani carpet and a pomegranate as one of the symbols of Azerbaijani profusion. The pomegranate, called Nar, is one of two mascots for the Games, along with a gazelle named Jeyran. The pair are intended to represent the spirit of Azerbaijan and help excite the youth for the event.

Brand and visual identity

The brand incorporates traditional Azerbaijani imagery with images and colours designed to evoke a European sporting feel. The pomegranate tree, whose fruit juice is one of Azerbaijan's main exports, features heavily. The brand was created with legacy potential in mind, possibly inspired by the way the Commonwealth Games’ branding retains a similar feel each year.

Sponsors

On 21 May 2014, Procter & Gamble became the first official partner of the inaugural European Games. Swiss watchmaker Tissot has been named the official timekeeper and will provide all timing and scoring services. On 13 November 2014, Motorola Solutions also teamed up with Baku 2015 as the Official Radio Communications Supporter.

Torch relay

On Sunday April 26 the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, captured the official flame of the Baku 2015 European Games. The flame had visited 60 locations until the final torchbearer entered the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony on 12 June.

Route

References

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External links

• Official website

• 2015 European Games
• European Games
• 2015 in multi-sport events
• 2015 in European sport
• 2015 in Azerbaijani sport
• Scheduled multi-sport events
• International sports competitions hosted by Azerbaijan
• Multi-sport events in Azerbaijan
• Sport in Baku
• 21st century in Baku
• Current sports events