The Association of European Olympic Committees (EOC) had a great and beautiful day, Thursday May 16. A day that its leaders will remember with emotion and pride. Its president, the Greek Spyros Capralos, signed a partnership agreement with Istanbul in Rome. It confirms on paper that the Turkish city will organize the fourth edition of the European Games in 2027.
Three years and a handful of weeks before the deadline, the EOC has therefore secured a host city for an event judged at its birth, in 2015, as an extra piece in the already busy decor of the Olympic movement. Not just any city: Istanbul, a megalopolis of more than 15 million inhabitants positioned as a link between Europe and Asia, many times a candidate for hosting the Olympic Games.
In other times, no one would have called it a miracle. But these are not the days of abundance for multi-sport events. The Commonwealth Games can attest to this, for still not having found a host country for the 2026 edition.
With this decision, the European Olympic committees are avoiding the worst: the blank page. Istanbul will succeed Baku (2027), Minsk (2015), and Krakow and the Polish region of Malopolska (2019).
The EOC general assembly will definitively ratify, next month, the attribution of the continental event to Turkey. It will then start chatting with “many cities " interested in the 2031 edition, suggested Spyros Capralos during a press briefing with the media on Thursday May 16. Cautiously, the Greek did not cite any of them.
Istanbul, then. Not the worst choice, especially in economic terms. Spyros Capralos underlined this: the Turkish market presents an interesting profile. National partners appear to be more numerous, at least on paper, than for Baku 2015 or Minsk 2019.
For the rest, the questions remain more numerous than the answers. The date, first. “Traditionally, the European Games take place during the last ten days of June", recalled Spyros Capralos, suggesting that the 2027 edition would respect this rule, but without saying much more.
The program ? Blurry, too. The Greek leader assured that “more and more sports want to join the European Games », but without risking listing them. He has just announced his meeting next week in Budapest with the leaders of European gymnastics, keen, according to him, to “to come back" in the program.
« We do not want to increase the number of sports, to avoid gigantism, explained the president of the EOC. And we must take into account the wishes of Turkey, which will undoubtedly want to choose disciplines popular with the public. Nothing is closed. We will start negotiating. »
Same flexibility for the site map. In their file, the Turks announced their intention to follow the current trend by using only existing sites or temporary constructions. The EOC had appreciated it, certain of receiving the congratulations of the IOC. Officially, the situation has not changed. But Spyros Capralos qualified, in response to a question from FrancsJeux: "We will never ask a host city to build new facilities, but if a municipality wishes to take advantage of the Games to equip itself with infrastructure that will be useful to it, we will not prevent it. »
Three years before the event, the Istanbul 2027 file still seems very vague. But the main thing is elsewhere: the European Games have secured their short-term future. The rest will be sorted out later.
