European Championships to be held at inaugural European Games

The inaugural European Games pulled off something of a coup on Saturday with the announcement that the European Judo Championships had been incorporated into the multi-sport event in Baku in June.
Glasgow was stripped of the right to host the championships, initially scheduled for April 9-12, last week after a disagreement with the European Judo Union (EJU) over a partnership deal.
The European Olympic Committees (EOC), the EJU and the Baku 2015 European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) made the announcement that the championships would now be held two months later in Baku at the Games which run from June 12-28.
The inclusion of the European Championships means the number of sports offering qualification opportunities for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year has risen to 12.
Pat Hickey, president of the EOC, said that the move fitted in with the original idea surrounding the European Games, which were his brainchild.
"This is wonderful news as we approach the final lap of our preparations for the inaugural European Games," said the 69-year-old Irishman, himself a former judoka.
"The EOC has always intended for European Championships to become part of the European Games and this agreement indicates that our aim is coming true, even earlier than we had anticipated.
"I am sure other sports will follow suit at future editions of the European Games and that the event will become one of the main qualification routes for the Olympic Games."
His judo counterpart, Sergey Soloveychik, said the venue in Baku -- with a capacity of 7,800 --  offered the judokas an excellent stage to perform on between June 25-28.
“We are delighted that our flagship competition, the European Judo Championships, is going to be held in Baku this year," said Soloveychik.
"After the cancellation of the event in Glasgow, our priority was to find a new host as quickly as possible.
"We have done this and I am very happy with our choice. Baku 2015 has a world-class judo venue with supporting facilities which will help Europe’s elite judoka reach peak performance in June."
Glasgow fell foul of the EJU after a disagreement over the British Judo Association's (BJA) partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to promote and support the event.
The EJU said that, as well as the partnership with UFC, the BJA had breached the contract by missing the agreed deadline to pay the event license fee.
Source: AFP