Are the European Games going to be so great?

Today at the European Olympic Committees (EOC) General Assembly it was announced that the first European Games will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan (which isn't in Europe) as it was the only bid city.

The idea of the games is to promote European success in the Olympics which has been on decline all around the continent with the exception of Britain, which has the Commonwealth games for its athletes to prepare.

I have been wanting a European equivalent of the Pan American Games for years; a continental multi-sport event will provide an opportunity for cities that wouldn't normally host something like this to host a big sporting event.

In the case of Baku, they can gain experience for future Olympic bids from hosting a city, which will ultimately result in more new Olympic hosts.

Baku has the potential to be an incredible host; the oil rich nation planned and constructed a purpose built arena for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in less than a year. Although the existing venues in Baku tops out at 2 arenas and a stadium under construction.

Political tensions over the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic mean that we can almost immediately rule out the possibility of seeing an Armenian representation; as the people of Armenia are banned from entering Azerbaijan.

I fear that the inaugural European Games are going to lack one of the keys to any multi-sport event: Athletics. The European Athletics Association (EAA) voted against taking part in the competition instead opting to keep their biennial competition which fails to gain much publicity in Olympic years.

Although it should be noted that the EOC believe that the EAA will eventually give in, although another competition in the year of the World Championships may not get the all star names that would be hoped for.

LEN, the European Aquatics governing body are still in talks with the EOC, potentially leaving out another staple of the Olympic programme.

I hope that if these games take off, a Paralympic counterpart will be introduced to get more attention for Para-sport.

Baku really have their work cut out, they need to host a fairly large competition with only 2 and half years of preparation and whatever happens in 2015 will affect the survival of this competition. I really hope that athletics and aquatics play a part in the games or it will all be in vain.