Glasgow Wins European Athletics Host Bid

24 Apr 2016 | tshego

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The European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held in Scotland in 2019 after Glasgow was awarded the event by European Athletics following a successful bid.

The event will be held at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena, which earlier this year hosted the Indoor Grand Prix and the British Athletics International match from 2013 to 2015.

More than 600 athletes from the 50 European Athletics Member Federation countries are expected to participate in the three-day event, making it one of the biggest sporting events ever to be held in Glasgow.

Glasgow previously hosted the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Kelvin Hall in 1990 and more recently it was also staged in Birmingham in 2007.

Niels de Vos, British Athletics chief executive, said: “It is great news for British sport that Glasgow will be the host of the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 2019. With the city’s amazing track record of hosting major events, in particular the 2014 Commonwealth Games and British Athletics events for many years, I’m certain that this will be a great championships. This event will cap off an exciting few years for British Athletics following the recent IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff, the 2017 IAAF and IPC World Championships in London and the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham and we’re confident of showcasing the best talent in European athletics.”

Nigel Holl, chief executive, Scottish Athletics, said: “This is simply wonderful news. Scotland is getting used to hosting a huge variety of top sporting events and to be able to add the European Indoor Championships in 2019 to that list really is fantastic. We know the Emirates Arena in Glasgow is a cracking venue for indoor athletics – and of course it becomes home for hundreds of athletes and officials from across Scotland every January to March period for our own indoor season. Seeing Europe’s best competing there in 2019 will be tremendous and I believe it will act as a further catalyst to inspire people in the sport. We’ve already seen that impact from London 2012 and Glasgow 2014.

“With the London World Championships in 2017 (IAAF & IPC) and now Euro Indoors in 2019, our role models will be on show ‘performing when it counts’ in the UK and inspiring the next generation into our sport. It is vital that I recognise the leadership and great work by the partnership that has put this bid together – all playing pivotal and critical roles. Many thanks to Glasgow Council and Glasgow Life, EventScotland and the Scottish Government, and of course UK Athletics. The team work has started in winning the bid – I know the team work will continue to deliver an unforgettable event in 2019.”