The government will spend hundreds of millions of zlotys on an event that nobody has asked for. The handle has fallen

On Tuesday, the documents on the organization of the European Games in Poland were signed at the headquarters of PKOL. The President of Krakow, Jacek Majchrowski, Marshal of the Maopolska Province Witold Kozowski, President of the European Games 2023 company Marcin Nowak, President of the Polish Olympic Committee Andrzej Kranicki and President of the European Olympic Committee Spyros Kapralos, were present in Warsaw. They are accompanied by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister of Sport Kamil Bortniczuk.

Majchrowski has been delaying a long time

Majchrowski has been announcing for months that he will not sign the contract until he receives government guarantees for financing. – We are still waiting for the promised agreement with the government. Prime Minister Morawiecki mentions government guarantees earlier, but there are no such guarantees. Neither I nor the marshal of the voivodeship will agree to the Olympics without the guarantee of the government or State Treasury companies. If all the costs were to cover Krakow and the Maopolska province, we would not be able to bear it –

Guarantees in the end will receive. Initially, there was talk of a billion zlotys for Krakow, but “Wyborcza” recently reported a lower amount. “Krakow has already guaranteed PLN 500 billion for investments in the 2023 European Games. The city also has the initial approval of the possibility of withdrawing – without financial consequences – from organizing the event in the event of an escalation of hostilities in Ukraine or an increased wave of refugees” –

Government wants to strengthen the prestige of the event

– Poland has excellent experience in organizing large sports events of an international character. Thanks to the efforts of the minister of sport, Kamil Bortniczuk, it was possible to make these games simultaneously qualify for other great sporting events. This will raise the profile, interest in the European Games and lead to great competition – said Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday.

– All will be played either in the rank of the European Championship or in the rank of Olympic qualifications for the Olympic Games in 2024 in Paris – assures Kamil Bortniczuk.

Rzdzcy does everything to raise the prestige of the event. The European Games are a niche sports competition. The best proof that the Polish candidacy was the only one submitted to the organization of the Games. The first two editions were organized in Baku and Misko.

Krakow and Maopolska officially received host status in June 2019. Negotiations between the government and local authorities regarding the financing of the event continued for three years. Since then, a pandemic has broken out, a war has raged beyond our eastern border, Poland has been flooded by a wave of refugees, and inflation has been at the highest in years. Nevertheless, the central and local authorities did not give up the idea of ​​organizing the games.

European Championship will be held on June 21 – July 2, 2023. Athletes from 50 countries will compete not only in Maopolska, but also in the provinces of Silesia and Podkarpacie. At the moment, 24 sports disciplines have been entered.

Olympic sports

• Badminton
• Box
• Gymnastics
• Judo
• Canoeing (sprint & slalom)
• Cycling (mountain bike & BMX)
• Basket 3×3
• Athletics
• schooling
• Modern Piciobj
• Rugby 7
• Beach volleyball ball
• Fencing
• Table tennis
• Sport climbing

Non-Olympic Sports

• Mountain runs
• Karate
• Kickboxing
• MMA
• Muaythai
• Beach football
• Handball beach
• Ski jumping (summer)
• Teqball

Disciplines at the rank of the European Championship

• Cycling (MBX and MTB)
• Modern Piciobj
• Fencing
• Judo – team games
• Athletics – teams
• Badminton