Virtual visit of the Coordinating Commission: Athletes will be the heart of EYOF

Members of the Coordination Commission (CoCom) of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) for the XVI. European Youth Olympic Festival, which will be hosted by Banská Bystrica in July 2022, appreciated the current state of preparations for the largest multi-sport event in Slovakia’s history. During the meeting with the members of the Organizing Committee, the chairman of the CoCom Joseph Cassar from Malta repeatedly emphasised that the most important thing at the EYOF 2022 Banská Bystrica will be the athletes.

The members of the coordination commission checked the readiness of the Organizing Committee after half a year. According to the EOC representatives, significant progress has been made in the state of preparations since the November meeting, which was also held via videoconference due to the pandemic situation. “It is a pity that we meet again only through videoconference. We would have been very happy to present the state of preparations on the spot in Banská Bystrica. I believe that in the coming weeks and months the situation will improve and we will meet in person,” said Jozef Liba, Secretary-General of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee and consultant of the EYOF 2022 Banská Bystrica Organizing Committee.

“The current presentation reflects our work and progress as well as the energy we put into the preparations for the event,” said the Mayor of Banská Bystrica and President of the Organizing Committee Ján Nosko.

Peter Hamaj, Executive Director of the Organizing Committee, briefly presented to the members of the Commission the basic goals and ambitions of the Organizing Committee, which currently consists of 34 people and will grow further in the coming months. He said that the heart of EYOF 2022 Banská Bystrica will be the Sports Park Štiavničky, where six sports will find their home. “Athletes will appreciate the accessibility of the sports venues from the accommodation,” said Peter Hamaj.

Members of CoCom (Joseph Cassar, Cristina Vasilian, Azer Aliyev, Stavri Bello, Jean-Michel Saive, Nebojsa Nastov and EOC Sports Director Peter Brüll) were updated on the status of preparations by the department directors.

In particular, the closely followed the report on the state of accommodation facilities in Banská Bystrica and Zvolen, sports infrastructure in both cities and in Slovenská Ľupča, Badín and Detva, where the individual sports competitions will be held, or on the prepared food for the participants. They discussed the health care of EYOF 2022 Banská Bystrica, appreciated the sustainability project, which the organizers are trying to apply. They gave some valuable advice to the organizers, taking into account the interests of the athletes in particular.

“Unfortunately, the current situation has once again prevented us from a live visit to Banská Bystrica. However, I know from my previous visit that the city has the potential to organize a very good European Youth Olympic Festival. We are paying particular attention to the athletes. They are the most important people at the event, they need quality accommodation, food, sports venues and transport. A strong organizational team has been created in Banská Bystrica, which is facing a big challenge in fulfilling its goals and projects,“ said Joseph Cassar.