The EOC Coordination Commission (CoCom) for the Baku 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival met on 15-16 January in the Azeri capital.

The two-day meeting was a fruitful opportunity for the CoCom, chaired by Djordje Visacki (SRB), to hear from local organisers about the progress of preparations in all operational areas, including the sports programme, venues, results, transport, timing and scoring, registration and accreditation.

There will be 12 competition venues for 10 sports, while the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be held in the Crystal Hall.

Nikki Efendi, International Affairs Advisor to the Azerbaijan Minister of Youth & Sport and EYOF Baku 2019 Chief of Staff, delivered an overview of Baku 2019 Operations Committee functions.

“It was a very productive meeting, we had the chance to tackle a series of crucial issues from operational planning to transport,” Efendi said. “We were very happy to ask the EOC a lot of questions and to receive positive feedback. After the successful inaugural edition of the European Games in 2015, we look forward to meeting again the 50 NOCs of Europe.”

Some educational and cultural projects that will be held during the event were also presented:

• the Olympic Culture and Education Programme (OCEP) whose goal is promoting the Olympic values and raising awareness about the EYOF among youth;
• the EOC Young Athlete Ambassador Programme, which aims to encourage participating athletes to interact with their peers in their communities;
• the New Leaders Sport Leadership Programme, aimed at sport professionals who want to improve their leadership and management skills;
• the Doping Prevention Monitoring Programme “Giving Young Athletes a Voice,” an IOC initiative that wants not only to raise athletes’ awareness about doping in sport, but also how they deal with pressure over their careers.

The accreditation launch date for NOCs has been moved from 22 January to 1 March 2019, while the Chef de Mission Seminar is scheduled for 5-7 May 2019.

3,600 athletes and team officials, along with 2,500 volunteers, will attend the 15^th Summer EYOF 2019 in Baku from 21-27 July 2019.