Baku, Azerbaijan, June 13
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The first European Games in Baku are important, Iran's Youth and Sports Minister Mahmoud Goudarzi told Trend June 13.
The minister, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, expressed his gratitude to Azerbaijan for organizing the first European Games.
"The games are very important for the development of sport," he said.
"Azerbaijan is holding these Games properly and at a high level," Goudarzi said. "These games were necessary."
Goudarzi said that the first European Games in Baku will take the same position in Europe, as the Asian Games in Asia.
"Azerbaijan initiated these games," he said. "This is very valuable."
Baku 2015 is the first-ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent. The games started on June 12 and will last till June 28, 2015.
There is a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition. Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.
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