Discussions to hold
major sporting events at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena began as soon as the venue was opened in 2013. It has hosted Indoor Grand Prix meetings featuring the likes of Mo Farah
The bid delegation with European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen (front row, second from right)
Retired GB athlete Donna Fraser (right) with Hansen
where it was revealed Glasgow had won with nine votes, followed by six to Torun, one to Apeldoorn and a big fat zero to Minsk, despite the latter having a very impressive 12,000-seater stadium. “We knew we had the strongest
technical bid to deliver a major event, so we were delighted,” adds Corscadden. “Politically, we thought there may have been a will for an Eastern European city to get a big product. Belarus had an incredible
“IT ADDED A REALLY GREAT LITTLE FLOURISH TO THE BID”
Rhona Corscadden, Senior Events Manager, EventScotland
venue but they had a very challeng- ing doping history and I think it bodes well for European athletics that none of those council members voted to put their flagship event in a country which at the moment is plagued by doping scandals and is on a blacklist from the IAAF. I think it’s good for the sport and it shows for European athletics that they can see that, and it’s not the way for the sport to go at the moment.” She added: “And I think with the
known athletes we took out there, that they could see we were very serious about the bid. We had been worried that some of the nations like Holland might have taken a superstar like Dafne Schippers with them, but fortunately that didn’t turn out to be the case.” And so, Glasgow prevailed, and
this month the next stage – organisation, planning and project teams – commences. A steering group committee will be estab- lished involving all the relevant partners, from local city officials to government agencies. And it’s that organisational focus, as well as a thoroughly thought-out submission document – which covered facili- ties, broadcasting, accommodation, transport, sustainability, promotion, marketing, as well as ‘10 reasons for Glasgow’ and more – that Corscad- den believed secured the Games for the city. Te fact that the budget was
underwritten by city and govern- ment coffers certainly did the bid no harm. “It was over and above what was required,” says Corscad- den. “And not being heavily reliant
upon securing massive sponsorship, which I understand some of the other countries might have been re- liant on, I think that really helped. We also have a really fantastic track record for putting on these kind of sporting events in the city, espe- cially indoor athletics, as we did at Kelvin Hall in 1990, all those years ago.”
What: The European Indoor Athletics Championships When: 2019 Where: Emirates Arena, Glasgow
EVENTSBASE | SUMMER 2016 | 21
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