Hickey Retains EOC Presidency, Atlético Madrid to Adorn New Baku 2015 Logo

Irishman Patrick Hickey was today re-elected as the President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) at the 42^nd EOC General Assembly.

Patrick Hickey was the only candidate to stand for President and a third term was secured by a unanimous decision at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton hotel.

Slovenia’s Janez Kocijancic was elected as a new EOC Vice-President, while Turkey’s Hasan Arat and Great Britain’s Lord Sebastian Coe were among 12 EOC members elected to the Executive Committee.

Patrick Hickey, who is also an IOC Executive Board member, said: “I am delighted to secure my third term as President of the European Olympic Committees with such powerful support from my colleagues across Europe’s National Olympic Committees. The next part of my presidency will be particularly exciting as we move towards the inaugural European Games in 2015.

“Finally, I would like to offer my congratulations to all other successful candidates in the election today. I know they will all provide great value to the EOC’s operations in their new roles.”

Lord Sebastian Coe, new EOC Executive Committee member and Chairman of the British Olympic Association, said: “I am deeply honoured to have been elected to the EOC’s Executive Committee by my colleagues and friends at Europe’s National Olympic Committees. This is an important time for the continued development of sport in Europe, with an unprecedented series of opportunities and challenges before us.  I look forward to working closely with my colleagues in the EOC to support the best interests of Olympic sport, our European National Olympic Committees, and most importantly, our athletes.”

Baku 2015 Logo Launched with Atlético Madrid

Baku 2015 launched their logo yesterday by revealing their design will be on Atlético Madrid shirts for the coming seasons.

The new-look kit is a part of the strategic sponsorship that the Copa Del Rey holders signed with Azerbaijan last year. The official logo of the continent’s first ever multi-sport event, to be hosted in the Azeri capital, was launched earlier the same day at the 42^nd European Olympic Committees’ (EOC) General Assembly in Rome, Italy.

Globally renowned players including David Villa, Diego Costa and Arda Turan, had the Baku 2015 logo printed across their chests for last night’s home match against Getafe CF at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. The team will wear the logo as part of the current deal which has seen Atlético’s shirts emblazoned with the words ‘Azerbaijan Land of Fire’, the country’s tourism motto, in order to promote the brand of Azerbaijan all over the world.

Dubbed the ‘transformational Games’, Baku 2015 will see more than 5,400 athletes from all the 49 Olympic nations of Europecompete in 18 sports, including new formats such as basketball 3×3. Beach soccer will also feature for the first time in a major multi-sport European event. The plans are said to both reflect the ambitions of one of Europe’s most dynamic nations and be a blueprint for the future of major sporting and cultural events on the continent. The European Games will themselves run every four years and are owned and regulated by the EOC.

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sport, Azad Rahimov, said: “For the first time Europe has its own multi-sport event and we want to spread the message to sport fans across the continent. There are few ways of doing so as impactful as on the shirt of a football team, the main identifying element of a club. Our collaboration with Atlético, with its players now wearing the Baku 2015 logo with pride, is built on a shared passion to bring people together in a celebration in sport. That’s what these Games – and our desire to host them in Baku – is really about.”

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