Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The inauguration of European Games will signal the beginning of a new era for sports on the continent, the Head of the Irish Mission for Baku 2015 First European Games, Dermot Henihan said.

Henihan also said to InsideTheGames.biz, inclusion of the European Games into the multi sports games calendar brings a huge amount of respect and significance to the Europe and the Olympic Movement in the continent.

"I am sure that the games will be held successfully establishing themselves as the flagship continental games," he said.

Regarding Baku hosting, Henihan stressed that for 2015, Baku will have a substantial amount of the infrastructures and looking-forward plans for many new facilities and refurbished facilities.

"Baku is a city that could take on a massive challenge in a relatively short period of time," he said.

"I have observed the development over the past 15 months in Baku, the preparations of new and refurbished facilities, the creation of new roads and infrastructure, the ordering of new transport for the city etc. From my close observations, I have every confidence that all will be ready and all will be to a top standard," Henihan noted.

"I was surprised to see the first edition of the games expand to 19 and I am sure that in the future editions there will be some changes in the program. Of course, we all have our favorite sports and when they are not included, we get disappointed. However, all multi sport games and host cities cannot include all the sports. We must accept the final decisions. 19 sports for the first edition are more than enough," he added.

He also said that Azerbaijanis have friendly behaviors and they want their country to be better known in a European context.

"It is a relatively newly independent country that is rapidly growing," Henihan said. "I think it is good for the European Games to start off in a growing country and yes, I suppose it is symbolic and will give Baku, Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people a new exposure across Europe and the world as a country that can host such a multi sport event successfully."

Henihan went on saying that the European Games are new, and like everything new, there are curiosity and interest in them.

"Since there are 19 sports and it is the first European Games, I think the public interest in them will be quite significant," he said.