The Spanish capital of Madrid has been awarded the hosting rights to the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships Super League.
After candidates delivered their final presentations online to the European Athletics Council, with the meeting held in Lausanne, Switzerland – the first in-person meeting of the Council since 2019 due to the pandemic – the governing body opted to assign the tournament to Madrid.
The city, which set plans in motion to launch a bid two years ago, is hoping for the competition to become the first major event to be staged at the newly-redeveloped Vallehermoso Stadium which reopened its doors in 2019.
“I am very pleased that the Council could finally meet in person here in Lausanne, the home of the IOC and of European Athletics, after nearly 18 months of online meetings,” noted European Athletics Interim President, Dobromir Karamarinov.
“I offer my congratulations to the three member federations of Spain, Finland and Romania. We look forward to visiting you in what will be a busy year for European athletics in 2023.”
However, the European Athletics statement added that the ‘caveat’ to the assignment of the hosting duties is the ongoing discussions with the European Olympic Committee about the inclusion of all leagues of the European Team at the 2023 European Games.
Should those talks be successful, the 2023 event will be held as a multi-sport event in Krakow, Poland, with Madrid instead offered the chance to stage the 2025 edition of the European Team Championships Super League.
If the tournament remains in Madrid it will be the first time the national team tournament has been staged in Spain, with the formerly labeled European Cup taking place in Madrid in 1996 and Malaga in 2008.
European Athletics CEO, Christian Milz, explained: “Today the Council took very clear decisions on the three bids for 2023 but the awarding of the European Athletics Team Championships Super League to Madrid was taken in the full and transparent knowledge that should our discussions with the European Olympic Committee conclude successfully concerning the European Games 2023, Madrid will be offered the opportunity to host the European Athletics Team Championships Super League in 2025 instead of 2023.”
Furthermore, it was also confirmed that the 2023 European Athletics Under-23 Championships will take place in Espoo, Finland, while the 2023 European Athletics Under-20 Championships has been awarded to Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
