Netherlands hands back 2019 European Games

Two days before the opening ceremony of the first European Games in Baku, the Netherlands pulled out of staging the second edition in 2019, the Dutch government announced on Wednesday.

The relevant local, provincial and state authorities jointly concluded that there are insufficient grounds for them to contribute financially to the organization of the European Games in 2019 in the Netherlands.

According to the authorities there are not enough guarantees to responsibly spend a joint 57.5 million euros (64.9 million U.S. dollars) for the event and that it is not certain who should ultimately pay for financial setbacks.

In addition, the Dutch government can only spend the money one time and would rather invest it in other sports events.

Another important consideration is that according to the Dutch government there is no guarantee that the European Games in 2019 will have a sufficient level of top sport.

The Dutch Olympic Committee expressed their disappointment on the decision by the government not to support the plan. "It is a huge missed opportunity to show the world how to organize a large multi-sport event," the committee stated on its website.

The committee therefore hands back the organization of the European Games to the European Olympic Committees (EOC).

On May 16 this year the EOC nominated the Dutch Olympic Committee to host the 2019 European Games. Endi