GLASGOW has officially entered the running to stage the 2019 European Indoor Championships after UK Athletics confirmed it has finalised its bid to host the biennial event.
The proposal, submitted to European Athletics, would see the three-day showpiece held at the 5000-capacity Emirates Arena, with UKA’s pitch also incorporating a complementary community engagement programme with schools activity, similar to that employed at the Commonwealth Games.
It is understood rival bids from Poland, Bulgaria, Belarus and the Netherlands are in the pipeline ahead of the next month’s submission deadline with Glasgow trusting that it will not be hindered by Birmingham’s victory in the race to stage the 2018 world indoor championships.
“We’ve been working hard to make sure that we submit the best possible bid to host the European Indoor Championships in 2019,” UKA’s events director Cherry Alexander. “After the massive success of the Commonwealth Games this a great opportunity for Glasgow to host another major athletics event and welcome some of the best athletes in the world to Scotland.
“With the Indoor Grand Prix also taking place in Glasgow in February, the city is a real centre for athletics and we’re hopeful about the success of this bid.”
However, the attraction of a global championships on home soil is likely to hinder Scotland’s hopes of sending a full-strength team to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. With Birmingham’s world indoors set to be held in March, just four weeks prior to the start of competition in the Gold Coast, it is expected that leading British athletes will be forced to choose between the two events.
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