Tbilisi prepares to host EuroBasket 2021
THursday, August 1
To celebrate the EuroBasket 2021, special event was held on Lisi Lake. Several representatives of Georgian Government attended the meeting. As the Prime Minister of Georgia, Mamuka Bakhtadze, noted it is not only a huge victory of Georgian sports, but a tremendous success of our country.
Prime Minister of Georgia delivered a speech at the event held in celebration of EuroBasket Host Country Entitlement at Lisi Lake, Head of Government of Georgia congratulated the basketball players and Georgian sports fans with the attained success and noted that new sports palace with 15 000 visitor seats will be built within the scope of Host Country Initiative for the tournament.
"I wish to congratulate all the supporters of Georgian sports and every citizen of our country, as this is a victory of Georgia. Competition among 13 countries was tough and final choice was made on Germany, Czech Republic, Italy and Georgia. It is a huge success and I wish you to know that it did not come in a day, noted the PM.
During his speech, he also talked about the complex which is going to be built for this event, It is very important that we will build a new sports palace for 15 000 visitor seats within the scope of the tournament. It will become a new landmark for our beautiful capital.
The prime Minister also talked about the future plans, as he noted, we do not plan to get satisfied with this success. Official application was made yesterday by the Olympic Committee of Georgia as we aim to host the Youth Winter Olympics in 2025. It is one of the most wide-scale events and I am convinced that we will be very successful in it. I wish to address the Georgian youth and society, when the Georgian nation gets united and when we stand together, side by side, we ultimately succeed!" concluded the Prime Minister of Georgia.
The Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze also attended the celebration, he noted that the capital city will be fully prepared to host group stages of the European Basketball Championship 2021.
As Kaladze noted, it is extremely important that such major sporting events are organized in Georgia as they will promote the popularity of the country and will develop the sport itself.
As a former athlete, since I have some experience of knowing what it means to be an athlete, how much work is needed to achieve success, I would like to share my opinion in this regard. In order to be successful, it is one thing to be hardworking and be dedicated, but one also needs to have necessary infrastructure and support. Our government is taking important steps to popularize sport, develop it, and promote a healthy lifestyle, said Kaladze during his speech.
Georgia received the right to host group stages of the EuroBasket 2021 during the FIBA European General Assembly in Munich on July 15, which means that national basketball team of Georgia will automatically qualify for the European Championship, which will mark the fifth time Georgia participates in the EuroBasket tournament.
