Georgia’s capital Tbilisi was on Wednesday named as 2025 Sports City of Europe by a visiting commission of the European Capitals and Cities of Sport Federation.
The delegation represented the Brussels-based organisation that works to assign recognitions of European Capital, City, Community and Town of Sport titles.
Deputy Tbilisi Mayor Andria Basilaia said the decision marked a “very happy day for us” and noted the status had been granted to the city early.
As you know, a lot has changed in the capital recently. First of all, this is a changed policy, there are many projects in the direction of sports infrastructure, as well as a number of international events hosted by Tbilisi. Most importantly, it is [about] promotion of a healthy lifestyle, which is an initiative of the Mayor of Tbilisi, and it is very gratifying that it is being recognised at the international level”, he added.
Basilaia noted the City Hall was planning a “lot of joint events” together with the organisation and expressed a desire for “more active partnership” with European cities.
The Tbilisi City Hall submitted a bid for gaining the status for the first time last year, with a special commission from AECS Europe visiting the country to inspect existing sports infrastructure and receive information on sports policy of the municipality, as well as its current programmes and projects.