Cutting from the speech of Mekhriban Aliyeva on the first meeting of the Organizing Committee of the European Games 2015:
"The inaugural European Games are scheduled for June-July 2015. They are expected to be joined by member-states of the European Olympic Committee. In accordance with the agreement reached with the European Olympic Committee, the upcoming competitions in Baku will be joined by about 5,000 athletes. Official delegations are expected to include a total of 1,000 people. About 2,000 representatives of foreign media will come to Baku to provide media coverage of the event. In accordance with a preliminary arrangement with the European Olympic Committee and European sports federations, the program of the first European Games should include at least 12 out of 28 Olympic sports and two non-Olympic sports. This is the general rule. European sports federations have already submitted letters of intent to conduct competitions in 17 Olympic sports. These are wrestling, handball, volleyball, gymnastics, beach volleyball, boxing, judo, taekwondo, badminton, fencing, shooting, archery, table tennis, swimming, diving, water polo and rugby-7. Considering the fact that European Games are to be conducted for the first time ever, negotiations with the European Olympic Committee on many issues are still continuing, therefore the figures voiced today may change. Talks are ongoing with the European Olympic Committee and European sports federations to determine the two non-Olympic sports to be included in the program of the competition.
Dear Mr. President, at the initial stage of preparations for the first European Games we have identified competition venues.
The competitions can be conducted in the Sport and Concert Complex named after Heydar Aliyev, the National Tofig Bahramov Stadium, the Baku Crystal Hall, the "Sarhadchi" Sports Complex, the Palace of Hand Games, the "8th km" Stadium, the Shooting Center and the Baku Expo Center.
The construction of the Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre and the Gymnastics Complex is to be completed by 2015, so these new sports facilities will also be used during the Games. The official opening and closing ceremonies of the first European Games are to be held at the Olympic Stadium with 65,000 seats, which is under construction near Lake Boyukshor in Baku.
I would like to bring to your attention the preliminary proposals regarding the sports facilities where competitions in various sports will be held. The wrestling and judo competitions are to be conducted at the 7,100-seat Sport and Concert Complex named after Heydar Aliyev. The handball and volleyball competitions are to be held at the Baku Crystal Hall, which seats 25,000 spectators. The rugby-7 competition is to be held at the "8th km" stadium which can accommodate 11,000 spectators. The competitions in table tennis, fencing and taekwondo are to be held at the Baku Expo Center. Boxing events are to take place at the 3,250-seat "Sarhadchi" Sports Complex, badminton at the 1,628-seat Palace of Hand Games and archery at the 7,000-seat "Shafa" Stadium.
During the first European Games, the competitions in Olympic and rhythmic gymnastics are to be held at the Gymnastics Complex. Competitions in swimming and diving are to be held at the aquatic center currently under construction in Baku. A temporary arena is to be built near the center to host the water polo competition. If track and field events are to be held, we can use the 32,200-seat National Stadium named after Tofig Bahramov. A temporary arena for beach volleyball is to be built at the boulevard."
Cutting from the closing speech of president Aliyev on the first meeting of the Organizing Committee of the European Games 2015:
"the facilities currently under construction should be commissioned on time. First and foremost among them, of course, is the Olympic Stadium. Work has already begun there. The Gymnastics Center – work is also under way there, masonry has been completed. The aquatic center – its construction has already started and I am sure it will be finished on time, as this is also a very important facility. And not just for the Games – the construction of a modern water sports center is extremely important for Baku. This decision was made several years ago. The decision to conduct the European Games in Baku had not been made yet when we began this work, prepared a project and conducted an exchange of views on possible locations. Finally, the aquatic center will be built on an area of the city after the Flag Square which has been prepared as part of the development plan of Baku. I believe that this is the right place because a center designed for water sports should be built on the seafront. I am sure that this palace will have an interesting architectural design and functional features.
So the commissioning of sports facilities is crucial. I am aware that the Organizing Committee is holding discussions associated with the placement of athletes. There are several opinions. Of course, the Azerbaijani state can build an accommodation for athletes. But we need to see whether it is possible to use the existing and already constructed buildings."
Source: http://en.president.az/articles/7175