TIRANA, October 7/ATA/ Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj held a meeting with athletes, presidents of sports associations and sports representatives, to discuss the city of Tirana applying to receive the title of European Capital of Sport for 2023.
During the meeting where there were present athletes who have brought gold medals to Albania, Veliaj said that it is worth every thought and lobbying for Tirana to win this title, so that to continue with the success of the European Youth Capital, now also in sports.
“We were in need of the European Youth Capital title because it carries prestige for the city, a stimulus, a way to advertise the city’s name. Therefore, I believe that receiving the title of European Capital of Sport 2023 is very important for Tirana and Albanian sport,” said Veliaj.
The mayor added that Tirana is investing more than ever before in sports and according to him, this will continue with the realization of big projects, regardless of the title next year.
“We will start the works for the new Sports Palace “Asllan Rusi”; we will do the same with the “Selman Stërmasi” stadium. We, with or without the title, will organize the Tirana Marathon as well as the Triathlon. Of course, the title gives us one more incentive, but this is the year to make these investments, as we used the Year of Youth to build more gyms and more sports fields,” said Veliaj.
The title “European City of Sport 2023” is awarded to various European cities by the ACES EUROPE, affiliated to the European Commission in Brussels. Some of the cities that have received this title are: Getafe and Bilbao (Spain), Florence and Siena (Italy), Leuven (Belgium), Rovaniemi (Finland), Setubal and Braga (Portugal), Nice and Pau (France), Tiburg (Netherlands), Innsbruck (Austria) etc. /k.s/p.s./
