Igor Ananskikh, the head of the Russian State Duma Committee for Physical Education, Sports and Youth, said that all the sports community was excited about the start of the I European Games in Baku. In his words, Russia did its best to prepare seriously for the Games, planning to win around 40 medals.
Vladislav Tretyak, a member of the State Duma, the president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, had earlier expressed eagerness to attend the Games, invited by Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Lady of Azerbaijan, the president of the Heydar Aliyev Fund, a member of the executive committee of the Azerbaijani Organizing Committee, a goodwill ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO.
Baku will host the Games on June 12-28, 2015. Athletes will compete in 20 types of sports. 9 types will be licensed within the framework of the Olympic Games set for Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Over 6,000 athletes from 49 countries will compete for 239 sets of medals.
Mehriban Aliyev, who successfully organized the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku in 2012, is heading the Organizing Committee of the European Games. The Games will promote peace and good relations between nations and states of the European continent.
