The city of Prešov has successfully transformed its candidacy for the title of European City of Sport for 2025. At a press conference on 28 November 2024, the mayor of the city together with the ambassadors of the candidacy and representatives of Prešov sports clubs informed about it. In addition to winning the title, the mayor also presented visions of investments in sports infrastructure for the coming years.
The European City of Sport title (hereinafter referred to as „ECS title“) is awarded by ACES Europe, a non-profit organisation founded in 1999 and based in Brussels, which is recognised by the European Commission. ACES Europe's role is to promote sport among the Member States of the European Union, to raise awareness of sport and to create the best possible conditions for sport at all levels. Each year ACES Europe awards the European Capital of Sport, European City of Sport, European City of Sport and European Region of Sport. The title of ESC is awarded to cities in a number of categories, divided according to their population. The city of Prešov is in the category of cities with between 50 000 and 499 999 inhabitants.
As part of the assessment of Prešov, a foreign delegation consisting of five assessors from different European countries visited the city in May 2024. The visit in May was attended by the President of ACES Europe Gian Francesco Lupatelli from Italy, the Secretary General of the organization Hugo Alonso from Spain as well as other delegates Lukáš Vorel from the Czech Republic, Granit Rugova from Kosovo and Andrea Junger as a member of the Board of Directors of ACES Europe representing Slovakia.
The delegation spent one whole day touring the most important sports venues in Prešov. For example, they visited the Winter Stadium, Tatran Handball Arena, but they also visited the premises of the Faculty of Sport of the University of Prešov or the premises of the athletic complex at Šmeralova Primary School and many others. An important stop of the evaluation commission was also the under-construction Football Tatran Arena, where the president of ACES Europe appreciated the great determination of the city to complete this construction.
One of the criteria in the assessment of the city of Prešov for the title of EMŠ were, in addition to the already implemented investments in sports infrastructure, also those that the city is still planning. This topic was raised by the mayor at a press conference Winter stadium in Prešov. „The stadium has undergone significant renovation in the past, when the roof, the auditorium and part of the interiors were repaired. Now we are moving on and the investment this year will amount to 900 thousand euros. With the project, for which we have received a non-refundable financial contribution from the Sports Promotion Fund, we will be able to supply the stadium with the necessary air-conditioning, which will solve the problem of humidity, mould and poor ventilation of the changing rooms and other parts of the interior. The reconstruction will also affect the energy system, as winter sports and hockey in particular are probably the most energy-intensive. We will replace part of the boiler room, which will reduce the overall energy consumption of the building. With the help of the PSK (Prešov municipality) we have also brought a modern multimedia cube to the „ice rink“ and we are currently working on the project documentation for the next call for NFP in 2025 for the cladding of the building,“ mentioned the mayor of the town František Oľha.
There was also talk about the biggest investment in sports infrastructure in the history of the city. It is Football Tatran Arena, which is already slowly taking its final shape. The last big meeting of all the construction stakeholders confirmed the completion of the works by the end of February/March 2025 at the latest, so that the city can host the U21 European Football Championships.
The mayor also thanked the management of the football club 1.FC Tatran, which is also successful in applications for NFP. It managed to obtain 430 thousand euros, which, together with the amount of 360 thousand euros from the city, will go to football academy project, whose priority is the development of youth football. This project will renovate the stands, create new changing rooms with a rehabilitation line and install new turf. The football academy is also connected with another project of the city supported by a subsidy from the Prešov Self-Governing Region. Thanks to this project, new changing rooms in the form of unim cells with solar panels and a new irrigation system for the playing field were built in the equestrian area.
The vision and visualizations were presented to the journalistic community at a press conference project of multi-sports zone and revitalization of skatepark. „This is a project that is already ready for the implementation phase. It has shown us how important participation and involvement of the sporting community for which the space will be intended is in the creation of even such public spaces. We have agreed with the skateboarders that they will be able to adapt the sports part of the project to their actual needs, and the result is a truly unique and, above all, functional sports ground project. We could look for a contractor and start the actual construction in spring 2025,“ Mayor Oľha added at the skatepark.
An important point of the presentation of investments in sports infrastructure was all-sports complex, which has long been the subject of many internet discussions and media questions. „Probably few people know about it, but currently we have completed a feasibility study of the entire complex, which is to include an indoor swimming pool, a training hall for hockey and a multi-sport hall for various ball sports such as handball volleyball and basketball. We also already have the project for the planning permission for the indoor swimming pool in hand and have started the process of settling the strategic land plots. At the same time, we have already submitted the tender documents for the design of the internal roads and car parks,“ Mayor Oľha revealed during the project.
The mayor concluded the meeting with the media with a promise that he will gradually bring information about other planned investments in sports facilities in Prešov, which are in various stages of development.
Prešov will, in addition to sports results and investments in sports infrastructure to present a new visual identity linked to the title. At the press conference, the mayor presented the new logo manual, which contains all the information regarding the official logo for Prešov for 2025, including instructions for its use, prohibited forms of its use, as well as the design of gifts and promotional items.
Text source: press release https://www.presov.sk/presov-sa-stal-europskym-mestom-sportu-oznam/mid/491237/.html
