Less than a year remains until the start of the fourth European Games, which will be held in Istanbul from June 16 to 27, 2027.
As reported by İdman.Biz, the sports program for the continental multi-sport event has already been approved and will feature 26 disciplines. For several of them, the Games will serve as an important qualification stage for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, with both direct Olympic quotas and ranking points set to be available. The final confirmation of each sport depends on agreements between the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the Organizing Committee and the respective international and European federations.
Rowing coastal sprint, weightlifting and squash will make their European Games debut in Istanbul. Squash is also scheduled to make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028. Gymnastics, volleyball and wrestling will return to the European Games after missing the Krakow 2023 edition.
EOC Coordination Commission Chairman Mihai Covaliu described Istanbul 2027 as an important milestone on the road to the Olympic Games.
"With 26 sports and extensive qualification opportunities, the Games will provide Europe's athletes with a high-level platform for both competition and Olympic qualification," Covaliu said.
Istanbul 2027 Organizing Committee CEO Veli Ozan Cakir added that the event would showcase both the strength and diversity of European sport.
"We have developed a sports program that reflects both sporting excellence and the vision of our city," he said.
The program includes 3x3 basketball, aquatics, archery, athletics (European Athletics Team Championships), badminton, boxing, canoe sprint, fencing, gymnastics, judo, karate, kickboxing, modern pentathlon, muaythai, padel, rowing coastal sprint, rugby sevens, shooting, sport climbing, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for June 16, with the Games concluding on June 27.
Attention is now focused on the signing of agreements between the EOC, the Organizing Committee and the continental federations. European Gymnastics president Farid Gayibov said the sport remains a priority for the Games, with the federation aiming to include the same six gymnastics disciplines that were featured at the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015 and later in Minsk: men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, acrobatics, aerobic gymnastics and trampoline.
More than 100 Olympic quota places for Paris 2024 were awarded at the 2023 European Games in Krakow. With wrestling returning to the program, the number of qualification spots available in Istanbul could be even higher.
