European Capital of Sport 2014.
The announcement was made by officials from the European Capitals of
Sports Association (ACES) at an event held in Valencia this week.
The winning bid followed an inspection of the city by a team of
delegates from Europe.
During the visit they took a tour of some of the city’s sporting
facilities including Cardiff International White Water and Cardiff
City Stadium.
It was recognised that Cardiff has firmly established itself as a
leading city for sport, offering state of the art stadiums and
facilities including the Millennium Stadium, SWALEC Stadium and
Cardiff International Sport Stadium.
The title of European Capital of Sports recognises the city’s
commitment to providing sport as a social function whilst using it to
improve the quality of life and wellbeing of its citizens.
Cardiff has played host to many national and international events,
including the Ashes, Rugby World Cup and FA Cup finals, helping to
secure a worldwide audience of millions.
The Judges were particularly impressed with the support of grassroots
sport through its Sport.Cardiff programme helping to train and deploy
hundreds of coaches into schools, sports clubs and communities and has
provided over 350,00 participatory opportunities.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Rodney Berman said: “There is no denying
the city already has a fantastic sporting pedigree.
“We have successfully delivered several large sporting events,
established a leading grass roots sports programme and have some
fantastic first class sports venues. Our approach to the development
of sport through both the Private and Voluntary sectors has been
heralded by the Judges as a best case example for Europe.
“Cardiff is an ambitious city and this will be a huge boost not only
further heightening our status as a top sporting destination but
underlining our commitment to sport as a way of promoting health and
wellbeing.”
Executive Member for Sport Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells
said: “To be awarded European Capital of Sports recognises the city’s
investment of time and money to establish a successful sporting
infrastructure and our dedication to ensuring there is access for
sport to all.”
“We should be both proud of the recognition and excited by what the
future holds for sporting opportunities in the capital.”
President of ACES, Gianfrancesco Lupattelli said: “Cardiff is a
wonderful city with a genuine ambition to use sport to improve and
change the lives of its citizens, there is a real connection between
facility development, major events and grass roots school and
community sport, the award for Cardiff is well deserved and they can
now join a growing network of European Capitals and Cities”
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