New Sports Palace opens in Tbilisi for EYOF 2015

The new Sports Palace will host the European Youth Olympic Festival's handball tournament.
Agenda.ge, 13 Jul 2015 - 18:40, Tbilisi,Georgia

A new and modern sports facility that will host young athletes at the upcoming European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) has opened today in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs each took a pair of scissors and cut a ribbon to signify the official opening of the new Sports Palace, located in Saburtalo.

Garibashvili stressed the EYOF, commonly known as Tbilisi 2015, was an unprecedented sporting event for Georgia.

"In just 13 days Tbilisi will host European Youth Olympic Festival. This is the biggest sporting event that has ever been held in Georgia. Today we opened a new Sports Palace, which opened specifically for this festival and is equipped with all the necessary infrastructure. I also want to note that construction works started in January and the sports complex was built in only six months.”

The Prime Minister said this building and other infrastructure built for the EYOF would remain under the ownership of the state once the competition had finished, and Georgian sportsmen and women would be able to use the facilities.

For more information about the venues, visit the EYOF 2015 website

During Tbilisi 2015 the new Sports Palace will host the handball tournament.

The complex featured two halls that are capable of hosting several sports, such as handball, basketball, volleyball, judo, wrestling, mini-football, fencing and more.

After the Olympic festival the complex will host top international tournaments in a range of sports. PM Garibashvili noted 24 local and international sporting tournaments were already scheduled to be held in the new Sports Palace in the future.