Statement on EuroGames 2020 bid

12th September 2016

You may know that the LEAP Sports Scotland team has been working for almost a year now towards bidding for EuroGames 2020. 

We have been in negotiations with partners in Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau to establish a partnership, secure funding and commence the bidding process.

We regret to announce that we have not been able to secure the support required to be able to enter the current bidding cycle for 2020 and will not be proceeding with a bid for EuroGames 2020 at next year’s European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation Annual General Assembly.

Feedback from the Strategic Major Events Forum in Glasgow suggests that there is a will to bid for such an event and that there is favourable economic feasibility. The group does not believe that 2020 would be the right year for the city to host such an event.

Our own initial study strongly concluded with Glasgow as our preferred host city, and that EuroGames would be our preferred LGBTI games. The LEAP team will now revisit this initial study to consider alternative host cities in Scotland, will reconsider whether EuroGames, World OutGames or Gay Games constitutes the best possibility for a future Games in Scotland, as well as continuing negotiations with Glasgow.

We would like to express our sincerest thank you to everyone who helped us in our #BuildTheBid work, put their support behind the bid, and who have worked with us in preparation of the sporting, cultural and social programme for the bid.