Prague, April 29 (CTK) – Prague will host the European Judo Championships in 2020, the European Judo Union decided on Sunday, the Czech Judo Union has announced on Facebook.
Apart from the Czech Republic, Serbia and Romania wanted to host the championships.
Czech Judo Union head Jiri Dolejs said the guarantee of financial support from the Czech government was the key step without which it would not be possible for Prague to apply for hosting the event.
Dolejs thanked the government and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport for their support.
When the government approved the financial support of 45.5 million crowns for the championship in March, Education Minister Robert Plaga said the event would bring foreign tourists to the city.
Plaga said the Czech public is expected to show high interest in it thanks to the successes of Czech judo fighters and the championship is likely to make judo more popular in the country.
On Saturday, Czech judoka Lukas Krpalek won the gold medal in the heavyweight +100 kg category at the European championship in Tel Aviv. He has become European champion for the third time. Krpalek is also the Olympic champion from 2016 in the -100 kg class.
The costs of the 2020 European Judo Championship are estimated at 66.5 million crowns. The organisers will cover the rest of the sum from sponsors, its own sources and the contributions of the national federations participating in the event.
Prague hosted the event already once, in 1991.
