ACES Europe – European Capitals and Cities of Sport Federation has granted Batumi a city of Sport status for 2019. Batumi is the first city in Georgia, which applied to the organization. A special commission visited Georgia in July for the inspection purposes. The ACES Europe Commission, headed by the federal President – Francesco Lupatelli, visited several sport facilities during his visit and evaluated the current situation.

According to the report prepared by ACES Europe, Batumi is a good example of sport, education and health, which ACES Europe generally strives for; Exemplary sport policy and infrastructure, programs and activities are present in Batumi. With this criterion, Batumi was awarded with the title of the European city of Sport. This fact proves that Georgia is considered as one of the sports countries in Europe. In addition, the accepted status in the country will promote healthy lifestyle and popularization of sport amongst the youth. Sports development has been declared as one of the priority directions in Georgia by the Georgian government.

We would like to remind you, that the 43^rd World Chess Olympiad will be held in Batumi this year, in which 4 000 professionals and delegates from 189 countries will participate. Batumi hosts numerous international sports events this year. In addition, the existing sports infrastructure will soon become a multifunctional two-story sports palace, ice hall and international football stadium constructed under the official UEFA standards, intended for 20,000 spectators.

Annually, ACES Europe gives European cities the official statuses such as: "European Sports Capital", "European Sport City", "European Sports Community" and "Small Sport City of Europe".

The official title and the flag of the European sports city will be awarded to the city of Batumi on December 4, 2018 at the awards ceremony, which will be held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The ceremony will be attended by members of the European Parliament, various Ministers, and mayors of the European cities. Delegations from Malaga, Lisbon and Hague will attend the award ceremony.