Kazan is recognized as a world sports capital

(KZN.RU, November 7) On November 6, late in the evening, the 7th International Sports Event Management (ISEM) awards ceremony – the most prestigious international awards for achievements in  sports management – was held in London.

Following last July's Summer Universiade, Kazan won the special prize “Highly Commended Sport City” as one of the best places in the world to host international sporting events, along with London, Dubai and Auckland. Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin received the high award from vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, Sir Craig Reedy.

The Kazan Universiade was also the winner in the Most Innovative Event and Event Look categories. The Bronze Award for Best Use of Sponsorship went a Universiade partner –  PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Award Ceremony is held annually within the framework of the ISEM International Professional Conference, where sports managers from all over the world share their experience. Winners are determined by the jury consisting of representatives of sports federations and organizing committees of sporting events.

This year, the contest received more than 100 bids from such countries as the USA, the UK, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Qatar, the UAE and others. Among the 2013 nominees were the organizers of the FIFA Confederations Cup, UEFA Champions League, one of the Grand Slam tournaments (Wimbledon, UK), Davis Cup tennis tournaments in Qatar and Dubai, the world championship of figure skating and other famous sports events.

Receiving the award, Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin noted the importance of the recognition of Kazan as a world-class sports city: "Thanks to the Universiade, great sports infrastructure was created in Kazan, which allows any person to play sports and stay in good shape. We are glad that our hospitality and desire to hold the best World Student Games in the history of sports were so highly appreciated by the experts."

"We hope that this is not the last award in the field of sports event management that our city gets because we are going to host a number of the highest-rated and most important sporting events in the next five years, including the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup. We have a great team that gained invaluable experience during the Universiade. And we would like Kazan to hold more sports events in the future – we are ready for them," said Ilsur Metshin.