Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Good for Business, Latvia, Tourism
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Friday, 19.04.2024, 08:16
Mayor: up to 70,000 guests from abroad expected to attend EuroBasket 2015 in Riga
Print version |
|---|
| Photo: facebook.com |
''EuroBasket in Riga will gather a larger number of foreign guests for a relatively short period. This will be both a huge challenge and a huge opportunity for us. This will be week-long festival not only at ''Arena Riga'', but for the whole city. There will also be three special fan-zones located throughout the city during the tournament, but the main one will be at the Freedom Monument, where Latvian fans will be able to gather to cheer on the national team,'' Usakovs said, pointing out that he intends to attend all of Latvia's matches together with the mayors of Vilnius and Kaunas, as well as the vice-mayor of Tallinn.
Technical information about the tournament was also given during the press conference.
According to available information, several streets around ''Arena Riga'' will be closed for traffic, as well as on Aspazijas and Basteja boulevards in Old Town, where the fan-zone by the Freedom Monument will be located.
Furthermore, persons attending matches will have to go through a security check outside the fan-zone by ''Arena Riga''. Their tickets will then be checked when entering the arena itself.
Police will be on high-alert throughout the city to maintain order, and officer from Lithuania and Estonia are also expected to arrive to Riga to assist their Latvian colleagues.
Persons with tickets will be able to enter the arena 45 minutes before tip-off.
As reported, Latvia is in Group D in the preliminary round at this year's European Men's Basketball Championships together with Lithuania, Ukraine, Belgium, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
Latvia, who is hosting the group stage, will open the tournament on September 5 against Belgium.
The top four teams in each of the four groups will advance to the tournament's final 16, which will be played out in France from September 12 to 20.
The EuroBasket tournament will also serve as a qualification tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The top two teams will earn automatic qualification for the Olympics, while teams places 3rd through 7th will qualify for a special qualification tournament.
The last and only time Latvia has organized the European Men's Basketball Championships was in 1937, when it finished in 6th place.
«The Baltic Course» Is Sold and Stays in Business!
