Cardiff will host the EuroGames 2027

By a hair’s breadth: the delegates of the EGLSF (European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation) decided in favour of Cardiff as the host for the EuroGames 2027 by 60 votes to 59 – this would be the first time in the history of the EuroGames that they have been held in a city in Great Britain. Congratulations Cardiff and we wish you a wonderful EuroGames 2027.

So close! So disappointing for Munich! The shock at the close result was more than obvious, not just to us but to many participants at the Annual General Assembly (AGA) in Antwerp. And – yes – we also shed a tear or two before we bravely smiled for the last photo.

Despite our disappointment, we stand behind what we have created in the past year with full conviction. We are sure that our visionary ideas were right on the pulse of the times – especially our plans to support athletes from Eastern Europe. We would have loved to help make the world a little more colourful, happier and fairer.

Erika Patrikainen, General Secretary of the EGLSF, confirmed this in an email to us: „We thank you for preparing an excellent EuroGames bid and presentation. Our whole board, and I believe also everyone in the AGA, could feel and share your disappointment. Once again we wished there could be more than one winner. We do wish that Munich will continue being an active participant in the European LGBTIQ+ sport scene, and keep on organising all the great events that you are already working on.“

And what remains? The memory of an eventful time, lots of ideas, new friendships and the hope that things will work out next time. Because: the result may be sad, but we won’t let it discourage us. Our community is far too committed and energetic, far too creative and diverse, far too present and persistent for that.

Which brings us to the next and perhaps most important point of this last newsletter issue: our thanks to the City of Munich, the Olympic Park, to ZHS and TU München, to our sponsors Allianz, Bristol Myers Squibb, BMW and Deutsche Bahn and to everyone, who believed in us, validated us and supported us so often. We will never forget the huge crowd that gathered on the balcony of Munich City Hall on the Sunday before our departure to cheer for the video clip of our presentation.