Liepāja is one of the 19 municipalities in Europe which have been awarded the title for 2016.
It is also the first city in the Baltic region to receive the title.
A delegation from ACES Europe visited Liepāja in July this year and examined the city’s sports infrastructure and accomplishments in development of sports to assess whether it qualified for the title of the European City of Sport.
Artis Lagzdiņš, head of the the Liepāja Sports Department, is glad for the received evaluation. However, the title also confers responsibility to strive to make the sports event offers and possibilities better in the city, he told Latvian Radio Thursday.
ACES Europe is a non-profit association based in Brussels which, since 2001 assigns the recognition awards of European Capital, City, Community and Town of Sport each year.
The title for European City of Sport is granted to cities with 25,000 to 500,000 inhabitants.