Upon invitation by the European Olympic Committees Association (EOC) and the Baku 2015 Organising Committee, representatives of the International Rowing Federation (FISA) visited Baku, Azerbaijan from 24 to 27 June 2013. The purpose of the visit was to assess venues for the possible inclusion of rowing in the inaugural 2015 European Games that are scheduled for June 2015.
The FISA representatives visited the city of Mingechevir, a well-known international training location in the centre of the country which offers 17 kilometers of training water on the Kur river just below the large Lake Mingechevir dam. While the facilities at the training centre in Mingechevir have been recently completely renovated and are world-class, several obstacles prevent it from being offered as a possible venue including the flow in the river, insufficient accommodation and its position for international access, 300 kilometres from Baku.
The second possible location was Lake Khojahasan on the western edge of Baku. It is a four kilometre long lake very near the city centre, in a newly unincorporated area. The government of Azerbaijan has confirmed that there is a well-advanced city development plan for this district of Baku, however, it will not be possible to finish the needed infrastructure development in time for the June 2015 date of the Games. The government is very positive about the possibility of including rowing and water sports on this lake for the future.
Therefore, after extensive investigation and consultation, unfortunately, FISA and the EOC have jointly come to the conclusion that rowing will not be on the programme of the 2015 European Games. However there are good prospects for 2019.