Idman.biz
Baku has been declared the "World Sports Capital" for 2026. At the end of last year, the president of the European Federation of Sports Capitals and Cities (ACES), Gian Francesco Lupatelli, visited our capital and solemnly presented the corresponding plaque to Mayor Eldar Azizov.
Idman.Biz reports that Baku received this title from Monaco, which held it last year.
This status is the result of the capital consistently hosting major competitions and a successful sports policy. In recent years, Baku has hosted the Europa League final, matches of the European Football Championship, become the venue for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, and world championships in various sports have become commonplace.
This year, in addition to the "Royal Races", the capital will host the World Judo Championship, the European Volleyball Championship, World Cups in gymnastics, and many other tournaments.
Baku has repeatedly proven its high level of organization. However, to move to a qualitatively new stage, it is not enough just to hold competitions - the development of infrastructure, sports tourism and fan culture is important. In this regard, Australia, especially Melbourne, can be considered an interesting example.
Melbourne will host 11 major international tournaments this year. The first of them was the first "Grand Slam" tournament of the season - the "Australian Open". The final match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic was watched by 56,931 spectators from the stands, which is a new record for the decisive weekend.
Sports tourism occupies a special place in Melbourne. According to the World Tourism Organization, sports trips currently account for 10 percent of global tourism spending, and the volume of this market is projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2032. According to a study by Stasher, Melbourne is ranked fourth in the list of the world's best cities for sports tourism for 2026.
The city is home to the base of nine of the 18 Australian Football Leagues, as well as rugby, soccer, basketball and cricket teams. In the near future, the Melbourne Cricket Arena will host the first regular season game in the history of the US National Football League (NFL) to be held in Australia - the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers will face each other.
Brendan McKlements, CEO of Visit Victoria (visitmelbourne.com), said that such games strengthen the city's status as a global sports capital and create additional interest in tourism.
Melbourne's sports infrastructure and transport system are also exemplary. Getting to stadiums and back at night is not a problem, and public transport operates continuously until midnight. Complexes such as Rod Laver Arena, John Cain Arena and AAMI Park are concentrated around the Richmond station in the city center.
All this shows that the main components of success in Melbourne are not only high organization, but also a strong local fan base, a sports tourism strategy and accessible infrastructure. Baku has already made its mark in organizing major competitions, and now it has the opportunity to further enrich its sports life by taking advantage of the Australian experience.
