Lisbon has beaten out The Hague, Netherlands to be named 2021 European Capital of Sport by the European Capitals and Cities of Sport Federation.
Lisbon joins a roster that includes Marseille this year, Sofia next year, Budapest in 2019 and Malaga in 2020. The honor goes to one city each year that shows “responsibility and ethics, being aware that sport is a factor of aggregation of the society, improvement in the quality of life, psycho-physical well-being and complete integration within social classes in the community.”
The winning city also generally hosts a number of special sports events and spiffs up its sport facilities. Lisbon is planning to spend about €26 million on improved facilities.
