By Daniel Etchells in the Montafon Valley in Austria

Philipp Groborsch, chief executive of the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival, claims the costs of the Games are under control ©ÖOC/GEPAPhilipp Groborsch, chief executive of the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), which closed here last night, claimed the Organising Committee has reached a "balanced budget", with the overall cost of the Games estimated to stand at €6.5 million (£4.9 million/$7.3 million).

Prior to the event, Groborsch told insidethegames that they had learned a lot of lessons from Austria's staging of the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, for which the budget was considerably higher at €23.7 million (£17.7 million/$27.6 million).

Effective use of existing facilities and infrastructure, such as the Aktivpark Montafon, has allowed the 24-member Organising Committee, many of whom Groborsch knew from his role as head of operations and technology at Innsbruck 2012, to significantly reduce costs.

Reflecting on the success of the EYOF as it drew to a close with the Closing Ceremony, Groborsch paid tribute to those who have worked under his leadership.

"I want to thank my team who did a great job," he said.

"In addition to the successful handling of the Festival, we have reached a balanced budget and the costs are under control."

Peter Mennel, secretary general of the Austrian Olympic Committee, says the concerns over transport between venues were unfounded ©ÖOC/GEPAPeter Mennel, secretary general of the Austrian Olympic Committee, says the concerns over transport between venues were unfounded ©ÖOC/GEPA



There were concerns in the build-up to the event in Vorarlberg and Liechtenstein that the long journey times from the heart of the Festival in the neighbouring towns of Schruns and Tschagguns, to Malbun and Steg in Liechtenstein, could affect the preparation of athletes, despite measures being put in place to reduce them as much as possible.

But they proved to be unfounded as Peter Mennel, secretary general of the Austrian Olympic Committee, claimed.

"The most critical thing was the transportation but it was solved excellently and the athletes and coaches were very happy," he said. 

"The secretary general [Raffaele Pagnozzi] of the European Olympic Committees said there were no complaints and no questions in the Chef de Mission meeting.

"We finished the Chef de Mission meeting within a couple of minutes because we just had to explain what we wanted to do in the coming days."

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