The Azerbaijani capital decided to pull out to concentrate on the three major events it has already been awarded.

They are due to stage the inaugural European Games here in 2015 and the Islamic Solidarity Games two years later. 

In between, in 2016, they are hosting the World Chess Olympiad, the biggest event on that sport's calendar.

Azerbaijani officials feared that they would struggle to cope with the Universiade, which this year in Kazan attracted a record 10,442 athletes, because of the lack of accommodation and transport problems.

"Taking into account that Baku will host three large scale events between 2015 and 2017 it seems to be impossible to provide new accommodations within two years for all participants, athletes, sports officials, family and friends, media and guests of the FISU Universiade in 2019," said Tofig Khanaliyev, President of Freewill Student Sport Society of Azerbaijan, who was leading the bid.

But Baku would bid again for the Universiade, which claims to be the second biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympics, Khanaliyev promised.

"Azerbaijan gives a huge amount of investment in youth, sport and education spheres which increases year by year and the Government plans to continue this process in upcoming years," he said.

"In order to provide the best conditions for the young people and also to be an excellent host for the Universiade Games the new planning will focus on the specific requirements of FISU and on eco-friendly and sustainable buildings."

Baku is hosting the 2015 European Games and this week staged the European Olympic Committees Coordination Commission, including President Patrick Hickey, being shown some of the facilities here by Azerbaijan's Sports Minister Azad Rahimov

Baku is currently preparing to host the first European Games in two years, an event that that is expected to attract up to 7,000 athletes competing in 18 sports from 49 countries across the continent. 

A state-of-the-art Athletes' Village has been built for the event but that is due to be sold off as private housing after the Games

"The sports venues would be 100 per cent ready if we hosted the 2019 Universiade," Azerbaijan's Sports Minister Azad Rahimov told insidethegames here.

"But we do not know about the accommodation, which is why we have decided to postpone our bid."

The International University Sports Federation (FISU) is due to choose host cities for both the 2019 Summer and Winter Universiades at its headquarters in Brussels on November 9.

While Budapest and Brasilia will be battling for the Summer Games, the Winter edition is set to be awarded to Krasnoyarsk in Russia after the only other candidate, Valais from Switzerland, withdrew to concentrate on bidding for 2021. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2013: Universiade 2019 bid cities hand over final dossiers at FISU headquarters
April 2013: Candidate cities for 2019 Summer and Winter Universiade unveiled