Banská Bystrica 2022 organisers have met with National Federations in Slovakia ©Getty Images

The Organising Committee of the Banská Bystrica 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) has held a meeting with representatives of 11 National Federations in Slovakia to discuss preparations for the event.

Representatives from the national bodies for athletics, swimming, triathlon, tennis, basketball, badminton, cycling, judo, handball, volleyball and gymnastics met with EYOF organisers and Ivan Husár, Slovakia's State Secretary for Sport.

Discussions focused on those 11 sports, which will all be part of the event, and how organisers are arranging for it.

"Our goal is to prepare EYOF, which will make Slovakia and Banská Bystrica visible, and give us opportunity to show that also our small country is capable of organizing big international event," said Ján Nosko, President of the Organising Committee and Mayor of Banská Bystrica.

"EYOF can also help with the development of sport in Slovakia and its popularisation among young people."

During the meeting, representatives of National Federations received information about the project, including the proposed programme and budget.

They also learned about the venues, construction plans, the EYOF's structure, accommodation and transport projects.

Six sports are set to take place at the sports park in Štiavničky - athletics, swimming, judo, tennis, badminton and triathlon.

Other areas including media operations, marketing, security, health, anti-doping, catering and sustainability were also covered.

Organisers say strategic meetings like this one will take place regularly ahead of the EYOF, and individual meetings will be held with National Federations too.

"The national sports associations will help us with quality people in terms of staff, material and technical support as well as promotion," added Peter Hamaj, executive director of Banská Bystrica 2022.

Next year's EYOF is scheduled to be held from July 24 to 30.

Košice in Slovakia was initially set to host the event, but withdrew in 2019 due to financial complications, leading to Banská Bystrica replacing it.

In May 2020, it was moved from 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to avoid a clash with the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The EYOF is a multi-sport competition for European athletes aged 14 to 18.