The first major judo competition at the new £113 million ($177 million/€144 million) Emirates Arena will be the 2013 Glasgow European Open, which take place on October 19 and 20.

The competition, which is British Judo's showpiece event, attracts the world's leading nations and alternates each year between a men's and women's event, with 2013 set to be the men's competition.

The announcement comes with Glasgow also bidding for the prestigious 2015 European Judo Championships, a key competition ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Glasgow is up against Baku in Azerbaijan with the winner due to be announced later this month. 

If successful, the event will be delivered by Glasgow Life and supported by EventScotland and UK Sport.

"I am delighted that Glasgow Life and EventScotland has joined us in partnership to host our annual major international event in the city from 2013 to 2016," said British Judo chairman Kerrith Brown.

"Also Glasgow as the proposed host city are key partners in our 2015 European Championships bid and so will play an important role in our bid process and event delivery.

"EventScotland and UK Sport are also key stakeholders in our 2015 bid and we will continue to work alongside these over forthcoming years.

"We look forward to working with our key partners and delivering fantastic events in the city of Glasgow over the next few years."

EventScotland chief operating officer Paul Bush has also welcomed the announcement.

"Scotland is the perfect stage for major international events and we can now proudly add judo and the Glasgow European Open to our ever-growing portfolio," he said.

"It becomes the latest event to be confirmed for the new Emirates Arena, which is already delivering a legacy for events from Scotland hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"The Glasgow European Open will attract the world's top judoka and it will undoubtedly help us make the case for Glasgow's bid for the 2015 European Judo Championships."

Bush, who is also leading Glasgow's bid for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, believes the announcement will also help the city secure the event.

"Our bid to bring the 2018 Youth Olympic Games to Glasgow will inspire young people across the world to be champions in their lives and events such as the European Open will help us on that journey," he said.

"Bringing the Games to Glasgow would give young people a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in one of the world's greatest sporting events, in one of the world's greatest sporting and cultural cities."

Glasgow is bidding against Buenos Aires in Argentina and Medellin in Columbia for the right to stage the 2018 Youth Olympics with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) set to elect the host city in Lausanne on July 4.

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