European 100m & 200m Champion Francis Obikwelu will be looking forward to the SPAR European Team Championships on home soil next year.

European Athletics is pleased to announce that Portugal has been chosen to host the first ever SPAR European Team Championships in 2009. 

Portugal, who has never hosted Europe's premier Team Athletics competition, will create its own history when it organises the Super League in the first edition of the new SPAR European Team Championships.

The Local Organising Committee has received significant support from the Portuguese Government through Laurentino Dias, the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport. 

Speaking about his country's selection to host this inaugural event, a delighted Mr Dias said,  

"It is a great honour for Portugal to be awarded the first ever edition of the European Team Championships and we are confident, no matter which city wins the right to host the event, that it will be a big success." 

"Portuguese athletics is on a real high at the moment and we are very fortunate to have athletes of the calibre of double European Sprints Champion Francis Obikwelu, World Triple Jump Champion Nelson Evora and double European Long Jump Champion Naide Gomes. They are big stars in Portugal and I am sure the Portuguese public will come out in droves to support them on home soil in this prestigious competition." 

European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz said, 

"As part of the competition restructure our organisation is undertaking, the Team Championships is a crucial initiative for us and I believe the expansion of the number of teams to 12 will provide significantly more excitement and drama to our audiences" 

"Along with this, the expansion has also allowed us to bring the event to a wider selection of venues and I am delighted to be making history by awarding the event to Portugal which has a huge tradition in organising major athletics events." 

Although Portugal has never hosted the top division of the European Cup, it has significant experience in organising major athletics events as can be seen below. 

The venues for the other leagues will be announced in October at the latest. 

The divisions for the 2009 European Team Championships, which will take place on the weekend of June 20-21, 2009, are as follows:

Super League:  

Russia, Great Britain, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Ukraine, Greece, Sweden, Czech Republic, Portugal

First League:  

European Indoor & Outdoor Long Jump Champion Naide Gomes

Belarus, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey, Belgium, Hungary, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Switzerland, Serbia, Norway

Second League: 

Ireland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Austria, Cyprus

Third League: 

Moldova, Israel, Denmark, Bosnia, Iceland, Luxembourg, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Armenia, AASSE, Albania, Andorra, Macedonia

Major Athletics events hosted in Portugal: 

European Cups - Various leagues 

1975  Lisbon (POR)
1983  Lisbon (POR)
1987  Maia (POR)
1991  Viseu (POR)
1996  Lisbon (POR)
2005  Leiria (POR)
2008  Leiria (POR) 

SPAR European Cross Country Championships 

1997 Oeiras (POR) 

IAAF World Junior Championships 

1994 Lisbon (POR) 

IAAF World Indoor Championships 

2001 Lisbon (POR) 

IAAF World Cross Country Championships 

2000 Vilamoura (POR) 

IAAF World Road Race Championships 

2003 Vilamoura (POR) 

For more information on the format of the European Team Championships please click here :