The European Athletics Council has allocated the hosting of the 2016 SPAR European Cross Country Championships to Chia, Italy, subject to receiving a guarantee for television production of the event.
Chia made an impressive presentation Saturday morning during the 140th European Athletics council meeting in Paris-Chantilly.
The southern Sardinian coastal area must provide a letter of guarantee by the end of January 2015.
The 23rd edition of the event will be held on Sunday 11 December with six races taking place. Along with the individual races, there will be separate team standings for each race.
The Bulgarian town of Samokov is set to host the 21st edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships on Sunday 14 December.
The Council also decided, following a proposal of the French Athletics Federation, that the 2015 SPAR European Cross Country Championships will be held in Toulon-Hyères subject to all conditions of the organisation being met.
A logistical and technical evaluation of the site will be carried out by a European Athletics delegation on 18 November. The French federation decided to relocate the 22nd edition of the event from Paray-le-Monial.