Baku, June 25 AZERTAC

A daily press conference has been held here with participation of Baku European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) chief operating officer Simon Clegg (GBR), Farid Gayibov, secretary general of Azerbaijan's national Gymnastics Federation.

Simon Clegg on the sport competitions and residents in the Athletes Village: "Operations continue to run smoothly at all venues, with decommissioning continuing at venues that have completed their competition."

"Yesterday we had a total of 18,597 spectators attend 13 sessions at seven venues. Overall attendance rates in terms of tickets registered and people going through the turnstiles were 81 per cent of capacity."

"As of last night, we still had 3,317 athletes and officials resident in the Athletes Village, down from its peak on 20 June when we had 5,600 residents in the Athletes Village."

On the first day of beach soccer:

"Yesterday at the European Games Park, we saw beach soccer, which had its first day of competition. I had the opportunity to visit and thought the competition was absolutely fantastic."

"Joan Cusco, who is the vice-president of Beach Soccer Worldwide, said that never before in the history of beach soccer, not even at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, have they had an arena like they have here in Baku. He could not have been more complimentary - not only in terms of the arena, but in terms of all the arrangements that have been made for beach soccer athletes - and that is testament to all of the hard work that has gone on in the last 30 months."

Simon Clegg on Friday's competition: "Tomorrow is a national holiday as it is Armed Forces Day here in Azerbaijan and we expect spectator attendances to be higher across all venues. We are expecting up to 29,000 spectators tomorrow."

"From my perspective, I am absolutely delighted that all 50 members of the European Olympic Committees are here participating in Baku. This once again demonstrates the strength of sport and the unity of the Olympic movement."

"I am also very pleased looking at the medal table that 40 of the 50 countries won medals at these Games and have had a positive experience."

Farid Gayibov secretary general of Azerbaijan's national Gymnastics Federation on the inclusion of acrobatic gymnastics at Baku 2015: "Acrobatics aspires to be an Olympic sport and our Games are at the level of an Olympic Games. This was an important step forward for acrobatics."

On the legacy of the European Games and the benefits of the National Gymnastics Arena:

"The NGA is a top-level modern arena. I have been in this business for 30 years and this is a truly great venue. It represents a great opportunity for our athletes to train and get better results."

"We will continue developing all types of athletes and I am confident our athletes will achieve better results in future games thanks to the National Gymnastics Arena."