BAKU, Azerbaijan — Just as the inaugural European Games have sought to establish themselves on the global sporting calendar, so host nation Azerbaijan has used the event to make its mark on the world stage. Both have faced widespread skepticism — the games over the patchy standard of competition, Azerbaijan over the jailing of government critics and barring of foreign journalists. Nevertheless, as the European Games end Sunday, the oil-rich, ex-Soviet state's government is hailing them as a triumph and is now considering bidding for the Olympics. "It's all about your economic strength, it's all about your level of development," presidential advisor Ali Hasanov said Saturday. "Azerbaijan is the country that actually promotes rights and standards, so I suppose we are able to host even higher-level sporting events." Azerbaijan has until September to decide whether to bid for the 2024 Olympics, something which Sports Minister Azad Rahimov said would require "detailed analysis" of the European Games. However, Patrick Hickey, the Irish head of the European Olympic Committees, told The Associated Press Sunday that he expects Azerbaijani officials to "announce very shortly that they will be a bidder" for future Olympics.?Azerbaijan's capital Baku would not need to build much. The European Games have been hosted in gleaming arenas, many of them new and built with the country's oil wealth. The jewel in the crown is the 68,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, which hosts the closing ceremony later Sunday. The choice of Azerbaijan as host was always controversial, with the country's human rights record coming under close scrutiny. Opposition activists and human rights campaigners accused the government of trying to silence critics ahead of the games by jailing them on trumped-up charges. The authorities claim the prosecutions were valid. Sport and politics mixed on the night of the opening ceremony as prominent opposition journalist Emin Huseynov, who had spent 10 months sheltering in the Swiss embassy after being accused of financial crimes, was allowed to leave the country on the Swiss foreign minister's plane. Some journalists who had previously reported on human rights issues in Azerbaijan were not issued accreditation for the games by the country's authorities. Baku's arenas have been packed with home fans at almost every event despite concerns over the quality of some of the sporting competition. Athletics was held as a team competition for Europe's weakest track and field nations, while swimming was for under-18s only. Hickey admits the two sports were "not the real deal" in Baku and says he is making progress in arranging higher-level competitions in those sports for the next European Games in 2019. Other events, particularly those offering qualifying spots for the Olympics, have seen much stronger fields. "Azerbaijan did a great job," Hickey said. "It's given us a great European spirit. Many countries have won medals here that would not win medals in the Olympic Games, so it's given us a real continental games feel." — AP
