After the official announcement in Bucharest in 2024, the Summer EYOF 2027 in Lignano was presented in Frankfurt during the 54th assembly of the EOC, the Association of European Olympic Committees, which concluded on Saturday, March 1, 2025. The European Youth Olympic Festival will return to Lignano and Friuli Venezia Giulia in July 2027 after 22 years.
The tourist resort of Friuli is ready for this great event dedicated to young athletes from all over Europe. A beautiful challenge and a great opportunity to strengthen the image of Lignano as an international sports city thanks to the facilities and structures present in the territory, excellent logistics, and many years of experience in organizing large multisport world events.
The numbers of the eighth edition of the games, held in 2005, give an idea of the magnitude of the initiative: 3,000 athletes, 11 sports disciplines, 48 European Olympic committees, 1,227 volunteers, 5,689 accredited people, including 117 journalists, 409 referees, 100,000 spectators in the stadiums, and 11 million visits to the official website during the 5 days of competitions.
Together with the president of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, the regional delegation in Frankfurt was represented by the mayor of Lignano Sabbiadoro, Laura Giorgi, accompanied by the sports councilor, Giovanni Iermano, the Olympic fencing champion, Mara Navarria, and the president of CONI Friuli Venezia Giulia, Giorgio Brandolin, who, in recent months, managed all relations with the highest international and national sports institutions, maintaining contacts directly with the president and secretary general of the EOC and with the same national president of CONI.
The sports disciplines of Lignano 2027 will be 13 and other municipalities in the region will also be involved. This candidacy, which can count on the full support of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, is part of a broader program aimed at further developing the consolidated sporting vocation of the city of Lignano Sabbiadoro and the region itself, which, in 2023, hosted the Winter edition of EYOF.
In the photo, the regional delegation is together with the president of CONI, Giovanni