The European Athletics Council announced its decision after the Royal Dutch Athletics Federation, representatives of the city of Amsterdam and the Dutch Olympic Committee presented their candidacy to host the event at the continental body’s meeting in Helsinki, Finland. The Turkish city of Istanbul, which is bidding to host the 2020 Olympic Games, and Split in Croatia were the other candidates in the running.

“We are very pleased to confirm that Amsterdam will be the hosts of the European Athletics Championships in 2016,” European Athletics president Hansjorg Wirz said. “We are sure that we can look forward to a fantastic event.” The 22,000-seat Olympisch Stadion, which was built for the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, will be the centrepiece of the 2016 Championships.

The European Athletics Championships have never previously been staged in the Netherlands. The next edition of the event will take place in Helsinki from June 27 to July 1, 2012, before the 2014 Championships are staged in Zurich, Switzerland.