Glasgow, Berlin to host European Sports Championships in '18

LONDON (AP) Track and field and swimming will feature in a new European Sports Championships to be held in 2018 in Germany and Scotland.

Rowing, cycling and triathlon will also be part of the event, which will be staged in Berlin and Glasgow in July and August. Golf could also be added to the program in Scotland.

The federations for each sport agreed to coordinate their existing European Championships at the same time of year under the new banner.

''This innovative and cooperative approach brings these six existing European championships together, in a single 12-day period, once every four years in order to continue building their prestige, profile and media exposure in a sustainable way,'' organizers said in a statement Thursday.

The European Broadcasting Union, the umbrella body for the continent's public networks, will televise the events.

The European athletics championships will be held at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The other championships will take place in Scotland, including the aquatics competition at Glasgow's Tollcross International Swimming Center. Open water swimming will be held at Loch Lomond.

Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Considering golf's tradition in Scotland, organizers hope to include a golf championship at Gleneagles.

The new championships would appear to pose a challenge to the newly-created European Games, a multi-sport event that will make its debut in June in Baku, Azerbaijan. Europe's top track and field athletes and swimmers are not taking part.

The European Olympic Committees are in the process of selecting a venue for the 2019 games.