The Netherlands has been awarded the contract to host the 2019 European Games, despite a number of financial concerns.

The Netherlands was the only country to bid to stage the games, which are a new event in the international sports calendar and will be held every four years. The first edition takes place in Baku next month.

The Dutch Olympic and national athletics committee NOC*NSF will now press ahead with trying to sort out the finances in the next few weeks.

The organisation of the 2019 games has a price tag of €125m which the sports body hopes to raise from national, local and provincial government as well as commercial sponsorship.

A number of sports associations are known to be concerned about the finances and have criticised the government for not coming forward with a substantial part of the budget. Rotterdam and Utrecht have also pulled out of the organising process because of the costs.

The sports ministry says it will take a decision on whether or not to support the event by the end of June.