As well as undertaking discussions with bid partners, including the Scottish Government, EventScotland, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Athletics and British Athletics, the group will tour the Emirates Arena to gauge its capability of hosting the event.

The itinerary includes a visit to Scotstoun Sports Campus, which has been identified as a training venue for competitors, while Glasgow’s accommodation provision will also be assessed with a view to hosting hundreds of athletes and, potentially, thousands of fans from around Europe.

Glasgow, which staged the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is competing against Apeldoorn, Minsk and Toruń and is the only candidate to have held the event previously having staged the 1990 edition at Kelvin Hall.

A decision is expected on April 23, following presentations by the bidders in Amsterdam.

On Saturday (February 20), Glasgow will stage the final leg of the newly-created International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Indoor Tour, following the penultimate installment of the 2016 series in Sweden’s capital Stockholm tomorrow.

"This weekend’s 2016 Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix has sold out months in advance, demonstrating the huge support for elite athletics there is within the Scottish public," said Niels de Vos, chief executive of British Athletics.

"I’m delighted that Glasgow City and EventScotland decided to build on the success of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and previous British Athletics events held in the city by bidding to host European Athletics’ flagship indoor event at the Emirates Arena in 2019.

"We know that, if successful, Glasgow would establish a new standard for the European Athletics Indoor Championships against which all future editions would be measured, and we hope the delegation have a successful visit."

The Emirates Arena was used during the 2014 Commonwealth Games and for various other events since, including the Davis Cup tennis semi-final between Britain and Australia last September.

"Glasgow has a growing reputation as a world-class venue for athletics, putting the city in a strong position to secure the bid," said Jamie Hepburn, Scotland’s Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health.

"There are very few indoor venues as good as the Emirates Arena, and we have some of the most enthusiastic fans.

"I am looking forward to the up-and-coming Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix, which will be an ideal opportunity to showcase how well we can stage events like this in Scotland, and hope we will see the European Athletics Indoor Championships at this fabulous venue in 2019."

Apeldoorn is aiming to bring the Championships back to The Netherlands for the first time since 1989, when The Hague played host.

Toruń will be looking to follow in the footsteps of fellow Polish city Katowice, which staged the 1975 edition, while Minsk is vying to welcome Europe’s finest athletes to Belarus for the first time ever.

The 2016 European Athletics Championships are due to be held in Amsterdam and the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships will be in Serbia's capital Belgrade.

It has also been confirmed that the 2018 European Athletics Championships will be staged in Berlin as part of the newly-established European Sports Championships, which is due to be held every four years.

Other events involving swimming, cycling, triathlon, rowing and golf will hold their European Championships during the same period in Glasgow.