Taipei; 21 October 2016: The Executive Committee of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) has completed two days of meetings in Taipei, host of the 29th Summer Universiade.
The ongoing preparations for both the Winter Universiade 2017 in Almaty (29 January – 8 February) and the Summer Universiade 2017 in Taipei (19 – 30 August) were the focus of the discussions, with the Executive Committee concluding that both Organising Committees are on track to deliver two excellent events.
FISU President Oleg Matytsin said: “I am very happy with how the past two days have gone. The overall outcome is the complete alignment of FISU’s Executive Committee over our course of action as we enter a special year for University sport in 2017.
“It is FISU’s duty to organise and promote University-level sport in a manner which facilitates students becoming leaders of tomorrow. In order to ensure university students learn as much as they can from sport, FISU must ensure students enjoy the best possible experiences of sport. I am confident that FISU and our partners will provide world-class sporting experiences next year, first in winter with Almaty 2017 and then in summer with Taipei 2017.”
Leadership teams from both of next year’s Universiade host cities also provided reports to the Executive Committee.
Almaty 2017 Deputy Director Ruslan Assaubayev said: “The Winter Universiade 2017 is the biggest multisport event ever hosted in Kazakhstan. So we set an ambitious target to make Almaty 2017 the best in the history of student winter games.
“It is a great honour for all Kazakhstan people to be hosting the Universiade in Almaty and imposes enormous responsibility on all parties involved. Huge attention is being paid to the preparation processes, including the personal involvement of the President, Prime Minister, the Government of the Kazakhstan and the Almaty city mayor.
“Our Organising Committee is now in its operational phase. The construction of three brand new venues – the 12,000-seat Almaty Arena, the 3,000-seat Halyk Arena and the Athletes’ Village for 5,000 athletes – has been finished even earlier than planned, and all to a very high standard.
“Existing venues are currently being renovated and we see tangible progress every day. Working with the city administration, we will provide all Almaty 2017 Winter Universiade participants and spectators with a secure and comfortable stay and a highly engaging cultural programme.
“With just 100 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Universiade, Almaty 2017 is delighted to report that we are ready.”
Li-Chiung Su, CEO of the Taipei 2017 Organising Committee, said: "As we are almost in the final 300 days of countdown to the event, Taipei is in full swing and ready to deliver the competition. Together with FISU, let us make the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade one of the best in history!"
The leadership team from the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade also gave a progress report to the Executive Committee.
Maxim Urazov, Director General of the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade Executive Directorate, said: “Presenting progress reports to the FISU Executive Committee meeting plays an important role for us. It helps to verify if all the objectives are being carried out according to the schedule. For us it is important to get a favorable performance assessment from FISU. Krasnoyarsk is making steady progress in its preparations for the Universiade.
Construction of the venues is going according to plan. Staff recruitment and training is in progress and ICT products are under development. The first Winter Universiade test event, the 22nd World Ski Orienteering Championships will be held soon. You are all warmly invited to attend or to visit Krasnoyarsk at any time.”
The FISU Executive Committee also expressed its satisfaction at the progress reported by the Naples 2019 Organising Committee, which will see FISU celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Summer Universiade in the country that also held the very first edition of the event in 1959 in Turin.
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The International University Sports Federation – FISU
Founded in 1949, FISU stands for Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (International University Sports Federation). FISU was formed within university institutions in order to promote sports values and encourage sports practice in harmony with and complementary to the university spirit. Promoting sports values means encouraging friendship, fraternity, fair-play, perseverance, integrity and cooperation amongst students, who one day may have responsibilities and even key positions in politics, the economy, culture and industry.
Open to student-athletes aged between 17 and 25 (for events in 2016 and 2017 the upper age is still 28), FISU’s events consist of Summer and Winter Universiades and the World University Championships. Universiades are multisport events staged in odd-numbered years, while the World University Championships are single-sport events, staged in even-numbered years. Besides its sporting events, FISU stages educational events, such as the FISU Forum on University Sport, the FISU World Conference on Development through Sport, the FISU World Conference on Innovation – Education – Sport, the FISU Sport Education Summit and the FISU Seminars.
With FISU’s motto being “Excellence in Mind and Body”, all events include educational and cultural aspects, bringing together sport and academia from all over the world to celebrate in a true spirit of friendship and sportsmanship. FISU cooperates in developing its events and programmes with all major international sports and educational organisations. As major outcomes of those collaborations, in 2015, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) proclaimed the International Day of University Sport to be celebrated on 20 September, and the Anti-Doping Textbook and teaching materials were developed with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
FISU is composed of 170 Member Associations (National University Sports Federations). The FISU General Assembly elects the members of the FISU Executive Committee, its board of directors. Fourteen permanent committees advise the Executive Committee in their specialised areas. For the daily administration of FISU, the FISU Executive Committee relies on the Secretary General, who is assisted by the FISU staff. FISU’s headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.
About the Universiades
The 2017 Winter Universiade will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 29 January to 8 February. More than 2,000 athletes from more than 55 countries are expected to take part in competitions over 12 different sports.
The 2017 Summer Universiade will take place in Taipei, Chinese Taipei from 19 to 30 August with more than 12,000 athletes from 163 nations competing. A total of 21 sports will feature on the programme.
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