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Home News FISU-FASU Strategic Dialogue in Kigali is set to boost University Sports in Africa

FISU-FASU Strategic Dialogue in Kigali is set to boost University Sports in Africa

FISU 20 March 2017

 

 

KIGALI – On 19 March FISU President Oleg Matytsin led a substantial delegation from FISU to meet with university sports leaders of 23 African nations. The meeting, branded as FISU-FASU Strategic Dialogue, was aimed at discussing the current state and the future of university sports on the continent.

 Leonz Eder (left), FISU First Vice-President with Laurent Briel, FISU Director for the Development

The summit in Kigali was built up on the legacy of the first edition of meetings, which FISU has initiated to regularly conduct with its associate members, the Continental University Sports Federations. The first Strategic Dialogue was organised by the Asian University Sports Federation in November 2016 in Xiamen, China.

 

FISU President Oleg Matytsin during his speech

The programme of the Kigali meeting included a keynote speech by Mr Matytsin himself, presentations by FASU President Malumbete Ralethe, FISU 1st Vice-President Leonz Eder, Vice-Presidents Marian Dymalski and Leopold Senghor. Special guests of the Dialogue, Adam Roczek and Xue Yanqing, leaders of fellow Continental University Federations of Europe and Asia respectively, shared their experience with their African colleagues. The working part of the Dialogue also included remarks by former FASU President Hassan Chikh, 1st Vice-President of the Federation Saadi Ghedir and many others.

 

The FISU President took the opportunity to inform the audience about key provisions of a future 10-year Strategy of the federation, which is set to be announced during the FISU General Assembly in Taipei. According to Mr Matytsin, in the coming years FISU will concentrate its efforts on improving relations with key players from the Olympic Movement, reaching more visibility among world universities and improving its internal organisation and good governance practices.

 

For many African university sports leaders the meeting in Kigali gave a chance to voice their concerns about the state of affairs in African university sports. Along with financial issues, many national federations face a lack of support from authorities and insufficient sports infrastructure on university campuses.

 

The FISU President reiterated his support for Africa through existing initiatives such as the Help Programme as well as new ones. Namely, the International Volunteering Leaders’ Academy, which will be held in Kazan on 2-8 July this year and is aimed at training personnel to recruit volunteers and organise local and national university sports events.

 

Moreover, Mr Matytsin appealed for a more efficient use of existing FISU assets by National University Sports Federations. For example, the FISU-WADA Anti-Doping textbook could help to find new areas of cooperation with national universities; the International Day of University Sport could also be used to increase federations’ credibility and recognition among the academic community of their countries.

 

In the course of the day FISU President, accompanied by Vice-President Dymalski and EUSA President Roczek paid a visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial to commemorate the victims of the tragic events of 1994 in Rwanda.

 Exchange of gifts between Philip Cotton, Vice Chancellor of the National University of Kigali and Oleg Matytsin, FISU President.

The final reception of the FISU-FASU Strategic Dialogue was attended by the Vice Chancellor of the National University of Kigali Philip Cotton who greeted the participants and shared the achievements that his university has made in the past three years.

 

(Source: Sergey SHILOV, Assistant to the President)