Skip to content
Home News Executive Committee meets in Kazan

Executive Committee meets in Kazan

FISU 20 September 2012

 The FISU Executive Committee met today, September 20th, 2012, in Kazan, the city that will host the next Summer Universiade in July 2013.
The meeting had a heavy agenda, with many items to be presented and discussed. Chaired by first Vice-President Oleg Matytsin, the FISU Executive Committee first approved the minutes of the previous meeting held in May 2012. The Treasurer then presented his report, emphasizing the good financial health of our federation. General Secretary Eric Saintrond took the floor next to describe the activities of the General Secretariat in Lausanne and give an overview of the future competitions. As you known, the FISU calendar now runs until 2017 and working with the different Organising Committees requires a thorough follow-up. In addition, the Secretary General reminded that the bidding procedure for the 2019 Universiades had been launched. Several cities have already expressed an interest in hosting these events.

 

Claude Louis Gallien, FISU President

The next item on the agenda was the organisation of the extraordinary General Assembly. The transfer of the FISU registered office from Brussels to Lausanne indeed implies amending our Statutes, which must be approved by the General Assembly, hence the extraordinary General Assembly that will be held tomorrow, September 21st. It will be followed by the first FISU Gala, which will give FISU the opportunity to honour some of its members and its most active partners.
Stefan Bergh, the FISU Vice-President and Chair of the Committee for the Development of University Sport, then presented a report on the activities of this committee. He highlighted the work done in cooperation with the continental associations (associate members), which are key partners for the implementation of projects aiming to develop a support that specially targets the FISU member federations.
Alison Odell, the FISU first Assessor and Chair of the FISU Education Committee, was the next speaker. She presented a report on her committee, giving an overview of the future education activities: the Rectors’ Forum that will take place in Sweden in 2013; the FISU Conference that will be held in parallel with the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan; the Sports and Scientific Conference that will be staged during the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino; and finally, the 2014 FISU Forum that will take place in Gwangju in 2014. As a conclusion, she reminded that the bidding process for the 2016 Forum had been launched.
Verena Burk, the Chair of the International Press Committee, then took the floor to give an overview of the latest developments within FISU in the media domain. She first presented the new version of the FISU website and highlighted the fact that the website was now available also in French. Together with FISU Media Director Dejan Susovic, she emphasized the importance of the partnership agreement signed with Eurosport, which will significantly contribute to enhance the visibility of our federation.
Rosaura Mendez, the Chair of the Gender Equality Committee, reported on the activities of her group. She insisted on the need to consolidate the work of the committee, which occupies a key position within FISU. She emphasized the importance of greater international cooperation in this domain, as well as better representation and collaboration among non-sports international organisations. She also announced the launch of the 3rd FISU “Gender Equality and Sport” award.
The following item on the agenda was the situation of the World University Championships. Leonz Eder, the Chair of the CMU International Technical Committee, Luciano Cabral, the Vice-President, and Paulo Ferreira, the FISU WUC Director, gave an overview of the 2012 WUC and made recommendations concerning the attribution of the future WUCs. Concerning the first point, the situation is excellent: all the championships that have taken place so far were successful. Of course, some sports attracted more participants than others but generally speaking, both the participation and technical levels of the competitions were really satisfactory. The WUC CTI reminded that two WUCs had been cancelled for various reasons and proposed to modify the attribution procedure for the championships. The objective would be not only to reduce as far as possible the risks of cancellation, but also to better evaluate in advance the technical level of potential organising committees. Such modification was adopted. You will get further information on this in the coming weeks.

The Kazan delegates with from left to right: Rafis Burganov, Ilsur Metshin (mayor of Kazan), Azat Kadyrov and Nataliya Koslova

The Organising Committee of the Kazan Universiade then presented its report on the games that will take place here in Kazan next July. With 28 sports in the programme, the work calendar is getting heavier. The Organising Committee wanted to respond to each and every question raised following the different visits of the FISU technical delegates and the test events (3 WUCs) that took place in Kazan. It reaffirmed its commitment to offer athletes the best conditions for their stay and sports practice. The Mayor of Kazan emphasized the extent to which the city had developed to host the games. Many sports venues were built while others were renovated; some still need to be refurbished. The fact remains that all the inhabitants of Kazan support the project. FISU President Claude Louis Gallien reaffirmed his support for the OC and congratulated the city for all the changes made in view of the Universiade.
As you know, the next Winter Universiade will take place in Trentino in December 2013. The Universiade Supervision Committee went to Italy to inspect the various accommodation options for athletes. It also met the OC to discuss the final allocation of sports venues. Chaired by Kairis Ulp, the CSU was very satisfied by the solutions proposed by the OC. Budgets have already been allocated and the OC is working in close cooperation with FISU.

Eric Saintrond, Secretary General CEO

As a conclusion, the FISU Executive Committee listened to the internal reports of the Directors for the Universiades on the 2015 and 2017 games. They both underlined the fact that the OCs do respect our regulations.
The next meeting of the FISU Executive Committee will be held in Brussels from March 3rd to 6th, 2013.

 

Yvan Dufour, FISU Editor in Chief