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Home News FISU holds third Strategic Dialogue with its Continental Association partner FISU America in Brazil

FISU holds third Strategic Dialogue with its Continental Association partner FISU America in Brazil

24 October 2017

Event centered around how FISU, FISU America and the National University Sport Federations in North and South America should direct their energies to benefit the university sports movement

 

GOIANIA, BRAZIL – FISU and the Continental Association FISU America wrapped up productive discussions and planning during the 2017 FISU Strategic Dialogue in the capital city of the Brazilian state of Goiás.

 

Held last Friday and Saturday (20-21 October) with the support of the Brazilian University Sports Confederation (CBDU), FISU President Oleg Matytsin was joined by FISU America President Alim Maluf Neto, FISU First Vice President Leonz Eder, FISU Vice President and CBDU President Luciano Cabral and university sports leaders North and South American countries Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Honduras, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, United States and Peru, and sports authorities in Goiás for the meetings.

 

FISU President Oleg Matytsin speaking to the university sport leaders about the FISU Global Strategy that was formally adopted and approved at the 2017 FISU General Assembly in Taipei 

The meeting in Goiânia was the third edition of the Strategic Dialogue between FISU and its continental associate members, with first two taking place in Xiamen, China and Kigali, Rwanda, where FISU met with the Asian University Sports Federation (AUSF) and Federation of African University Sports (FASU), respectively.

 

The initiative of Strategic Dialogues, introduced last year by FISU Committee on University Sports Development, aims to align the policies of FISU associate members and national university sports federations with the vision of their international organization, FISU.

 

The dialogues also create an important feedback channel that helps FISU better understand the needs and aspirations of its member organisations. President Matytsin remarked on this in his opening discussion in Goiânia, saying, “For us the fact that Americas are located far from FISU headquarters only means that we need to pay special attention to what is going on here.”

 

 

In his keynote presentation, President Matytsin talked about FISU Global Strategy, adopted in Taipei in August, and called all FISU member organisations to elaborate on their own strategic documents. He also urged all federations to work more closely with their national Olympic committees and universities to promote sports among ordinary students.

 

FISU First Vice President Leonz Eder (right) and FISU Vice President and CBDU president Luciano Cabral enjoy a laugh between discussions in Goiania 

The following two-day discussion focused on the vital issues of university sports, including the format of sports competition, communication and marketing, dual career for athletes and the promotion of gender equality.

 

Another important topic for discussion was the relationship between national university sports organisations and national authorities. CBDU in Brazil provides a good example of regular interaction with authorities, as its events get tangible support from the government. However, some countries of the continent do not enjoy such practice.

 

Reflecting on this, President Matytsin said: “One of our goals is to organise a platform for sharing positive experiences that countries have in building a solid relationship between all stakeholders in university sports. In many countries, sport is not yet a legal part of education, We will do what we can to explain to local authorities the importance of university sports, the necessity to make sport an inherent part of education.”

 

“Even in countries that have sport as part of the education system, not all universities have facilities to practice sports,” added President Matytsin. “We will support NUSF’s in their interaction with local authorities in order to provide sports equipment to university campuses.”

 FISU Vice President and CBDU president Luciano Cabral (right) and a university sport colleague converse during the strategic meetings in Goiania

FISU Vice President and CBDU president Luciano Cabral echoed these sentiments during a university sport roundtable.

 

“Here in Brazil, the university sport transits very well with the Brazilian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and especially with the Ministry of Sports, where we have a close relationship,” Mr. Cabral said. “But we still have to align better with the Ministry of Education, and the CBDU has sought, especially in the Federal Chamber, to build more effective policies for sports, so that we have legislation that, for example, obligates Brazilian public and private universities to invest in sports and to have sports equipment and sports programs in proportion to the number of students. It is policies and strategies that, from the initial idea of ​​FISU itself, we have to align to each country.”

 

 

Mr. Cabral said he already saw the strategic dialogue as a milestone in world university sport, ready to pay results. “It was so surprising that, with the actions of this strategic dialogue, in the medium and long term we will see a significant change in the concepts and organization of world university sports,” Mr. Cabral said. “Because of the experiences and especially the knowledge that is being acquired and produced with this project, the Strategic Dialogue is perhaps one of the great successes of FISU in the last years.”

 

FISU America President Alim Maluf Neto oversees a Continental Association that has a decade’s worth of experience  

In setting out its ten-year strategy, FISU America can draw upon a decades worth of experience as the Continental Association celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2017.

 

“We now have a moment to discuss with FISU President and his team the ways and what we are going to do for the university sports movement in the Americas and in the world,” FISU America President Alim Maluf Neto said. “I’m sure the positive exchange that we had in Goiânia will set a clear direction for our member federations for the coming years.”