The countdown to Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade has well and truly begun. The 30th edition of the event, to be held from 3-14 July 2019, promises to be a unique one, not least because of the breathtaking setting in Italy’s sun-soaked Campania region.
In what is FISU’s 70th anniversary year, the Universiade returns to the country of its origin – the very first one was held in Torino in 1959. Fittingly, this edition is all set to be a record breaking one in terms of participation. About 9,300 athletes and officials from 128 countries will take part in the Universiade. The home team leads the field with more than 400 delegates, followed by USA and Russian Federation with more than 350 each. Very strong representation is also expected from Asian sporting giants China (People’s Rep. of), Japan and Korea, all with between 250-300 entries.
The Napoli 2019 sports programme includes 222 medal events in the 15 compulsory sports – Archery, Athletics, Basketball, Diving, Fencing, Football, Judo, Gymnastics (Artistic and Rhythmic), Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball and Water Polo – and three optional sports of Rugby Sevens, Sailing and Shooting Sport.
The city of Napoli has made huge undertakings in preparing for the Universiade, spending 86 million euros to renovate a total of 58 sports venues, which include 34 competition venues and 24 training facilities. The arenas for competition include iconic venues like the San Paolo stadium which will host Athletics and the historic Royal Palace Caserta where Archery will be held. The full competition schedule can be found here.
The most eagerly awaited venue of all though, is the Athlete’s Village which for the first time in multi-sport event history, will be partly housed on board two luxury liner cruise ships. The MSC Lirica and Costa Victoria will host about 4000 delegates at this unique Athlete’s Village.
Media accreditation for the Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade closes on May 15. The procedure may be started by filling in the online accreditation form available on the event's official website.
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 sports practice in harmony with 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 key positions in politics, economy, culture and industry.
With FISU’s motto being ‘Today’s Stars, Tomorrow’s Leaders’, all FISU events include educational and cultural aspects, bringing together sport and academia from all over the world to celebrate with a 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 annually on 20 September – an event that has seen huge growth in its first few years.
FISU is composed of 174 Member Associations (National University Sports Federations). The FISU General Assembly elects the members of the FISU Executive Committee, its board of directors. A total of 14 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.
For more information please contact FISU Media at media@fisu.net or Press Officer Tina Sharma at t.sharma@fisu.net
For up-to-the-minute information and updates on FISU, please visit our website www.fisu.net and follow us on our social media channels:
Twitter: @FISU
Facebook: @FISU
Instagram: FISU
Videos: FISUTV
Photos on Flickr: fisumedia