The agreement had been reached in January 2019, following which the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade broadcast signal was also delivered to ABU. The final signing of the agreement, however, took place during the 64th ABU Sports Group Conference in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, from 14-16 June 2019.

As the global governing body of international university sports, FISU offers a wide array of world class events to its broadcast partners. The pact with ABU includes the aforementioned Winter Universiade held earlier this year, the upcoming Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade, all editions of the University World Cups of 3×3 Basketball and Football between now and 2021 as well as both the Summer and the Winter Universiades two years from now – Chengdu 2021 and Lucerne 2021.

The ABU Secretary General, Dr Javad Mottaghi, had earlier welcomed the move by FISU to sign the partnership agreement for yet another three years. He said the 280-member strong Union, comprised mostly of broadcasters, is able to reach over 3 billion audiences across Asia and the Pacific. The territory covered by this agreement includes the length and breadth of Asia, going as far west as Mauritius and as far east as Papua New Guinea.

FISU Secretary General – CEO Eric Saintrond, present in Nur-Sultan to sign the deal, said the renewed partnership underlines FISU’s commitment to ensuring that university sport reaches as wide an audience as possible. “FISU organizes large-scale elite sporting events of the highest calibre which generate compelling television content. Together with our partners, we must ensure that this reaches as many sports fans as possible, around the world. And the importance of Asia can never be understated.”

The agreement gives ABU exclusive terrestrial broadcast rights for live and non-exclusive for highlights and news across all platforms including digital and mobile.

The International University Sports Federation – FISU

Founded in 1949, FISU stands for F d ration 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