TAIPEI, 17 August 2017 – Ahead of the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade Opening Ceremony, FISU President Oleg Matytsin revealed the organisation’s ten-year global strategy to the General Assembly.
After welcoming delegates to Taipei, President Matytsin announced FISU’s bold vision, which focuses on eight key areas: delivering major sporting events, spreading education through sport, enhancing culture, building dual career programmes, cooperating with international organisations, developing FISU’s global network, promoting sport through direct relationships with universities, and further improving financial and human resources.
Nine proposals, including the global strategy, were put to a vote and passed. Among these were a five-term limit for Executive Committee members as well as an age limit for members running for election. The measures will ensure good governance and ensure FISU continues to lead by example among university sport bodies.
“Our strategy is a comprehensive action plan that will bring great value to both Continental and National Federations, and can provide as a common focus for better communication between the national university sports associations and FISU,” President Matytsin said.
Specifics of the global strategy included delivering an increased number of intra-university competitions, strengthening educational events, and teaming up with outside organisations such as the IOC, ANOC and UNESCO. Over 100 people from 50 countries came together to influence the plans, which will now undergo final improvements before the official action plan is rolled out in March 2018.
As part of his presentation, President Matytsin also talked about representing the millions of university students across the world who enjoy sport recreationally, as well as the elite performers attending Universiades and World University Championships.
“There are tens of thousands of participants at our events, but there are 150 million or more students around the world and many of them practise sports themselves. I believe that our structure should reach out to them all,” he said.
Secretary General Eric Saintrond highlighted the success of FISU’s 3×3 World Basketball League, also praising the National Federations for their support of initiatives such as the “International Day of University Sport” in his report, while calling for more women to be appointed and elected to leadership positions throughout the organisation.
Earlier this week in Taipei, the FISU Executive Committee approved the applications for four countries to become members of the International University Sports Federation. Today at the Assembly, Kosovo, Cape Verde, Kosovo, the Marshall Islands, and São Tomé and Príncipe were all confirmed, raising FISU’s total number of members to 173.
The Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade will begin on 19 August, celebrating sport education and culture, with more than 7,700 students from 150 countries competing.
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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 encourage sports practice in harmony with and complementary to 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 even key positions in politics, the economy, culture and industry.
Open to student-athletes aged between 17 and 25 (for events in 2016 and 2017 the upper age is still 28), FISU’s events consist of Summer and Winter Universiades and the World University Championships. Universiades are multisport events staged in odd-numbered years, while the World University Championships are single-sport events, staged in even-numbered years. Besides its sporting events, FISU stages educational events, such as the FISU Forum on University Sport, the FISU World Conference on Development through Sport, the FISU World Conference on Innovation – Education – Sport, the FISU Sport Education Summit and the FISU Seminars.
With FISU’s motto being “Excellence in Mind and Body”, all events include educational and cultural aspects, bringing together sport and academia from all over the world to celebrate in a true 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 on 20 September, and the Anti-Doping Textbook and teaching materials were developed with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
FISU is composed of 170 Member Associations (National University Sports Federations). The FISU General Assembly elects the members of the FISU Executive Committee, its board of directors. Fourteen 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.
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