The University Sport Movement’s suc-
cess can be measured in many ways: the
increased reach of the Universiade is one
example, with exactly 100 more nations
competing at Taipei 2017 than at Torino
- Another is the sheer number of sport-
ing opportunities FISU provides, with nearly
400 World University Championships now
having taken place. To these must be added
the work of our members and continental
associations, who combine to provide a
myriad of events each year.
European member federations have played
a leading role in the FISU’s initiatives. When
FISU launched the International University
Sports Days, it was Macolin, Switzerland
hosting the first event. When, in 1961, FISU
expressed interest in organising regional
championships by sport, France hosted the
first European University Championships in
Judo while Lund, Sweden, is home to the
first-ever World University Championships
when they held the Handball event.
Since the 1960s, FISU expanded its
networks onto six continents. As FISU
President Nebiolo personally championed
the cause of university sport in places such
as Brazil, Cuba, Japan, and the United
States, he could do so knowing the strength
of FISU’s European members.
FISU’s role is widely acknowledged within
the global sports movement. A vital ex-
ample of this is FISU’s recognition by the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) in
- Thanks to this tight-knit relationship,
the Olympic flag flies over each Universiade.
The five rings flying overhead indicate the
university sport’s role as a vital training
ground for so many Olympians. Athletes,
International Sports Federations and
National Olympic Committees have all de-
veloped a clear understanding of how FISU’s
competitions provide a genuine test of abil-
ity, allowing performances to be measured
against the best in the world.With the Olympic Movement looking to
enhance the ways they keep athletes
at the heart of the Games by offer-
ing career-development and educa-
tional services, the FISU-IOC bond has
strengthened even further.This was evidenced by FISU President Oleg
Matytsin’s appointment to the IOC Education
Commission. Bringing together experienced
and respected leaders active in the world of
sport and education to support the Olympic
education strategy, the FISU President
brings strategic direction to the commission
on how the IOC can best encourage educa-
tion of youth through sport.The commission is chaired by Barry Maister,
who came to witness the university sport’s
educational arm at the 2018 FISU Forum.
“Athletes are part of the movement,” Mais-
ter said during an interview with FISU Media
at the event’s fourteenth edition. “And there
is an obligation on the IOC and FISU to help
them in career opportunities beyond sport.”Given its role as the Olympic Movement’s
body for university sport, and serving as a
conduit to almost 25 000 university cam-
puses around the world, FISU has a great
deal to contribute in this area.“I am very grateful for this wonderful op-
portunity, and I look forward to represent-
ing FISU in contributing even more to the
development of the Olympic Movement,”
FISU President Matytsin said in welcom-
ing his IOC commission appointment. “The
synergy between higher education and
Olympic sports continue to grow, and we at
FISU are committed to the continuation of
this partnership.”From visionaries to sporting structures,
it comes back, as it always does, to the
student-athletes on campus and the field of
play. Fortunately for FISU and its member
associations, there is no well more plentiful
for sport than the one that springs from the
university ranks.It makes sense, then, that so many of the
world’s leading athletes now compete in the
Universiades, World University Champion-
ships and University World Cups. Much
of this has to do with the way universi-
ties and student populations themselves
have changed since FISU’s inception. In
the 1940s, the university experience was
something only a limited few had access to.
Consider that in the USA in 1949, the same
year of FISU’s formation, just six percent
of the population had a university degree.
During FISU’s lifetime, this number has
multiplied to thirty-four percent.As universities have increased in scope and
scale, with improved ways of working, so
too have FISU and its members. FISU has
grown to handle a previously unimaginable
capacity. Indeed, the FISU administration of
today would be unrecognisable to its found-
ers. Trained, experienced and proven young
sports professionals administer a vast pro-
gramme of competitions involving top-level
athletes and sports that, in some cases, did
not even exist 60 years ago!Throughout these past seven decades,
and regardless of societal change, the
two most important FISU principles have
remained.01 02 03
WINTER
UNIVERSIADE
POSTERS- Innsbruck 1968
- Finland 1970
- Sofia 1989