EUROPEAN
UNIVERSITIES
GAMES 2021
BELGRADE, SERBIA
JULY 14-27
During the 2016 EUSA General Assembly
which took place in Wroclaw, Poland, the
city of Belgrade was officially announced
as the host for the fifth edition of the
European Universities Games. Initially set
to take place in July 2020, Europe’s larg-
est gathering of student-athletes for the
highly anticipated event was postponed
amid the global COVID-19 Coronavirus
pandemic to ensure the safety and wellbe-
ing of all participants, volunteers, staff,
visitors and local community.
Belgrade is no stranger to hosting elite
sporting events, even at university sport
level, having hosted the 2009 FISU Sum-
mer Universiade, and will now add the
EUG2021 onto its impressive list, which
includes the World Volleyball League Fi-
nals, the World Kickboxing Championships
and the men and women’s European Water
Polo Championships, to name but a few.
Led by an experienced Organising Commit-
tee across a range of sectors, the hosts of
the fifth European Universities Games are
aiming for this to be the biggest event in
the competition’s history, with over 5 000
student-athletes expected to descend upon
the confluence of the Rivers Sava and Dan-
ube to showcase their sporting prowess.With a population of close to two million
people, Belgrade is a bubbling metropo-
lis with an array of impressive sporting
facilities that student-athletes will have
the privilege of playing in, not least the
20 000-seater Stark Arena, which is also
the proposed venue for what will surely be
a spectacular opening ceremony. Oth-
ers include the 5000-seater Sport Hall
Ranko Zeravica, which has facilities for
basketball, volleyball and handball; KSC
Pinki, which can host futsal, basketball,
volleyball, handball and kickboxing, as
well as Tennis Center Novak, named after
Serbia’s world-famous tennis star Novak
Djokovic, which boasts seven high class
tennis courts.A total of 21 sporting disciplines will make
up the sports programme. This includes
Badminton, Basketball, 3x3 Basketball,
Beach Handball, Beach Volleyball, Chess,
Football, Futsal, Handball, Judo, Karate,
Kickboxing, Orienteering, Rowing, Rugby
7s, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Vol-
leyball and Water Polo. There will alsobe a Para Table Tennis competition for
student-athletes with disabilities, and a
Sitting Volleyball competition as a demon-
strative sport.Almost 1 000 volunteers and over 800 ref-
erees will be present in Belgrade, ensuring
the smooth and professional running of the
entire event.Participants and attendees of the event
will not only enjoy a wide variety of sum-
mer sporting competitions, yet will also be
able to involve themselves in educational
and social aspects of university sport in
Europe, with conferences, exhibitions and
workshops discussing the topics of Anti-
Doping, Inclusion, Dual Career, as well as a
Rectors’ Conference, taking place.Student-athletes, officials and invited
guests will also have the chance to enjoy
the rich, historic and cultural offerings the
city of Belgrade has to offer, while being
hosted in numerous top-quality accom-
modation venues in close proximity to the
sports centres.For more information about the event,
please visit http://www.eug2021.eu.