First competitions at the European Universities Games in Debrecen - Miskolc are having their kick-offs tomorrow and today on the 9th of July, the General Technical Meetings for Chess, Volleyball in Miskolc and Futsal in Debrecen.

On today's GTMs athletes of three sports were introduced to the rules and regulations, EUSA association and Institute, EUSA and event incident policy, and all the necessary information and the official draws.

The General Technical Meeting for Futsal, was the sport that opened the day in Debrecen, having presented the representatives of 30 universities that will compete forming a total of 12 women’s and 18 men’s teams.

The welcoming message was addressed from Mr Miha Zvan EUSA Sports Manager, followed by the official opening address from Mr Hovhannes Gabrielyan Auditor and Chair of the CTC for Futsal. Mr Gabrielyan thanked all the present officials and athletes for their participation and wished everybody the best of luck, with hopes that he will meet them in some of the next EUSA events.

Present were also EUSA Technical Delegate Mr Tomasz Aftanski, EUSA Assistant Technical Delegate Ms Tihana Nemcic Bojic, and the representative from the local Organizing Committee Mr Laszlo Vegh.

Mr Vegh presented all the needed logistical and technical information regarding the competition: accommodation, transportation, accreditation, medical service and other crucial details regarding the European Universities Games 2024.

Next to address the present teams and officials was Mr Antonio Cardoso, Referee Observer, whose presence will ensure that the referring part of the competition goes as smoothly as possible.

Mr Tomasz Aftanski, EUSA Technical Delegate for Futsal presented competition rules and exceptions, the competition format, protest procedure and other useful information. This GTM was concluded with the draws for both men’s and women’s competitions.

When in Miskolc, the first General Technical Meeting of this EUG was Volleyball, with 27 universities attending this meeting, including 12 teams for the men’s competition and 15 teams for the women’s competition.

Eszter Gulyás, EUSA Sports coordinator gave the first welcome speech of these GTM in Miskolc, followed by Mr Joerg Foerster, EUSA Chair for the volleyball competition who thanked the organizing committee for their contribution and collaboration for the organization of this EUG. Then, he also thanked the volunteers and the referees for their help.

After the presentation of EUSA, Mr Foester passed the floor to Szabolcs Biro Dr, EUG OC Managing Director presented the practical information about the EUG such as the transportation, accreditation, catering, accommodation, etc. 

Pablo Martinez Martinez, EUSA Technical Delegate and Raquel Fernando Maia Portela, Assistant Technical Delegate were also present.

Mr Martinez set out the two different venues, and the different phases of the competition such as rules, regulations, and awards were presented. The draws for the competition groups were also made.

The GTM of Volleyball was followed by the GTM of Chess. This meeting was introduced by Haris Pavletić, First Vice President of EUSA, who wished good games to the participants, then he presented EUSA and its values including the regulations and policies of the EUSA events.

In this meeting, we had the chance to host representatives of 25 participants: 17 male and 8 women, who will take part in the chess competitions.

Together with EUSA Technical Delegate, Mr Oleksandr Sulypa, EUG OC Technical Delegates Mr Peter Sarmasi and Peter Szamoskozi, chess chief arbiter presented details about the general program, the competition for both rapid and blitz matches, the rules and regulations of the tournament, competition awards, competition venue and some details about the organizational matters.

The draw for the colours of the chess pieces men's and women’s teams was also made.

Let's get ready for the kickoff of the competitions of the EUG 2024! Finally, the wait is over, and athletes are thrilled to show their best to all the spectators. Tomorrow will be the day of the first matches in Futsal, Volleyball and Chess, a day full of checkmates, spikings and dribblings to reach the wins.

All the groups and schedules are available at: results.eusa.eu