FISU's Executive Committee held meetings and workshops on 27th and 28th of September, at the Tour Hassan Hotel in the capital of Morocco, Rabat.

This was the first time FISU EC meeting to be held in Africa and Morocco’s capital Rabat, proved an ideal setting to look back on achievements and thrive towards future developments.

A first official meeting on the African continent is a really significant milestone in FISU’s global development and has been welcomed by Executive Committee Members from all Continental University Sports Federations. At the EC meeting, the European University Sports Association (EUSA) was represented by its President, Adam Roczek.

Among the special moments at the meeting, the presence of the Flame of Knowlegde traveling from Torino Airport to Rabat, was catching attention while welcomed  by the FISU Executive Committee members from all over the world and the representatives of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games Summer.

Looking back on the last few months, FISU can be proud to have delivered many successful events, together with the great work of all the local organising committees. 23 FISU World University Championships and one World Cup, showcasing 27 sports with a total of over 5000 participants, have already taken place in this 2024 season.

At the meeting, the Executive Committee went through the important educational events and programmes that took place in the last period, such as: the FISU Forum, that took place at the end of August in Zagreb, the newly aquired status of FISU in UNESCO,  and the continuous work of FISU in  keeping on shaping projects that gain funds from the European Union under the Erasmus + label, like the Youref and U-Media programmes.

Over the two days of meetings in Rabat, the different new committees (medical, legal, legacy and sustainability, student, gender equality, sports and education) reported on their work and respective projects.

Just like during the cultural activity, where the FISU representatives visited the Roman ruins of Chellah and the beautiful Merinid complex as well as the impressive cutting edge Mohammed VI football complex, after the reports on the achievements, the scope was set to the present and the future, with presentations and working group sessions to shape the next steps.

The organising committees of the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games Winter, the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games Summer and the Chungcheong 2027 FISU World University Games Summer all gave updates on their progress.

The FISU Executive Committee members also discussed the continuing implementation of the Global Strategy 2027 and the plans for the drafting of the next one, with sustainability  and gender equality amongst its key topics together with the further development of all of FISU’s sports and educational projects and collaborations.

The University Sports Development Commission (CDSU) held parallel meetings with the aim of shaping the future.

The FISU Executive Committee meeting also hosted in parallel meetings the University Sports Development Commission (CDSU), chaired by Stefan Berg and Vice-Chair Delise O’Meally. The meeting was attended by the Presidents of the FISU continental structures: Liu Lixin (AUSF), Alim Neto (FISU America), David Schmude (FISU Oceania), Adam Roczek (EUSA), Penninah Kabenge (representing FASU President), and Fernando Parente, Director of Development and Healthy Campus at FISU. Discussions included the FISU-CUSF Strategic Dialogue and Seminar meetings and the CDSU Activity Plan for 2025-2027, a framework for prioritising university sports events.

This September Executive Committee Meeting also provided some emotional moments, since it was FISU’s Secretary General and CEO Eric Saintrond’s last one, after dedicating almost 40 years of his life to FISU and occupying this key position since 2007. “Goodbye and thank you for this exceptional experience in the heart of university sports!” he said officially, before a standing ovation from the room.

FISU’s Secretary General and CEO Eric Saintrond received a standing ovation for his last EC Meeting. He will be replaced by Matthias Remund from 1 December 2024.

The last words go to FISU President Leonz Eder, who pronounced them before a strong hug: “Our bond knows no expiry date. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, dear Eric.”

The next Executive Committee Meeting – and the first one of FISU’s new Secretary General and CEO Matthias Remund –  will take place at the Torino 2025 World University Games in January 2025.

For more information, please see https://www.fisu.net/