2009 SU Update: FISU Closing Press Conference

Full attendence at the joint FISU/OC UB2009 Press Conference

With the end of the 25th Universiade coming near, FISU and the Organizing Committee of the 2009 Summer Universiade held a joint press conference at the MPC today, July 10th.

At the joint conference it was stated that the organization of the Universiade in Belgrade was very successful. FISU President George Killian, FISU General-Secretaryd Eric Saintron, Vice-President of the Organizing Comittee of UB2009, Bozidar Djelic, Minsiter of Youth & Sports, Snezana Samardzic Markovic and Deputy Mayor of Belgrade Radmila Hrustanovic, spoke of the success of the Universiade and the legacies which will remain for this city and nation after this sports competition.

‘We have had a great set of Games so far’, FISU President Killian told the press which turned up in high numbers. ‘During the last couple of days I was invited at a number of embassies of countries present at the Belgrade Universiade and all ambassadors of these countries think the Universiade is a great triumph for Serbia. The 25th Universiade in Belgrade can indeed be considered a very big success. I want to compliment all the people we worked so closely with the past years to reach this accomplishment’, Mr. Killian added. ‘I’ve spoken to so many athletes, I’ve been to the Village on numerous occasions, as well as to all the venues which are first class. I especially thank the volunteers, what a wonderful group of young people. You have a great future with these young people. I can’t stop repeating over and over, the university students of today are the leaders of tomorrow. On behalf of FISU let me thank you for your diligence and enthusiasm and your belief that Universiade 2009 will and can make a big difference in your lives. And remember there is FISU, a dedicated group of people, young and old, promoting university sport’, the FISU President confided.

‘Belgrade Universiade leaves a huge legacy for sports in the city, the venues, the equipment’, FISU Secretary-General Eric Saintrond said. ‘But there is a lot more. Like the time and scoring system that has been put into place for the Games. Without the system of Swiss Timing, it would not have been possible to haven such high level Games. I thank the crew of Swiss Timing that helped the OC to manage the timing and scoring. The same goes for the accreditation. A multi-sport event such as the Universiade implies that a lot of people arrive at the same time. No problems occurred with the accreditation. It went perfect’, Mr. Saintrond praised the OC. ‘We had some bad weather conditions and it has rained as it has never rained before in Belgrade. But the Army helped to dry the sport fields so here also the collaboration was perfect and we could maintain our full sports program with hardly any delays. The Athletes village was perfect, the best we have ever had so far. All problems were solved within 24hrs. As far as transportation is concerned, although the number of dedicated cars had been reduced because of the financial crisis, we didn’t get any complaints regarding the transportation of athletes, coaches and officials. It was very well organized. Once again congratulations. The medical care was also outstanding. The Military Medical Academy solved the problem about the H1N1 Influenza. They did a marvelous job. And of course the volunteers were simply fantastic. Thank you once again for the great work done.’ The FISU SG also added that the media coverage has been excellent so far, in print and on TV. More than 40 channels worldwide aired the competitions of the Belgrade Universiade.

Vice-president of the Organizing Committee of the UB2009, Bozidar Djelic, thanked the citizens for showing understanding for the organization of the Universiade in a year dominated by the world financial crisis. ‘They say that the legacy of the Universiade is in the sports venues, a better picture of Serbia in the world, in the foreign athletes who will become ambassadors, but also leaving behind a big legacy are the 8,000 volunteers who showed that it’s possible to engage oneself for an event this grand in size and significance in Serbia’, underlined the Deputy PM. ‘At the Universiade, Serbia showed in the best possible manner that we do not give up, no matter what the obstacles are. I am thankful to Mr. Killian and to FISU for their trust in us’, Djelic added. ‘The Universiade proved to be quite an achievement that put us on the map, together with Thailand, Turkey, China and Russia.’

‘I am extremely pleased with the whole Universiade, by that I mean not only the sports results, but also everything else that follows the Universiade. I’m proud of all that the Universiade Organising Commitee has done. Thanks to this sports competition, our sport federations will have venues and equipment that will help facilitate the elevation of sports in Serbia’, highlighted the Minister of Youth and Sports, Snezana Samardzic Markovic.

At the end of the Press Conference, Snežana Samardžić Marković, the Minister of Sport presented both FISU Officials a present for the wonderful collaboration.