Attribution of 2014 European Universities Games

CORDOBA – The last Executive Committee Meeting in 2011, which took place in Cordoba,Spain on November 25 and 26, concluded with the presentation of the bids for the European Universities Games 2014 and its attribution.

Members of the Executive Committee were presented the reports of the inspection visits of the evaluation committee, performed in October by Mr Alberto Gualtieri, Mr Kemal Tamer and Mr Matjaz Pecovnik. The bidding cities: Wroclaw, Poland and Rotterdam, theNetherlandsthen presented their candidatures to host the 2nd edition of the European Universities Games in 2014. A draw decided on the order of presentation.

The City of Rotterdam presented their bid first. The delegation was lead by Mrs Pauline van der Meer Mohr, President at the Erasmus University Rotterdam; Mrs Antoinette Laan, Vice Mayor Culture and Sports from the City ofRotterdam; Mr Hans den Oudendammer, Director from Rotterdam Topsport; Ms Hester de Vries, International Officer from Studentensport Nederland and Menso de Maar, Director of Erasmus Sport.

The City of Wroclaw followed. The official delegation was lead by Mr Rafal Dutkiewicz, Mayor of Wroclaw; and with other members being Mr Andrzej Rokita, Vice–Rector of University of Physical Education in Wroclaw; Ms Hanna Domagala, Wroclaw EURO 2012 Office Director; Mr Pawel Randa, silver medallist in rowing 2008 Beijing Olympics, Member of Wroclaw Sport Council; Mr Piotr Marszal, Vice-President of AZS Wroclaw and Ms Joanna Zdunek, City of Poznan representative.

Both cities presented their cities, sport & accommodation facilities, reasons why they are bidding, and other details related to their candidature. The decision about the attribution of the bid was announced by Mr Alberto Gualtieri, EUSA President, after a vote of the Executive Committee Members:“The host city of the European Universities Games 2014 is the City ofRotterdam!”

After the announcement, Mr Gualtieri congratulated the organisers and thanked both cities for participating and bidding. Mrs Van der Meer Mohr thanked the EUSA Executive Committee for their decision and entrusted task. She also commended the bid of the City of Wroclaw, as a strong competitor.

The meeting and attribution concluded with taking a group photo, followed by an official closing lunch in the old part of the City, hosted by the Rector of the University and local city authorities. Apart from the meetings and receptions, the delegates also enjoyed interesting cultural and entertainment programme prepared by the hosts, which included culinary specialties, sightseeing and a spectacular equestrian show.

European Universities Games are a multi-sport student event, at which university teams compete, representing their home universities. Ten sports are featured at the European Universities Games (also known as EUSA Games). The first edition of the event will be organised in July 2012 in Cordoba, Spain; followed by the 2^nd Games in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

(Source: Andrej Pisl , EUSA Communications Manager )