8,500 Athletes for Summer Universiade 2019 in Italy

ABIODUN JIMOH, BENIN CITY.

With less than forty days to the commencement of the 30th International University Sports Federation (FISU), about 8,500 athletes are anticipated to compete at the event slated for Napoli, Italy from July 3rd – 14th, 2019.

The athletes, coming from more than 128 countries will compete in a total of 222 medals events across 18 various sports namely athletics, swimming, gymnastics, judo, taekwondo, basketball, volleyball and many others.

This was made known by the Director of Media of the Organising Committee, Antonio Gnassi, in statement posted on website of the Summer Universiade 2019.

Gnassi noted: “The home team leads the field with more than 400 athletes and officials, followed by USA and Russian Federation with more than 350 each. Very strong representation is also expected from Asian sporting giants, People’s Republic of China, Japan and Korea, all with between 250 – 300 entries.

“The Napoli edition of the Universiade will be a special one as the FISU celebrates its 70th anniversary. This occasion and also 60th anniversary of the Universiade itself is being commemorated with a return to Italy, the country that had hosted the very first Universiade, in Toronto in 1959.”

Meanwhile, accreditation for media personnel at the Summer Universiade will eventually comes to a close today by 24:00 hours, after extension by the organising committee for ten additions days.

The director had on May 15th, 2019 confirmed that the accreditation deadline for media personnel has been extended until May 25th, 2019, due to overwhelming demand and interest in the games.

He said: ‘We are still receiving many requests from both Italian and international media, and therefore in consultation with FISU have decided to allow more days for global media to complete the accreditation procedures.

“The organising Committee invites national and international media to register and be a part of the biggest global multi-sport spectacle for university athletes. Once the due procedures are completed, the decision to issue the accreditation will be communicated to the email address provided in the online application form.”