Concordia University is among five Montreal-based universities who have grouped together and submitted a letter of intent to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) in order to be considered as the host of the 2015 Summer Universiade.
The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival that is staged every two years and is second in size only to the Summer Olympic Games. The event consists of 12 compulsory sports (athletics, basketball, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, judo, swimming, diving, water polo, table tennis, tennis, volleyball) as well as optional sports chosen by the host country. The record figures are 9,006 participants in Bangkok, Thailand in 2007 and 174 countries in Daegu, Korea in 2003.
The partnership group from Montreal is comprised of Concordia, Université de Montréal, McGill University, Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM) and École de technologie supérieure (ETS).
The University of Alberta has also put in a bid to host the 2015 Summer Universiade in Edmonton.
A review committee will be established shortly for the purposes of evaluating university proposals. The CIS deadline for proposals is May. 5. The following month CIS will announce the successful proposal that will move forward to Fédération internationale du sport universitaire (FISU) as Canada’s entry in the international bid process. FISU will announce the successful candidate in 2010.
The next Summer Universiade will be staged in Belgrade, Serbia in 2009.
