History of the Federation
History of the International Federation of University Sports (FISU)
The International Federation of University Sports (FISU) was formally established in 1949. But its origins go back to the 1920s. The first World University Games were held in Paris in 1923 under the leadership of a Frenchman named Jean-Pete Jean, and the first official Fizo Congress was held in Warsaw in 1924 and was attended by many countries.
In 1959, Fizo and the World Students’ Union agreed to jointly participate in the Universiade, organized by the Italian Sports Organization in Turin. The Winter Universiade experienced a similar trend, with the expansion of the range of college sports leading Fizo to oversee student world competitions since 1960 to develop the Universiade’s programs and goals.
In the past, the Summer Universiade was held in 10 regular sports (athletics, fencing, diving, tennis, basketball, football, swimming, gymnastics, water polo and volleyball) and in two sections for men and women. From the 2007 Universiade in Bangkok, it was decided to add judo and table tennis to the mentioned disciplines, and 3 to 4 disciplines would be allocated as optional disciplines to the host of each competition.
In the Winter Universiade, competitions will be held in 6 disciplines of alpine skiing and cross-country skiing, ski jumping, ice hockey, show skating, short-distance speed skating, and 1 discipline will be added to the above disciplines at the choice of the host country. All students in the world, whether amateurs or professionals, aged 17 to 25, participate in free competitions.
