Heads of Delegation highly commend Kazan's preparations for Summer Universiade

Heads of Delegation (HoD), who were invited to Kazan to attend the presentation on the 27th Summer Universiade, have toured today a number of venues for the upcoming Games. They inspected Basket Hall, Central Stadium, viewed the Track and Field Hall and Rowing Centre, had a walk along the streets of the Universiade Village and even visited one of the residence halls. Representatives of French and Canadian NUSFs were first to share their impression of what they saw in Kazan.

Both NUSF representatives admitted that the tour left them with strong positive feelings about the host city and it was despite the fact that there is still snow everywhere.  Vincent Rognon, National Director of FFSU, said that Kazan is thoroughly prepared for the Summer Universiade and added that what has been done impresses with its size and scale. He also stated that France finds it pretty challenging to implement such projects that Russia is making happen today. According to the National Director of FFSU, the entire Games infrastructure has been thoroughly and carefully thought out. The airport is in a relative proximity to the city and the venues are located within convenient distance of each other. "We have a big national team," Vincent Rognon added. "And we are very happy that we will have a comfortable accommodation in the Universiade Village." The French NUSF representative also highly praised the Russian Government's decision to introduce the visa-free regime for the Games time. According to him, it will positively affect the emotional well-being of the team and "allow it to save efforts for the intensive training ahead of the Summer Universiade". 

"We viewed venues today," Theresa Hanson, the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) representative, said. "All of them meet best Universiade standards". She said that the Rowing Centre is the best she has ever seen in the world. She was also impressed by service buildings and amenities of the Universiade Village. Theresa Hansen said she has no worries now for the national team which will be comfortably housed in one building. And this, she said, will be very convenient in terms of solving arising organisational problems. "We are already getting ready for the Summer Universiade," said Theresa Hanson. "We begin learning Russian."

"We will keep making our guests familiar with sports venues," summed up Ranko Tepavcevic, Chief Concultant of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate. The Heads of Delegation will visit the Gymnastics Centre, Tennis Academy, Burevestnik Swimming Pool and Saint Peterburg Volleyball Centre, and in the evening they will be invited to attend the Universiade Village key handover ceremony which is scheduled to take place at the Main International Centre. But even as we speak, judging by high spirits of the Heads of Delegation, it can be concluded that most of them have greatly enjoyed the tour. Quite a few of them already plan the accommodation and stay of their national teams during the Summer Universiade. 

As we reported earlier, Heads of Delegation of more than 120 nations participating in the 2013 Summer Universiade have gathered in Kazan for the Games presentation. The HoD Meeting is a long-standing FISU tradition aimed at making sports managers from all over the world familiar with facilities provided for athletes by World University Games organisers. The OC gives an insight into a wide range of services to be available to national delegations at Games time, makes the guests familiar with the host city's infrastructure and enables Heads of Delegation take a closer look at the security programme, living conditions and catering facilities, transportation services, etc. In fact, this meeting will play a crucial role in the NUSFs' decision making regarding the final confirmation of the competitors for the Games that's why the importance of a successful presentation of Kazan as the host city for the 27th Summer Universiade can hardly be overestimated.