On Tuesday, the International University Sports Federation awarded the 2017 Winter and Summer editions of the Universiade to Almaty in Kazakhstan and Taipei City in Chinese Taipei, respectively. Almaty secured the Winter Universiade hosting rights after its only challenger, Trentino in Italy, withdrew late in the tender. Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chen Hsiung-wen told CNA that the biennial event would attract around 12,000 athletes from more than 130 countries, and the additional influx of spectators would act as a significant boost to the local economy.
The anticipated economic benefits have been based on the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics and the World Games which were hosted by Kaohsiung in the same year. The total bid budget is estimated to be around $1 billion, with the event requiring a total of 70 venues for 14 sports as well as a new athletes’ village. Developments are also planned for neighbouring cities and counties such as New Taipei, Taoyuan, Keelung and Hsinchu.
“A lot of the executive committee members were convinced of the quality of the bidding book and the presentation and preparations of Taipei City,” FISU president Claude-Louis Gallien said. “The National University Sport Federation of Chinese Taipei is a very active one. It has hosted many World University Championships, it will host the Forum in 2012 and now FISU’s flagship event, the Universiade, in 2017. I’m confident Taipei City will deliver a wonderful event.”
Almaty Mayor Akhmetzhan Yesimov, celebrating the confirmation of his own city’s bidding success, said: “The 2017 Winter Universiade is an amazing opportunity for Almaty to promote its image as a new winter sports destination and to develop university sports in our city, our country and our region. The competition with Trentino was very intriguing and useful for us. Nevertheless, we see brilliant prospects for all member countries of FISU to achieve outstanding results in promoting university sports on a global stage.”
