Netherlands should go for 2023 Universiade
Should the Netherlands be awarded the organisation of the 2023 Universiade, the World Student Games, this would be an ideal opportunity for this country’s 2028 Olympic ambitions. This is argued by Student Sports Netherlands (SSN) in a press release last week.
According to the press release SSN, the national representative of Dutch student sports, together with its daughter SSN Top Sports, are aiming to secure the nomination. However, in order to achieve this the Netherlands will have to up its international lobby, say the students. And strong Dutch teams will have to participate in the upcoming Worlds Student Games. The next three Summer Olympiads will be held in Shenzhen (China, 2011), Kazan (Russia, 2013) and Gwangju (South Korea, 2015), respectively.
The timing of the 2023 Universiade would be prefect for the Netherlands, according to the press release. With a Universiade village, strong demands on our infrastructure and absolute top sport, the Universiade would be the ideal event to demonstrate that the Netherlands are ready to host the Olympic Games.
Similarly, Beijing organised the 2001 Universiade, seven years prior to hosting the Olympic Games. Global umbrella organisation for student sports, FISU, is in charge of the possible awarding of the Universiade to the Netherlands. In March, the chairs of SSN, VSNU (Association of Universities), HBO-Raad (Board of Applied Universities) and NOC*NSF together will decide whether a Dutch Universiade is a real option.