A presentation of the organizational structure of the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka 2016 (EUG 2016) and their operational aspects was held on Monday, July 4th, in the grand amphitheater of the Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb. Approximately 300 participants attended the presentation – including the president of the Games, members of EUG committees, technical delegates, facility managers and team leaders.
The presentation was led by Besim Aliti, the head of the EUG 2016 Main Operations Center (GOC), and Jelena Matešić, the head of the GOC for Zagreb. The goal of the lecture was to introduce all those involved in the organization of the Games and to present the operational functioning of the Games.
In his welcome speech, Zrinko Čustonja, the president of the EUG 2016, reminded the attendees that the EUG Zagreb-Rijeka 2016 were often compared to the 1987 Universiade. “The ’87 Universiade was a masterpiece, an exceptional event that will be hard to surpass in the history of Croatian sport. A lot of resources were invested in it, the equivalent of approximately billion euros in today’s terms,” he said.
He spoke about several big infrastructural projects which had been built for the ’87 Universiade. Some of them had been built years before the Universiade was even held. For example, the Mimara Museum had been opened; the Archeological Museum, the Ban Jelačić Square, the headquarters of Croatian Radio-Television and the post office in Jurišićeva Street had all been renovated. Buildings had been built or renovated all the way to Karlovac. The Universiade had affected the entire city and its surroundings, which is why the citizens of Zagreb felt connected to it.
”However, times are different now, and we can’t offer to our city projects of such magnitude,” said Čustonja, adding that despite the circumstances, this was not a less significant or important project.
”Few people remember the sporting results of the ’87 Universiade, even among the competitors. The same will happen with the EUG 2016. Our participants will remember how warm they were welcomed, our smiles, how much fun they had, how they felt in the city and the dorms, at sports venues, during transport….”
The greatest value of every event of this kind are its people, he emphasized. He continued to tell how the organizers had to overcome many challenges to organize a large and complex event such as the EUG, which will feature competitions in 21 sports and 2 para-sports at over 40 venues. He stated that the people who were behind the Games would learn a lot and become the intellectual strength of Zagreb, Rijeka and sports in Croatia in general.
All EUG 2016 committees and their roles in the upcoming Games were presented as well.
Thanks to the recently signed agreement with Croatian Radio-Television (HRT), Croatian citizens will be able to watch the opening and closing ceremonies live, as well as some sports competitions of the Games on Channel Two (HTV 2) and Channel Four (HTV 2) of Croatian National Television (HTV). Thanks to the broadcasting agreement, the Games will be broadcast in 100 countries.
Besides the HTV, EUG 2016 competitions will be broadcast on Sports Television (Sportska Televizija) as well.
The Rector’s Conference, which will take place in Rijeka, is of great importance for the Croatian academic community and academic sport as well. It will gather 50 participants, who will discuss student sports and try to devise ways to make higher education more accessible to top athletes. Among them there will be the president of the NCAA (US National Collegiate Athletic Association) Mark Emmert, the president of FISU (International University Sports Federation) Oleg Matysin and the president of EUSA (European University Sports Association) Adam Roczek.
The spectacular opening ceremony of the Games will be held in Zagreb on Wednesday, July 13th, directed by Krešimir Dolenčić.
After the presentation ended, everyone was invited to install the new free EUG 2016 app for Android and iOs. The app enables its uses to take a selfie with Hrki, the mascot of the Games.
With the motto of the Games: “Heart believes, mind achieves,” the organizers are ready for the biggest multi-sports event in the history of the Republic of Croatia.
