July 24
By Julia O`Malley
The FISU World University Games 2025, one of the world’s largest multi-sport events, takes place in Germany from 16 to 27 July across five cities in the Rhine-Ruhr region – Bochum, Duisburg, Essen, Hagen, and Mülheim an der Ruhr – as well as the capital, Berlin.
About 8,500 athletes from more than 150 countries are taking part in the competition.
However, athletes from Russia and Belarus are represented at the Universiade as neutral athletes.
It would seem that student competitions could avoid such a fate, but it turns out that a new sports political arena is operating in the world, which has unfolded on the site of the World University Games.
In 2023, athletes from Mexico, Canada, Great Britain, Russia and Belarus did not take part in the Summer Universiade in China.
Now FISU has not allowed all Russians. The reason has not been officially named, but it is clear: military actions in Ukraine.
At the same time, Israel – a country that is currently conducting active military operations against its neighbor, as a result of which tens of thousands of civilians have died, competes on behalf of its country.
The restrictions at the 2025 Universiade confirm that international federations continue to use sport as a bargaining chip.
FISU, following the International Olympic Committee recommendations, is turning into a political arena where the identity of athletes is suppressed.