2013 SU Update: Kazan 2013: From Bidding to Hosting

KAZAN – Farid Abdulganiev, Universiade Village Mayor and Deputy Director General of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate delivered a report on Kazan’s bidding experience at the 1st International Tourist Forum Landmarks of Future.

In his report titled ‘How to Find and Attract an Event:From Bidding to Hosting’, Farid Abdulganiev gave a detailed review of Kazan’s two bidding campaigns in the pursuit of the Summer Universiades of 2011 and 2013. He stated that the idea of staging the Universiade in Kazan appeared in 2004-2005 and was initiated by Marat Bariev, Secretary General of the Olympic Committee of Russia, who was at the head of Tatarstan’s Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism at that time. Quoting Farid Abdulganiev’s words, «the decision to host the University Games was not random, since Kazan is one of the largest educational centres of Russia. Six largest universities of the Volga Region and over 20 prestigious institutes are located here, about 180,000 students currently study here, over 2,000 of them arrived in Kazan from other cities of Russia and abroad. That’s the reason, why, given political and social significance of youth politics and achievements of national university sports movement, the initiative to hold the University Summer Games in Russia was supported by current Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the very start of the campaign.»

During the 2011 Summer Universiade bidding campaign, Kazan lost to Shenzhen by two votes. After that the leaders of Tatarstan andRussiadecided to bring the Summer Universiade to Russia by all means. Leading national and international experts were involved in the Kazan 2013 Bid Campaign, and one of the key areas of activities in the process of preparing and conducting the campaign was a regular cooperation with the FISU EC members that eventually took part in choosing the host city for the Games. «In a struggle to host the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan we managed not simply to demonstrate our huge desire to host such significant competitions in our city, but also persuade the International University Sports Federation of the fact that the Universiade in Kazan will become one of the largest infrastructure development projects of Tatarstan and Russia, a powerful impetus for development of university sports regionwide, countrywide, worldwide. We showed FISU representatives our readiness to promote the Universiade’s brand internationally, using modern communication and PR technologies for that», Farid Abdulganiev said.

He also stressed a significant role of sovereign-backed guarantees forKazan’s bid. The speaker also mentioned another not insignificant fact thatKazan’s candidacy was supported by its previous opponent Shenzhen.

However, according to Farid Abdulganiev, the final straw for the FISU EC officials was an unprecedented super marathon thatKazanorganized within the bidding campaign. «;Starting on Victory Day, on May 9th, 2008 in Kazan, Tatarstan athletes carried the torch through 22 cities of Russia and Europe, where signatures in support of Kazan’s bid were collected. The relay ended on May 29th in Brussels. When the marathon participants crossed the finish line nearby the FISU headquarters, EC members realized that students of Kazan are ready for anything to win the right to host the 2013 Summer Universiade. The charm of Tatarstan’s bid lay in a sincere support and cordial attitude of all Kazan citizens towards the Universiade. Besides, the marathon runners brought over 90,000 signatures in support of the 2013 Games in Kazan. Having walked the same path towards the World University Summer Games twice, Kazan has accumulated a unique experience that enabled to succeed in two other bidding campaigns. In 2010, together with other 13 Russian cities, Kazan won the right to host the 2018 FIFAWorld Cup matches. And in July 2011, by a unanimous vote of FINA, Kazan was also chosen the capital of the 2015 FINA World Championships. For the first time in the history of Soviet and Russian sports, the world’s fourth most spectacular sporting event is set to happen in the capital of Tatarstan.

«The journey from an ambitious idea to host these or those large international competitions to winning a bid may be short or long. But the success in the struggle to earn the right to host international sporting events is a unique chance to cardinally change the life in our cities, to make it comfortable and suited for playing sports,» summed up Deputy Director General of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate Farid Abdulganiev at the end of his speech.

The 1st International Tourist Forum Landmarks of Future that kicked off in Kazan on November 17th, gathered in the sports capital of Russia representatives of business circles and state authorities interested in tourist industry’s development.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)

Farid Abdulganiev