One week to go for star-studded team draw ceremony

LAUSANNE – In one week, the team draw for the inaugural University World Cup – Football will be held in Jinjiang, China, amidst a star-studded line up of international football stars. For the sixteen men’s and eight women’s teams in the field, it will be a first glimpse of what they will be up against when competition kicks off, on 21 November. 

The team draws will take place on the afternoon of 11 September with celebrity guests doing the honours, whose identities will be revealed closer to the date.

The host teams in both the men’s and women’s fields – Taiyuan University of Technology and Beijing Normal University respectively – will automatically be placed in Pool 1. The teams will be allocated to four Groups of four teams each in the men’s draw and two Groups in the women’s draw.

The University World Cup is an exciting new format in the sport, as it brings together the best university football squads from around the world, rather than national teams. It is a unique opportunity for universities to compete for the title of ‘University World Champion’.

“We are experiencing the beginning of something that I know will be very special for university sports and that I believe will be very special for Jinjiang,” said FISU President Oleg Matytsin. “I am confident that the FISU University World Cup – Football will bring together the very best university football teams in the world.” 

Canada is surely putting its best foot forward with reigning national and OUA champions, the Ottawa Gee-Gees representing the country in the women’s competition. The team is led by former U Sports Top 8 Academic All-Canadian Katherine Bearne, along with national championship all-star Thea Nour. Both players were also in action for the Canadian side at the Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade in July this year.

Picture courtesy: U SPORTS“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our national championship team,” said Sue Hylland, Director of Sports Services at the University of Ottawa. “We are very proud of everything the team has accomplished thus far and have the utmost confidence they will be great representatives of our university, of U Sports, and Canada as a whole.”

Coming through from the highly competitive European qualifying tournament, the men’s team from University of Split, Croatia (right) will be placed in Pool 1, along with the hosts and two other strongest teams. In the continental finals held in Portugal, the Croatians beat a line-up that included very skilled teams from universities in Norway, Russia, Germany and Portugal.

The Kelme 2019 University World Cup – Football is an evolution of FISU’s highly successful World University League that was staged for four consecutive years, exclusively in 3×3 basketball.

This initiative has now been expanded to men’s and women’s football too, and both events will be known as the University World Cups from this year onwards. The University World Cup – 3×3 is slated to be held in Xiamen, China in October, followed by the inaugural University World Cup – Football in November in Jinjiang.

Known as the South Gate of China, Jinjiang is an ancient-yet-modern city ideally suited to hosting the University World Cup. With 14 football venues for competition and training, Jinjiang is a city of football and the world will get a glimpse on 11 September as the team draws are held in style.