The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, the world’s biggest multi-sport event of the summer, kicks off on Wednesday in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region and in Berlin. From 16 to 27 July 2025, almost 8500 student athletes, coaches and officials from around 150 nations will come together at 23 different locations to compete for medals in a total of 18 disciplines. In addition to top sporting performances at the highest international level, it is also about an unforgettable community experience.
Prof Dr Walter Rosenthal, President of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), commented in Berlin today: “The FISU World University Games are not only one of the world’s largest sporting events, they are also a lively celebration of academic encounters. Sport is an integral part of campus life. It promotes community and team spirit but also contributes to well-being and health. The athletes who are now coming together at the FISU Games combine the academic training of a degree programme with the demands of high-performance sport on a daily basis. They have my and our utmost respect. For German universities, the FISU Games offer an excellent opportunity to welcome many of their international partners in academia, sport and society – both in the sporting competitions and at the accompanying academic conference.”
Prof Dr Ulrich Bartosch, HRK Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, notes: “At these Summer Games, athletes with and without disabilities are competing together for the first time, as 3x3 wheelchair basketball, a pure para-sport, is part of the regular competition programme. The FISU World University Games thus send out a strong signal for inclusion in practice – both in elite sport and in everyday academic life at universities. Understanding, respect and fairness are the values under which the student athletes and numerous international delegations will come together on the Rhine and Ruhr and in Berlin between now and the end of July – including those from crisis regions affected or threatened by violent conflicts. The HRK would like to thank the German University Sports Federation (adh) for its great merit in bringing the FISU World University Games to Germany. We wish all participants a fair, successful and memorable festival of encounters.”
