No suspense at the International University Sports Federation (FISU). Meeting in Geneva for its 38th general assembly, the body had to choose a president and an executive committee. The only candidate in the running for the top position, Leonz Eder (photo above) was unanimously elected by representatives of the 115 national federations for a four-year term, until 2027. The Swiss leader was already in charge interim president of FISU since the departure in 2020 of Oleg Matytsin, appointed Minister of Sports in the Russian government. The new executive committee, for its part, marks a shift towards parity, with three women for the four vice-presidential positions: the Ugandan Penninah Kabenge, the German Verena Burk and the Polish Marian Dymalski. But the first vice-president remains a man: the Brazilian Luciano Atayde da Costa Cabral. In Geneva, the FISU general assembly also registered the accession of a new member country, Qatar. It was especially marked by the announcement of the upcoming departure of Belgian Eric Saintrond. Executive director and secretary general of the body, he informed delegates that he would retire at the beginning of 2025. With his departure, a page will be turned for FISU. Eric Saintrond began his career in international sport at FISU in 1985, after studying at the Institute of Motor Sciences of the Free University of Brussels. The body then had only three employees. Its headquarters were located in the Belgian capital.
