The University Sports Federation briefs Minister Bayrakdarian on its international participations

Keen to ensure the continuity of university sports and maintain Lebanon's standing on the international stage, and to address the difficult circumstances facing athletes due to the general suspension of university activities, the President of the Lebanese University Sports Federation, Ziad Saadeh, and Vice President Dr. Tarek Assaf visited the Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Noura Bayrakdarian, at the Ministry headquarters in Beirut to brief her on upcoming international competitions. Notably, Lebanon was selected to participate in two team sports alongside some of the leading countries in university sports by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), which had reviewed applications for participation in various competitions before making its technical decision regarding the selected countries. Consequently, three Lebanese teams were chosen to participate in two world championships, the first being men's handball, which will be organized by FISU in Bordeaux, France, from June 20 to 27. The men's and women's futsal teams will also participate in the World Championship, which will be held in the Polish capital, Warsaw, from June 29 to July 5. Minister Beyrekdarian expressed her full support for these participations, hoping for an improvement in the current situation soon and the return of sports activities to all Lebanese regions with the end of this war. For his part, Saadeh indicated that "based on our duty to maintain the progress witnessed in university sports in recent years, and believing in the necessity of not succumbing to stagnation and allowing the war to destroy everything that has been built over the years, we welcomed the International Federation's selection of three of our teams to participate in two major championships. The technical staffs have already been formed with the approval of the Executive Committee and under the supervision of the National Teams Committee, which instructed the coaches to begin the process of selecting the best players and to start training as soon as possible in safe areas." Coach Ziad Mansour will lead the handball team, while the men's futsal team will be supervised by the Lebanese national team coach, Spaniard Ricardo Iñiguez, and the women's team by coach Maroun Khoury.