13 March 2010
BEIRUT: The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) will be vying to retain top spot at next week’s Unisport 2010 Festival, organizers said on Friday.
The university’s athletics department will host the international tournament – the first of its kind to be held in Lebanon – between March 18-21, an event that will bring more than 1000 sportsmen and women from universities across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
Students will compete in a range of disciplines, including soccer, basketball, tennis, handball and track and field. Organizers said Friday they hoped the Unisport Festival would “allow the participants to have a new vision on Lebanon,” offering athletes an “intercultural experience.”
They added that the games were an ideal opportunity to build closer ties with international universities.
As well as 17 Lebanese universities, teams are being sent from Sofia University in Bulgaria, the National Technical College of Greece, Jordan’s Applied Science University, the Nigeria Universities Games Association, Poland’s Warsaw University, the International Arab University in Damascus and the Moscow-based Russian State University for Humanities.
USJ has a gleaming recent record at previous Unisports Festivals, with its sporting teams topping medal tables in Milan 2006, Barcelona 2007 and Valencia in 2008 and 2009.
More than 150 USJ student volunteers will be involved in the festival’s organization. – The Daily Star
Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
