Savate in FISU

This Saturday, 1st March 2008, in China, the Executive Committee of FISU unanimously accepted the candidacy of Savate. Alexander WALNIER presented the file to 26 members of the Executive Committee of FISU on behalf of the International Federation of Savate. The 1st World University Championship will be organized in Nantes in June 2010.

A big step forward for our sport!

The President of the International Savate Federation, Gilles Le Duigou, would like to express his thanks to all those who worked on the FISU bid:
"The two photos speak for themselves, at the Executive Committee of the International Federation of University Sport (FISU), he has presented an excellent case for the candidature of the city of Nantes (France) to organize the first official World University Championship of Savate in 2010. From this day, Savate is an official sport of FISU! Thank you Alexandre, you were the brilliant final voice of a file that testifies to what we can achieve together.

My thoughts and my thanks go also to the devotion and the passion of the many people who worked on this candidature, my recognition goes also:

- To the City of Nantes, supported by Alain Guillard, Franck Legoff and Bertrant Gautier, who always believed in this plan, for the excellent file of this candidature and for their work;

- To Valérie King and Neil, her husband, who worked hard on the translations into English of the candidature file;

- To Julie Gabriel and the British Federation, for the translations, their ability in communication and their support;

- To Collette Andrusyszyn, regional director of university sport, who organized the first University World Cup of Savate in Lille (France), in 2005, and who showed us the way;

- To President Serge Boulonov and the Russian Federation, for their support, the supports in the University world and their offer to organize a World University Championship;

- To the President Miodrag Rakic and the Serbian Federation, for their support, and their rapid response to show that savate is practiced in Serbian Universities and that the Serbian National University Championships will be officially recognized in 2008 (the Serbian representative within FISU is also the person in charge of combat sports);

- To the President Joseph Scholz and the American Federation for their support, likewise to Barbara Marry;

- To President Jean Paul Coutelier and the French Federation for their support with the French Federation of University Sport and for the work done by their staff;

- To the President José Savoye and the French Federation of University Sport, without whom the candidature file of Savate could not have been submitted, and also because they believed in the success of our candidature;

- To the President Alain Piette and the Belgian Federation, for his contact work with the FISU, enabling me to present the file of candidature of Savate in January 2008 at the headquarters of FISU in Brussels, in the presence of Mr Walnier;

- To Alexandre Walnier who understood, from the first days, the importance of this candidature, for his contacts with the people able to help us with the recognition of Savate within FISU, for his work representing Savate in China and for the quality of presentation of the file, for his love of Savate.

On behalf of all Savateurs, thank you to everyone, and thank you Alexandre for this success.

We won a first victory, because this was the result of the work of a lot of people, we should understand that we will only gain by working all together, for there are other candidatures (on which we already work) awaiting us: The African games, the Mediterranean Games, the games of the french-speaking world, the Asian games, and especially on the file that is my principal objective: the recognition of Savate within AGFIS.

Savate deserves recognition within the international athletic movement! FISU have given it to us!

It was with much emotion that I welcomed this news, more than my victories in combat in my youth, for I know that I share this victory with many Savateurs around the world."