Daniel Monteiro, president of the Portuguese Universities Sports Federation (FADU), believes that the Portuguese presence in the European Universities Games (EUG2018) will be better than expected due to past results and the investment made in the past few years on university sport. The teams, who support the students/athletes, have been preparing them to compete at the highest level to face the foreign universities, also prepared and motivated. He also claims that the national sport can only benefit from the university one and that FADU has been working hard to give the students/athletes the support needed for them to proceed with dual careers and bet both on studies and sports. 

Where do FADU’s expectations stand on the Portuguese participation in the EUG2018?

We have huge expectations concerning the Portuguese participation. We have achieved great results in the past years in sports such as judo, football, futsal, handball and canoeing so the expectation could only be high. I know, for a fact, that the teams our athletes compete in are preparing them to compete at their highest level so they can face some strong foreign universities, which came here to win European titles as well.

How is, at the moment, the national university sport and which are the main goals for the future? 

Before anything else, these EUG2018 are the cherry on top of the investment and the work the university sport has been developing in the past years. FADU, in cooperation with the universities and the academic associations, has been betting on valuing the practice of sports at universities along with the appreciation of dual careers, not forgetting the importance that universities' sports have on the national sport itself.

So, at the moment, we reached a point where federated and university sports walk hand in hand and the media themselves recognise our importance, so we can only look at the future with high hopes. We are working to involve the universities in our dynamics and bringing even more institutes to the practice of sports at a national and even European level. And we've achieved the recognition from the public administration and the main coordinators of the sport in Portugal.

Nowadays, nobody doubts that the growth of the national sport has to go through the university’s and the biggest legacy this event will bring will be the creation of the student/athlete status, which is promised and will be presented soon. This status will allow students to postpone their assignments delivery while in periods of practice or competition and even to miss some classes without losing credit on some of the curricular unities. This kind of supports stimulates students/athletes to proceed with dual careers and also promotes the practice of sports during the university years.