UTS President Stephan Fox delivers opening message in Ekaterinburg highlighting sport’s responsibility to create opportunity, belonging and connection for the next generation
EKATERINBURG, RUSSIA — September 2026 — The International Festival of Youth 2026 is now underway in Ekaterinburg, bringing together 10,000 young people from 191 countries for one of the largest international youth gatherings of the year. United Through Sports (UTS) is proud to be part of the Festival, supporting a global platform that brings young people together through sport, education, culture, wellness, dialogue and international exchange. Running from 11 to 17 September, the Festival has attracted extraordinary global interest, with more than 113,000 applications received for just 10,000 participant places. The event is also supported by 2,000 volunteers, helping welcome young leaders from across the world to Ekaterinburg.
Among the participants are 1,000 teenagers aged 14 to 17 from 99 countries, underlining the Festival’s commitment to giving the next generation a meaningful place within international dialogue. At a time when many young people around the world face conflict, inequality, displacement, discrimination and uncertainty, creating spaces where they can meet, learn from one another and feel that they belong is more important than ever.
As the Festival got underway, UTS President Stephan Fox delivered an opening message, highlighting the responsibility of sport to invest in young people and to use its global reach to create opportunity and connection.
“Sport cannot solve every problem in our world. But it can create a beginning — a friendship, a moment of respect, a shared experience, and a place where a young person knows: you belong here.”
The International Festival of Youth brings together young leaders working across areas including sport and health, science and education, entrepreneurship, technology and IT, media, public administration, creative industries and civic engagement. Across the Festival, participants are taking part in educational sessions, cultural experiences, sports activities, interactive workshops, discussions, team-building programmes, exhibitions, excursions and initiatives focused on social impact and good deeds. The programme extends far beyond formal discussion rooms. Festival spaces are designed to encourage young people to meet across national and cultural boundaries, exchange ideas and turn new relationships into future projects and partnerships.
For UTS, this is where sport has a particularly powerful role to play.
Sport provides a language that does not always require translation. On a field of play, in a team or through a shared challenge, young people can begin building trust before they know much about one another’s nationality, religion, culture or background.
President Fox added:
“Talent exists everywhere. Opportunity does not. Our responsibility is to create those opportunities — to give young people the confidence, the respect and the space to shape their own future.”
From Ekaterinburg to a Wider Journey – the festival experience will continue beyond Ekaterinburg through a major five-day regional expedition programme. Following the main Festival programme, 1,000 international participants will embark on 33 regional programmes and expedition routes, taking them across 35 regions of Russia, the Sirius Federal Territory, the Republic of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The expeditions are designed to go beyond traditional tourism, allowing young people to experience local communities, culture, history, nature, innovation and everyday life while developing ideas for future cooperation. For many participants, these journeys will provide another opportunity to turn a week-long international gathering into longer-term friendships and partnerships. Building What Comes Next.
For United Through Sports, participation in the International Festival of Youth is not simply about being present at a major international event. It is an opportunity to listen to young people, understand their ambitions and challenges, strengthen relationships across countries and organisations, and explore how sport can contribute to future international youth initiatives. It also comes as UTS looks towards opportunities to contribute to future youth festival initiatives in Russia and internationally, carrying forward the organisation’s belief that young people should not simply be invited to attend major events — they should have a voice in shaping what comes next.
United Through Sports believes that sport can be much more than competition.
It can be a classroom.
It can be a meeting place.
It can be a bridge between cultures.
And it can be a source of hope and opportunity for young people who need it most.
Because when thousands of young people from different parts of the world come together, they do more than share an event.
They share ideas.
They build friendships.
They discover what unites them.
And they begin to shape the future together.
Different nations. Different cultures. Different stories. One generation. One shared future. United Through Sports
