Split secured the hosting rights in Aveiro, Portugal, when it won over the candidacies of Manisa, Turkey and Granada, Spain at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the European University Sports Association (EUSA).
The 9th European Universities Games will take place over two weeks in July 2028, drawing over 5,000 athletes from around 400 universities from 40 European countries who will compete in 24 sports. Over those two weeks, Split will realise over 60,000 overnight stays.
Potential co-hosts of the 2028 European Universities Games alongside Split are the towns and municipalities of Dugopolje, Kaštela, Klis, Makarska, Omiš, Podstrana, Sinj, Solin, Trogir, and Vrlika. They will host competitions in various sports both outdoors and indoors as well as on water, as Lake Peruča will host an international university race for the first time.
In addition to the infrastructure primarily intended and remaining for students in the future, the organisation of the games in Split will benefit numerous sports facilities, built for the Mediterranean Games, which will host the 2028 sports competitions.
Croatia has experience in hosting international academic sports events, with particular emphasis on the 3rd European Universities Games held in Zagreb and Rijeka in 2016. The most prominent legacy of these games is the renovation of two student dormitories in Zagreb and the construction of new student dormitories in Rijeka.
The organisers' plan for the 2028 games is to hold competitions in both women's and men's categories in the following sports: 3x3 basketball, badminton, basketball, beach handball, beach volleyball, soccer, futsal, handball, rowing, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, judo, karate, kickboxing, taekwondo, orienteering, paddle tennis, rugby 7s, sport climbing, water polo, sailing, swimming, and para swimming.
The host of the 2028 European Universities Games 2028 is the Croatian Academic Sports Federation in partnership with the government, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the City of Split, the University of Split, and Split-Dalmatia County, while the organiser of the Games as an event is the EUSA.