Alt made the comment when pledging his support for the event at an HRK general meeting last month.

The official met with German University Sports Federation (adh) chief executive Jörg Förster at the meeting.

Alt and Förster discussed the FISU event, with the German region set to host the Games in 2025.

Organisers have placed a particular focus on linking the sporting event to science, due to the Rhine-Ruhr region being considered as one of Germany’s largest scientific clusters.

"I am pleased that the university and host locations of the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games 2025 will once again have the opportunity to experience our country and our scientific organisations as cosmopolitan hosts," Alt said.

"The Games are an excellent opportunity to make the connection between science and sport more visible at German universities.

"They underline the role of university sports in university health management, in strengthening resilience, social cohesion and mutual tolerance.

"The Rhine-Ruhr region and Germany as a centre of science will also benefit if issues related to hosting a major sporting event - such as the change from an industrial to a knowledge society."

The Rhine-Ruhr region was officially named as the host of the Games in May.

Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Bochum and Krefeld are expected to stage competitions at the student sport event.

Around 10,000 athletes and officials are expected for the 2025 FISU Summer World University Games, with 18 sports on the programme across 12 days of competition.

Rhine-Ruhr will follow Chengdu in China and Yekaterinburg in Russia in staging the event, with the cities hosting in 2022 and 2023.