Belgrade - The 2009 Universiade in Belgrade will have to run on half the original budget and with 15 instead of the planned 21 sports competitions, officials said Wednesday in Belgrade.

"It will be the largest sports event ever held in Serbia," Serbian Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic told a press conference, announcing a "realistic budget" of 3.5 billion dinars 
(51 million dollars).

"With it we saved 50 per cent in comparison with the planned budget," said Djelic, appointed to head the organizational committee earlier this month, after a series of scandals.

Serbia would save 260 million dinars by holding a humbler opening ceremony, 360 million on timing and measuring equipment and 600 million through a competitors' health-insurance deal with the army.

But Djelic also said six planned sports would be dropped, saving another 540 million dinars.

"The Universiade will not be organized on lower standards, it will not be cheap, but we need to bring in a measure of realism," Djelic said. The two-week 25th Universiade is due to start next July, mostly in Belgrade but also in nearby towns.

Preparations for the event were plagued by scandals and murky deals from the start, eventually leading to the sacking of the head of the firm set up to carry out the organization and the effective introduction of receivership in October.

A mission from the International Federation of University Sports (FISU) is due to visit Belgrade in mid-November and evaluate the progress in preparation for the games.

It was still unclear whether Sinisa Jasnic, who was sacked as the head of the Universiade 2009 company on October 17, has been placed under investigation over the "many bad deals" media attribute to him.

Djelic, appointed by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic to clear the mess, quickly scrapped a deal with the Croatian supplier of uniforms for the games, which won the contract without going through a tender.

Some 9,000 athletes and officials from the entire world were expected to take part in the Belgrade Universiade, held every two years. The event was called International Universities Championship and World Student Games between 1923 and 1959.

The 2007 Universiade was held in Bangkok while the 2011 event is scheduled to take place in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. (dpa)