It is considered vital that a final decision is indeed made at the meeting on Thursday (July 12) given how it is now less that a year until the 12-day event is due to begin on July 3.

This is not guaranteed, however, and it is not an impossibility that an alternative host will have to be sought. 

International University Sport Federation (FISU) officials including President Oleg Matytsin and secretary general Eric Saintrond are due to attend the meeting alongside a host of local and national figures in Italy including Giancarlo Giorgetti, the undersecretary responsible for sport who is a close ally of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Saintrond confirmed to insidethegames that a decision is due the day after the scheduled meeting, on Friday (July 13).

He insisted that a decision must be made there due to the tight timeline but claimed that, if this does happen, the schedule is still feasible because no construction work is required.

They are also determined to find a solution which does not affect the number of sports and athletes featuring at the event. 

Raffaele Cantone, the head of Italy's national anti-corruption authority agreed that a final decision must be reached this week but warned against Naples pulling out of the Games.

"I don't think we can postpone; there are still problems but now we have a date beyond which we cannot go, that of next Friday," Cantone said, according to the ANSA news agency.

"If by that date the city and region can untie the knot of choosing the places to host the athletes, the Universiade will go forward. 

"If this doesn't happen, I believe that Naples will have to pull out, and objectively speaking, it wouldn't leave a good impression of the city or the region."

Initial plans were to house athletes across four cruiseships.

Naples 2019 extraordinary commissioner Luisa Latella then revealed earlier this year the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority had informed them not to not enter relations with MSC - the company it had contacted to host the athletes on ships.

FISU's favoured alternative is for the Mostra d'Oltremare site in the west of the city.

However, an Italian proposal to use combination of two cruiseships, hotels and mobile homes - some of which are yet to be determined - now appears more likely.

FISU are seemingly prepared to compromise on their initial demand that no more than three locations are used and that all the facilities are of the same level.

Additional complexity has been added by how Italy are now bidding for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, so they are desperate to avoid being associated with a struggling project which could harm their bid.

Other figures due to attend the meeting on Thursday include Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris and Italian National Olympic Committee President Giovanni Malagò.

FISU gave a vote of confidence to organisers after an inspection visit to Naples in May.

The city has had limited time to prepare as they took over the hosting rights from Brasilia, which withdrew as the Universiade venue in January 2015.

The Brazilian capital was unable to meet financial commitments.