For the first time in history, a fistball player is running for a position on the International World Games Association (IWGA) Athletes’ Commission. Eric Kindler, a long-time member of the United States national fistball team, has been officially nominated by the International Fistball Association (IFA). The election will take place during The World Games 2025, held from 7 to 17 August 2025 in Chengdu, China.

Kindler, 33, brings with him not only extensive sporting experience—including five Fistball World Championships—but also a strong commitment to the development of the sport off the field. He has served on the IFA Athletes’ Commission for six years, and is also involved in the IFA Referee Commission and former Board member of the United States Fistball Association.

Kindler’s athletic background is as diverse as it is impressive. In addition to fistball, he played both soccer and American football, the latter earning him three national college championships as a kicker and punter with the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.

With his candidacy for the IWGA Athletes’ Commission, Kindler aims to expand his advocacy for athletes to a broader stage: “As a member of the IFA Athletes’ Commission, I strive to improve event management and enhance athlete support in our sport,” says Kindler. “Through the IWGA Athletes’ Commission, I hope to bring a fresh perspective while gaining insights that can help us improve conditions for athletes within our international federation.”

The IWGA Athletes’ Commission election will take place online from 3 to 16 August 2025. All accredited athletes participating in The World Games 2025 are eligible to vote. A total of seven commission members will be elected, with up to two additional members appointed by the IWGA President to ensure balanced representation across gender, sport, and geography.

The IFA proudly supports Eric Kindler’s historic candidacy and sees it as a significant step toward giving fistball a stronger voice on the global stage.

The International Fistball Association (IFA) and Faustball Deutschland have ended unsuccessfully their contract negotiations regarding the hosting of the 2027 Men’s Fistball World Championship. After intensive discussions, Faustball Deutschland has decided to withdraw from hosting the 2027 World Championship. As a result, the IFA Board of Directors has decided to reopen the bidding process for the tournament.

The negotiations between the International Fistball Association (IFA) and Faustball Deutschland over the past months were extensive. In numerous discussions, both sides worked to establish the best possible framework for the 2027 World Championship. Despite a promising bid, no final agreement was reached. “We were convinced that Germany could offer an outstanding stage for our sport,” says IFA Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner. During its meeting on April 26, the IFA Board of Directors thoroughly reviewed the proposal from Germany. The IFA further clarified its minimum requirements after already showing flexibility in several points during the negotiations. On Tuesday, May 14, Faustball Deutschland informed the IFA of its unanimous decision to withdraw from hosting the 2027 Men’s World Championship.

“We are always open to adapting to local circumstances at our events,” emphasizes Oberlehner, who led the discussions for IFA together with Head of Events Sönke Spille. “However, there were significant deviations from the original tender.” It is essential to adhere to the set requirements within a certain framework. This is crucial for ensuring fairness across past and future events. “All bidding federations were aware of the hosting requirements in advance, and there was an active application for this event,” Oberlehner adds. The IFA would like to express its sincere thanks to Faustball Deutschland for the constructive exchange during the time-consuming discussions.

In March 2024, the awarding of the 2027 Men’s World Championship was publicly announced during the German Indoor Championship in Hagen, following the IFA Board of Director’s approval of the bid in February. “At the time, we agreed to the request to announce the decision even before the formal contract was signed,” says Oberlehner.

The IFA will now reopen the bidding process for the 2027 Men’s World Championship. “Our goal remains to build on the success of the recent World Championships in Winterthur and Mannheim and to once again deliver an outstanding event for our sport,” says Sönke Spille, who will oversee the upcoming bidding process. “We look forward to engaging with interested applicants from around the world who want to partner with us to bring the 2027 Men’s World Championship to life.”

To establish a consistent standard for organizing high-quality fistball events that reflect the IFA’s commitment to excellence, athlete well-being, innovation, and sustainability—while increasing international appeal and engagement—the IFA Board has decided to restructure the Club World Cup, with full implementation planned for 2027. As part of this transition, a temporary event will be held in 2026. Its aim is to strengthen and align with the existing continental competitions.

This decision follows a process led by the IFA Sports Commission, involving input from the sports commissions of the continental associations and discussions with the IFA Athletes’ Commission leadership. The IFA World Tour Finals 2025, scheduled to take place in Vöcklabruck (Austria) from July 24 to 27 under the current format, will remain unaffected by this decision.

“With the break in the World Tour in 2025, we have taken the opportunity to realign the format of the World Cup from 2026 and also to strengthen the importance of the continental competitions held,” says Jörn Verleger, President of the IFA: “The format that has now been decided applies exclusively to 2026. With a restart of the World Tour in 2027, there is the opportunity to reintegrate the top teams from this ranking list into the field of participants.”

New format for 2026

From 2026, the IFA Fistball Club World Championship will be held with six participating teams each for men and women. Qualification will take place exclusively via the continental championships. The first and second-placed teams from the two largest continental associations, Europe and Pan-America/South America, qualify. The fifth starting place goes to one of the continental champions from Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America. Which of these continental associations provides a team is determined based on evaluation criteria such as the number of participating nations and teams in the continental competition. The sixth starting place is allocated to an organizer. If one of the teams does not take part, a successor rule will apply.
“We are convinced that this will create a strong field of participants for an attractive competition,” says Gastao Englert, Chairman of the IFA Sports Commission: “The Club World Cup will award the most important title in club fistball, making it one of our highlight events in international fistball.” Feedback from sports officials in the continental federations was also included in the development of the field of participants. “We held many discussions and had a very constructive exchange,” says Englert.

Prospects for 2027

While the format for 2026 has been approved by the IFA Board of Directors, a commission is now stablished and doing a force task to work on the concept for the 2027 Club World Championship. Under the leadership of Gastao Englert, this commission includes club representatives and organizers of previous World Tour Major, 500 and 250 tournaments, reaching out all event levels. “Thanks to the experience and World Tour know-how of the members, we are convinced that we can successfully set up the World Tour for the future with an update,” says Englert.

A key component of the plans is the reintegration of the IFA Fistball World Tour into the qualification system for the Club World Cup. Englert: “Our aim is to integrate the best teams from the World Tour perfectly into the Club World Championship and thus further increase the quality and attractiveness of the competition.”

Isabella Lucchin, Brazilian attacker, has been nominated as one of 22 athletes competing for the prestigious title of World Games Athlete of the Year 2024. This nomination recognizes her incredible performances over the past year, including her role in securing the Women’s World Championship title in November in Monte Carlo (Argentina).

Information:
The year 2024 could hardly have gone better for Isabella Lucchin: First she won bronze with her home club SOGIPA/Cargo Way at the IFA World Tour Finals in Mannheim, then she led her club team to first place in the IFA World Tour rankings over several months with numerous top tournament results. However, the 28-year-old’s biggest coup came in Montecarlo (Argentina) in November. She won the title at the Fistball World Championship with the Brazilian women’s national team. In the final, Lucchin and Co. played a great game against defending champions Germany – and triumphed with an impressive 4:0 victory. Isabella Lucchin’s versatility was particularly impressive. The Brazilian not only played in her usual position in attack, but also in defense and set pieces, impressively demonstrating her versatility. Isabella Lucchin’s nomination for “World Games Athlete of the Year 2024” is therefore more than deserved.

Voting Details:
The voting period kicks off on Thursday, 9 January 2025, at 12:00 GMT, giving sports enthusiasts worldwide the chance to vote for their favorite athlete.

Voting will remain open until 31 January 2025 at 12:00 GMT, but there’s a twist! A halfway elimination round will take place on 22 January 2025 at 12:00 GMT, where only the top 10 ranked athletes will move forward.

Voting Rules: 

• Votes can be cast on The World Games website. Each voting session must include votes for two candidates: 2 votes for your first choice and 1 vote for your second choice. Votes cast for only one candidate will not be counted.
• Voting is limited to one session every 24 hours per person.
• On 22 January 2025 at 12:00 GMT, the 10 highest-ranked candidates will proceed to the final stage of voting. At this point, all vote counts will reset to zero, making the competition more exciting as it approaches its conclusion.
• The vote tallies will be displayed in real time throughout the campaign.

VOTING

At the 2nd Competition Manager Meeting in Chengdu, the International Fistball Association accredited Sichuan Tianfu New Area YuanYin Primary & Middle School as the first fistball demonstration schools in China.

The Teacher Sharing Center of Sichuan Tianfu New Area is now an accredited Fistball Promotion Center in Chengdu. IFA Head of Events Sönke Spille and Xinmin Yan took the opportunity to hold the first guided training session. In the future, the teachers will receive further training and Tianfu New Area in Chengdu will become the first fistball center in China.

“During our first visit in April, the organizers of the World Games 2025 established contact. It is impressive what enthusiasm we were able to spark back then and the commitment with which those responsible are promoting the sport of fistball,” says Sönke Spille, IFA Head of Events: ”A big thank you goes to the LOC for their support as well as Sichuan Tianfu New Area YuanYin Primary & Middle School and The Teacher Sharing Center of Sichuan Tianfu New Area for their work. We are convinced that they will raise the sport of fistball to a grandiose level.”

A detailed report on the 2nd Competition Manager Meeting and the training session will be published after the U18 and Women’s Fistball World Championships.

The men’s and women’s World Tour Finals will take place in Austria in 2025: Union Tigers Vöcklabruck will host the competition for the best club teams in the world from 24-27 July 2025.

It was the biggest success in the club’s history: the Union Tigers Vöcklabruck fistball team won the title at the 2024 World Tour Finals on 21 July, crowning themselves the best club team in the world. In one year, the Tigers will host the next world cup for club teams: from 24 to 27 July, the defending champions will host the top teams in Vöcklabruck. After 2019 (Salzburg), the World Tour Finals are thus returning to Austria.

Early awarding for better planning

“We are delighted to have found a very experienced organizer of national and international events to host the event,” says Jörn Verleger, President of the International Fistball Association (IFA): “We are convinced that we will experience a great event in Vöcklabruck next year.” With six participating teams, Austria is the country with the largest number of participating teams at the latest event in Mannheim. “There is great enthusiasm for the World Tour format in Austria. We are therefore all the happier that the Union Tigers Vöcklabruck have signaled their interest in our bidding process. We had very good discussions in which you could sense the great motivation of all those involved,” says Sönke Spille, Head of Events at IFA: “It was important to us to create clarity at an early stage and thus offer the teams planning security. We have succeeded in doing this with the award – one year before the event.”

Experienced organizer of fistball events

The Union Tigers Vöcklabruck have already hosted Austrian championships, European Cup events and European championships in recent years. In 2025, the Volksbankstadion Vöcklabruck will now host the best club teams in the world. “We were enthusiastic about the idea of the IFA World Tour right from the start, it has given the tournaments a new value and the top teams from all over the world regularly compete against each other there,” says Stefan Huemer, head of the organizing committee: “The World Tour Final is the highest title that can be won by a club team and the value of this title has also increased enormously since the finals were introduced.”

The Tigers Vöcklabruck have been at the finals without interruption since 2019 (Salzburg), and their wish to host this event themselves is now coming true. The Vöcklabruck team has experience from numerous events. “After various Final 3 competitions, a Masters World Championship, two Champions Cups and a European Youth Championship, this is the event highlight in the club’s history,” emphasizes Huemer: “On the one hand, we can offer the teams a perfect sporting ambience, and on the other hand, the area around Vöcklabruck with its lakes, mountains and cultural sites offers numerous “delicacies” that round off such a competition perfectly.” In sporting terms, the Tigers want to compete for the title in front of their home crowd – and also promote the region. Huemer: “All participating teams should share wonderful experiences together and remember the 2025 World Tour Finals in Vöcklabruck for as long as possible.”

First participants confirmed

The winners of the highest continental Cup competitions in 2024 in the regions of Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, South America and North America have qualified for the 2025 World Tour Finals. The winners of the 2024 World Tour Finals have also punched their ticket. The starting field will be completed by the best-placed teams from the 2024 World Tour, which will hold tournaments until the end of September. With TSV Dennach (GER/Winner European Cup) and TV Jahn Schneverdingen (GER/Winner World Tour Finals 2024) in the women’s competition and FBC Linz-Urfahr (AUT/Winner European Cup) and host Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (AUT/Winner World Tour Finals 2024) in the men’s competition, the first four teams have already qualified for the World Tour Finals 2025.

The IFA U18 Fistball World Championships will take place in Switzerland in July 2026. The event will be hosted by Swiss Fistball and organized by the Turnverein STV Vordemwald at the sports complex in Reiden (canton of Lucerne). The European Women’s Fistball Championships will also be held at the same time.

When the best U18 national male and female youth teams come together in Llanquihue (Chile) in October/November, everyone involved can expect the biggest U18 Fistball World Championship of all time with a total of 18 teams. The future of the competition has also been decided early on. The next Youth World Championship will take place in Switzerland in 2026. The U18 Fistball World Championship will be held at the sports complex in Reiden in July 2026. The event will be hosted by Swiss Fistball with local organizer Turnverein STV Vordemwald. This was decided unanimously by the Board of Directors of the International Fistball Association (IFA) at its most recent meeting. But that’s not all: the European Women’s Championships will also be held at the same time as the U18 World Championships – guaranteeing a double fistball spectacle in just one place. “Even though the event is still over two years away, the excitement is already huge,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger, looking ahead.”

Turnverein STV Vordemwald: Early start to planning

The World Championships are scheduled to take place from July 23 to 26, 2026, and the Turnverein STV Vordemwald has been planning the event since last summer. “In addition to its sporting activities, the Turnverein STV Vordemwald has organized a major event from time to time in the past,” says Luca Flückiger, who chairs the organizing committee as president: “After the planned gymnastics festival in 2020 could not take place, the club was keen to start planning a new major event. As it had been a while since a major fistball event had taken place, with the preliminary rounds of the 1999 Men’s World Championship, it should now be an event in this area again,” says the former Swiss national fistball player. The decision to bid for the U18 World Championships and the Women’s European Championships was made very quickly.

The sports complex in Reiden, just a few minutes away from Vordemwald, will serve as the venue. A total of three match fields are to be built on the existing grass fields, including a center court with mobile stands. Flückiger: “We are delighted to have been awarded the IFA and EFA for the two events and are already highly motivated to organize a great event for the athletes and all fistball and sports fans from near and far in Reiden in two years.”

Support from Swiss Faustball

The club received support for its bid from the Swiss Fistball Association. “By bidding for and hosting the IFA 2026 U18 Women’s & Men’s World Championship, Swiss Faustball wants to support the initiative of the Turnverein STV Vordemwald to organize the largest junior competition at international level on the one hand and, on the other, to offer the world’s U18 national fistball teams women and men a perfectly organized world championship in junior fistball in 2026 that is both qualitative and fistball-friendly, and thus at the same time a platform for viewing and competition,” says Franco Giori, President of Swiss Faustball: “The sport of fistball should thus be promoted and experienced particularly in Switzerland, but also worldwide. I am very proud and pleased about the trust that the IFA has placed in Swiss Fistball and the organizer Turnverein STV Vordemwald by awarding the U18 World Championships.”

Joint event with Women’s European Championship as highlight

The International Fistball Association is delighted to be able to present a host for the U18 World Championship at such an early stage. “The Turnverein STV Vordemwald actively approached us last autumn and signaled its interest in organizing the event,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger: “Over the past few months, Swiss Fistball and STV have gone through our application process, which also included an evaluation of the application documents by a jury. The fact that the planning is already so far advanced at this early stage has impressed everyone.” In particular, the combination of the U18 World Championship and the Women’s European Championship as a joint event is a great idea that will bring many fistball enthusiasts together. Verleger: “We are convinced that we will experience a great event with the U18 World Championship and the Women’s European Championship, which will strengthen the sport of fistball in the long term.”

The 2024 Men’s and Women’s World Tour Finals will take place in Mannheim: From July 18 to 21, 2024, the fistball scene will thus return to the venue of the 2023 Fistball World Championship. A total of 16 teams from four countries will take part over the four days of the event.

When the best fistball club teams in the world meet in July 2024, fistball fans are likely to be reminded of the summer of 2023. The Rhine-Neckar Stadium, the venue for the men’s Fistball World Championship, will host the top eight men’s and top eight women’s teams. The 2024 World Tour Final will be organized by the Förderverein Faustball² and VfR Mannheim.

“The discussions about hosting the event in Mannheim have been consistently positive with everyone involved,” says Sönke Spille, Head of Events at the International Fistball Association (IFA): “Everyone in Mannheim still has great memories of the World Championship. We are all the more pleased that the best club teams can now benefit from the optimal conditions around the Rhein-Neckar Stadium.” All matches will be played in the Rhein-Neckar Stadium, which has a capacity of up to 5,000 spectators for the fistball event. There are no plans for an additional grandstand like at the Fistball World Championships; instead, the covered seating grandstand will provide the ideal setting for the center court. “Floodlit matches are also possible in the stadium, which can once again provide a very special flair for the top matches,” says Spille.

“We enjoyed the warm and great atmosphere at the Fistball World Championships over the days in the Rhein-Neckar Stadium,” says Boris Scheuermann, President of VfR Mannheim. The traditional club is known for its success in soccer and its intensive youth work. The men’s team currently plays in the Baden Oberliga. Although the club does not have a fistball department, the VfR managers were inspired by a certain enthusiasm for fistball during the World Championships. “During the World Championship, we had the idea of once again hosting a fistball event in our stadium,” says Scheuermann: “We are delighted that it worked out so quickly and that we will be able to welcome the best club teams from all over the world to Mannheim in July 2024.”

The city of Mannheim is also very much looking forward to welcoming another international fistball event to the city of squares. “I am delighted that the hosting of the finals will further strengthen Mannheim’s reputation as the capital of fistball after last year’s successful World Championships,” said Mannheim’s sports mayor Ralf Eisenhauer.
“It’s great that we are back in Germany after the premiere event in Vaihingen/Enz in 2018,” says Christoph Oberlehner, IFA General Secretary. The first edition of the new World Cup format took place in Vaihingen/Enz five years ago. In 2019, the best club teams in the world were then hosted in Salzburg (Austria) before the final event fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic twice in a row. The IFA relaunched the event in October 2022 in Curitiba, where also the fourth edition was held last October.

The field of participants for the 2024 World Tour Finals has now also been finalized. In addition to defending champion and the winner of the 2023 World Tour, SG Novo Hamburgo (Brazil), TSV Pfungstadt (Germany), SOGIPA/Cargo Way (Brazil), Union Tigers Vöcklabruck, UFG Sparkasse Grieskirchen/Pötting, DSG UKJ Froschberg, AWN TV Enns (all Austria) and the Mannheim club TV Käfertal will also be competing in the men’s competition.

The women’s field will be led by defending champions TV Jahn Schneverdingen (Germany). They will be joined by TSV Dennach (Germany), SOGIPA/Cargo Way, Clube Duque de Caxias (both Brazil), FG Elgg-Ettenhausen (Switzerland), Faustball Kreuzlingen, SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter (all Switzerland) and FBC Linz-Urfahr (Austria).