On Thursday started the Pan-American Championship in Novo Hamburgo. This Championship is the last qualifier for the 2023 Men’s World Championship in Mannheim. 5 national teams compete in the men’s category: Brasil, Argentina, Chile, USA and for the first time Colombia.

Brasil, Argentina and Chile are already qualified as they finished the last World Championship in Switzerland in the Top 8. Pan-America has 4 starting rights in total. Colombia and USA are fighting for the last starting right. The direct duel takes place on Thursday 11am (Brazil time). Tomorrow Friday the placement matches take place. Good luck to all teams!

As reported, the men’s final on 25 September at the World Tour Major event at Novo Hamburgo between SOGIPA and host Sociedade Ginástica Novo Hamburgo was abandoned in the second set at 1-0 in sets for SOGIPA due to an altercation. The final was scored in favor of SOGIPA.

IFA looked for official statements and filed a request for relief on 30 September.

The proceedings are directed against two individuals and the club Sociedade Ginástica Novo Hamburgo.

In his summary review, the Chairman of the Tribunal has come to the following conclusions, pending a formal procedure with the entire Tribunal:

1. The witnessed kicking of a spectator by the player Francisco SCHMIDT from SG Novo Hamburgo constutitutes a misbehavior according to point 24 of the IFA Juridical Regulations;
2. The player Francisco SCHMIDT from SG Novo Hamburgo is provisional suspended from play and taking part in any IFA official event until further notice;
3. The formal proceedings according to the request by the IFA Executive Committee are opened.

The provisional measures and the opening of formal proceedings have been decided on 6 October and have been communicated as soon as possible on the same day to the club and the player. The player has thus been banned from playing in the upcoming days as an provisional measure in view of the seriousness of the allegations.

The tribunal will use due diligence to clarify all issues and formally hear all those accused.

The timing of the hearing is the sole decision of the tribunal.

The IFA board or president nor any (voluntary) staff member of IFA can overrule the tribunal and its timing.

The IFA condemns physical violence, discrimination or insults against other persons in the strongest possible terms.

We strongly hope that our Fistball community can understand the separation of power according to good governance.

19 teams registered for the IFA 2023 Fistball World Championship in Mannheim. At Fistball events 16 teams is a maximum and the qualification regulations take effect. The PAFA area will host their continental championships later this year and this will be only remaining official qualifier for the World Championship. Europe held their continental qualifier already and the European starters are already fixed.

From Europe there are seven nations qualified, PAFA has four starting rights, Asia and Oceania two each, Africa has only one slot. Seven teams per continent is the maximum quota possible. The aim of the qualification criteria is to guarantee a worldwide presence at the World Championship. Each regional champion and the top 8 from the last World Championship are qualified automatically. The remaining places are provided to teams from the Regional Association according to a quota per continental association.

Americas (4) – regional qualifier in October:
The Pan-American Championships takes place on 13 and 14 October. Brazil, Argentina and Chile are already qualified for the World Championship as they ranked in the top 8 in the last World Champs. USA and Colombia will fight for the last place.

Oceania (2):
The Asia-Pacific Championship from 22 to 23 October in Australia would have been the qualifier event for the Oceanian Area. As Oceania has 2 starting rights New Zealand and Australia are already qualified.

Asia (2):
India and Japan are the only two registered teams from Asia. As Asia has 2 starting rights, both teams are qualified. Furthermore, India and Japan are going to the Asia-Pacific Championship in October in Australia.

Europe (7):
The continental championship in Italy in June 2022 was the European qualifier. The top 7 teams in this event (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Serbia, Czech Republic) qualified for the World Championship in Mannheim 2023. 7 teams is also the maximum quota per continent, therefore Belgium and Poland didn’t qualify for the Men’s World Championship.

Africa (1):
Namibia as a top 8 team in the last World Championship and only registered representative from Africa is qualified automatically for Mannheim 2023.

(Q)…qualified
(X)…not qualified
(tbq)…to be qualified – qualification depends on regional qualifier

See detailed qualification regulations here: DOWNLOAD

During the final of the World Tour Major tournament in Novo Hamburgo (BRA), players and officials got into an altercation with spectators. As a result, the final between SG Novo Hamburgo and SOGIPA was cancelled and scored in favor of SOGIPA because they were 1:0 in sets in the lead at this time.

The IFA is currently collecting all information surrounding the incident and will subsequently decide on possible sanctions and penalties against those involved. Sanctions can be a warning, a reprimand, a fine, a deduction of points or even a match suspension or a ban from sports facilities.
The IFA condemns physical violence, discrimination, or insults against other persons in the strongest possible terms. Fistball lives and stands for values such as fair play, community and cohesion.

IFA Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner and Project Manager Theresa Eidenhammer are participating in the TAFISA European Sport for All Games in Perugia (Italy) from 23-27 September.

Within this Sport for All Festival IFA demonstrates 2×2 Fistball and brings people to our sports. 20 different nations and many international Sport Federations are represented in this European Games which demonstrates their disciplines with international and local visitors invited to join in and try out. The Festival is co-founded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
On Saturday the Festival was opened with a big Opening Ceremony and a walk-in of all represented nations. IFA had the honor to carry the Austrian flag as the IFA head office is in Austria.

Besides the European Games the last meeting of the INTERACT project to promote Sport for All took place. The outcome of this project is a huge step forward in raising awareness of Sport for All. Find more information on the INTERACT website: www.interact-sport.com.

The U18 Men’s and Women’s World Championships will be cancelled after the withdrawal of Switzerland and further uncertainties as well as financial imponderables for the organizer. This was announced today by the International Fistball Association (IFA) in coordination with the organizing committee in New Zealand. “I feel most sorry for the athletes,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger.

7 teams each registered on time for the U18 World Championships (alphabetical order): Australia, Austria, Germany, India, New Zealand, Samoa, Switzerland.
Brazil and Chile stated in writing that they could not send teams to this World Championships for financial reasons. Argentina tried to get financial support from different sides, but in the end did not register for the World Championship.

After the publication of the participating nations, Switzerland withdrew its registrations. Germany and Austria discussed the sporting sense of the event but reconfirmed their participation. In the end, the deciding factor was that due to the lower number of participants, the total financing collapsed as additional uncertainty concerning the participation of Samoa arised.

“We understand the reasons put forward by our member federations and the organizer in New Zealand. The cancellation of the U18 World Championships only brings losers: federations, athletes, coaches and our sport in general. The young players are our future, so I am very sad for all of them who will lose ‘their’ World Championships and probably a once in a lifetime experience,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger.

“I would like to thank the New Zealand Fistball Assocition and especially Vikki Buston and Blase Dowall for their efforts in the background to secure the event until the end and to organize a great fistball event.”

Moving the World Championships to Argentina or to another country on the same date was not an option

Christoph Oberlehner, IFA Secretary General, says: “From our point of view, it is not fair to the New Zealand Assocition and the Oceania members to move the event to Argentina or any other alternative venue, since the 2019 IFA Congress – the highest IFA body with all member associations – unanimously awarded the event to the New Zealand Fistball Assocition (NZFA).

“We are now working together with the European Fistball Association on a solution to offer an U18 competition in summer 2023 for the youth players in Europe. The next U18 World Championship will be held in 2024 or early 2025 where we have three potential hosts. The bidding process will end soon,” Oberlehner added.

“The U18 Men’s and Women’s World Championships in New Zealand should have been a very special event for the youth athletes. We are well aware that events such as the U18 World Championships pose major financial and organizational challenges for both the host and the participating nations – regardless of where the World Championships are held. However, these events are an integral part of the IFA calendar – and must remain so in the future,” said IFA Youth Commission Chairman Uwe Schneider.

It’s exactly three years to go to The World Games 2025 to be held in Chengdu, People’s Republic of China! The Opening Ceremony of the Games in Chengdu will take place on 7th August 2025, and the 12th edition of The World Games will be held in the period 7–17 August 2025. The World Games always takes place one year after the Summer Olympic Games – this time the Olympic Games to be held in Paris in 2024.

For the third time in the history of The World Games since its first edition in 1981, the multi-sport event is a guest in Asia. The host for 2025, Chengdu, is a city of 21 million people in the south-west of China. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province and also well known as the ‘home’ of the panda.

Chengdu city already has the necessary infrastructure to host an event the size of The World Games. Following the principles of the IWGA, the construction of new sports facilities is not necessary. Chengdu organised the World Police and Fire Games in 2019, and looks forward to hosting the FISU Summer University Games in 2023.

The process of deciding on the sports programme for The World Games 2025 will start immediately, now that The World Games 2022are over. Qualifications – for which the member federations will be responsible – will begin in 2023. As with The World Games 2022, the Madrid-based company ISB will be responsible for the production of the TV signal and the international marketing of the TV rights. The official timekeeper will be Swiss Timing, as it has been for the Games since 2009.

The World Games 2025 will be the first edition held under the guidelines set by the strategy paper of the International World Games Association ‘Growth Beyond Excellence’. The maximum permitted number of participants (this includes athletes and technical officials) for the sports programme of The World Games 2025 onwards will be increased from 4,200 to 5,000. In principle, this number will include 4,000 participants proposed by the 39 IWGA Member Federations with events on the programme. The remaining 1,000 participants will be made up of participants from other disciplines in agreement with the host cities, participants from disciplines determined in consultation with the International Olympic Committee, and participants from para-disciplines. These disciplines will be determined after consultation with the International Paralympic Committee.

Sönke Spille (26) took over the management of the Fistball Men’s World Championships 2023 in Mannheim on 1 August. The experienced fistball announcer left his position at the Delmenhorst/Oldenburg-Land sports region at the end of July and moved to Mannheim at the request of the World Fistball Association IFA to prepare and organise the World Championships. Previously, Spille had already worked for TSG Hatten-Sandkrug and the Nordwest Zeitung (NWZ) and brings with him the necessary experience through his various functions in Fistball.

“We are delighted to have a proven and committed event professional on board with Sönke, who will be able to focus on the World Championship full time,” said IFA General Secretary Christoph Oberlehner. “It is a great honour for me to take on the task of organising the World Championship. With my experience, I want to contribute to putting on the best fistball World Championship in history and to inspire existing as well as many new spectators for our sport,” says Sönke Spille full of motivation.

Tickets for the Fistball event of the year 2023 are now available at www.fistballmwc.com/ticketing. Season tickets are already available from 99 euros for 8 days of the event and thus less than 13 euros per day or 1.90 euros per match. Tickets for the final round in the SAP Arena start from 49 euros for two days.

Although the draw and the final match schedule will not take place until spring 2023, it is already clear today that there will be no parallel matches. Even in the preliminary round phase, each of the eight daily matches will be presented like a highlight in the Rhein-Neckar-Stadion and produced for television.

About 400 days before the Fistball World Championship Final, the presale for the IFA Fistball Men’s World Championship 2023 started today. The Fistball highlight will take place from 22 to 29 July 2023 in Mannheim, Germany. More than 20.000 fans are expected to experience the two final match days live in the SAP Arena.

For the complete World Championship program with a total of 52 games, season tickets for all eight match days as well as preliminary round and final weekend tickets will go on sale in the first presales phase. Also going on sale now are high-quality VIP offers in the so-called Fistball Club, which will be sold exclusively through the SAP Arena.

“We want to give as many people as possible the chance to experience top Fistball live,” says Jörg Trinemeier, head of the World Championship organizing committee. “Fistball is even more dynamic live than on TV,” said International Fistball Association President Jörn Verleger, who is also president of the German Fistball League.

Tickets are available through the event website www.fistballmwc.com/ticketing. Season tickets are available starting at 99 euros for 8 days of the event, which is less than 13 euros per day or 1,90 euros per match. Tickets for the final round in the SAP Arena start from 49 euros for 2 days.
Presales were launched today at the extraordinary IFA Congress. In the coming weeks, the German men’s national team and, for the first time, the women’s national team will have the chance to once again prove their exceptional position in world fencing at the World Games in Birmingham (Alabama/USA). Which 15 teams will join Germany at the World Championship tournament in Mannheim in 2023 will be decided by the end of the year following the registration and qualification phase.

Although the draw and the final schedule will not take place until the spring of 2023, it is already clear that there will be no parallel matches. Even in the preliminary round phase, each of the eight daily matches will be presented at Rhein-Neckar-Stadion like a highlight and produced for television. On the question of whether and to what extent the World Championship will be seen on TV, the TV coverage quota for the Fistball final of the World Games on July 14 at 9 p.m. can also be an indicator. The match will be broadcast live on Sport1.

The spectacular 2017 World Games Fistball final between Germany and Switzerland not only thrilled spectators in the stadium. The broadcast of the final reached almost 300,000 viewers on TV. SPORT1’s market share was a strong 3.0% in the SPORT1 core target group. This was the best value on all days of SPORT1-TV coverage of the World Games 2017.

“Fistball will be a big topic in July 2023, not only in Mannheim,” IFA Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner is certain. For the 2023 Fistball World Championships, one of Germany’s largest arenas will open its doors for a top-class international sporting event.

The IFA 2023 U18 Fistball World Championships will take place from 4 to 7 January in Christchurch, New Zealand. The member federations were informed about this decision in the IFA Extraordinary Congress on 3 July.
Immediately after this Extraordinary Congress IFA published Bulletin 0 with the official invitation to all member federations.

Even though the event was already awarded to New Zealand in 2019 the COVID19 pandemic affected this event very much. In a result this coursed some organizational problems for the New Zealand Fistball Association (NZFA) and IFA as well as the cancellation of the planned venue. One further topic was also that New Zealand closed its borders completely for many months and just re-opened a couple of weeks ago.
The Organizers of NZFA secured a new venue at short notice and are now able to organize all other issues as well. The U18 World Championships take place at Selwyn Sports Park which fulfills all requirements to host a great Fistball event.
The Organizers want to create the event as a special experience for all participants and offer a new year’s eve party on 31 December as well.

Bulletin 0 contains different information regarding venue, accommodation, and transport as well as information on the registration process. All interested member federations can register for this event latest by 15 August 2022.

Download the Bulletin 0