The World Games 2022 will add a chapter to the history of the city of Birmingham, USA. Randall Woodfin, the Mayor of the host city in Alabama, USA, stated this in person at the Annual General Meeting of the International World Games Association, held 49 days before the opening ceremony for the 11th edition of The World Games 2022 on 7th July. The AGM was attended by representatives of the 39 member federations. IFA was represented by President Jörn Verleger and Secretary General Chris Oberlehner.

Mayor Woodfin opened the host city’s presentation by the Birmingham Organising Committee (BOC) at Thursday’s meeting in Madrid. Jonathan Porter, Chairman of the BOC, could already announce to delegates from the 39 IWGA member federations the name of a world star: Lionel Ritchie will perform at the closing ceremony on July 17th 2022 at the new Protective Stadium.

After the detailed presentation of the state of preparation by BOC Chief Operating Officer, Jay Kasten, IWGA President José Perurena summarised: “We expect nothing less than an outstanding event. I am convinced: Birmingham will deliver.”

In 2022, there are 223 Medal events in 34 sports. A record number of 108 nations will be represented at TWG. Men´s Fistball is part of the World Games since 1985 in London. In 2022 for the first time ever a female Fistball competition will take place.

Beyond Birmingham
During the AGM, which was held as a meeting in presence for the first time in two years, delegates were already looking beyond the 2022 Games. IWGA CEO Joachim Gossow unveiled plans for The World Games Series, a new multi-sport format under the patronage of the IWGA. The world-class invitation event – with top athletes and teams – will provide an additional platform for The World Games sports. It will be scheduled twice a year from 2023 onwards. The goal is to strengthen the TWG brand and to raise awareness in the years preceding editions of the Games, which are held every four years.

Already during The World Games 2022 the IWGA is launching its eGaming project. The IWGA will set up an eGaming pavilion at TWG Plaza, at the new location City Walk in Birmingham – as Hagen Bossdorf, TV and Marketing Coordinator of the IWGA, told the delegates. Three sports, Archery, Baseball and Racquetball, will present their virtual games to the visitors. Up to the 12th edition of The World Games in 2025 in Chengdu, Peoples Republic of China, the IWGA in cooperation with its federations wants to expand the circle to ten eGaming sports. Hagen Bossdorf described eGaming as a promotional tool for TWG and their sports. He even sees the possibility in the future of organising e-Gaming competitions at The World Games.

Projecting an Athletes Commission
The IWGA then plans to convene its Athletes Commission for the first time in October 2025. Executive Committee member Jan Fransoo presented the concept for this. Jan Fransoo said, concerning the reasons for establishing such a commission: “The World Games provides the highest podium for our athletes to showcase their athletic performance. Our ambition is that our athletes are at the centre of our considerations and be part of our decision-making processes.” Before 2025, the IWGA is planning to establish an interim Athletes Commission in late 2022. The IWGA board will appoint members of this Commission, based on the nomination of the international federations. “It is crucial that these athletes do not represent their sport, but all the athletes who participate in The World Games,” Jan Fransoo said.

Memorandum of Understanding
Another agenda item dealt with the Memorandum of Understanding just signed between the IWGA and International University Sports Federation (FISU). In addition, the Board is in negotiations about similar agreements with the National Olympic Committees as well as National Sports Organisations and the International Paralympic Committee.

For the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Irina Gladkikh, Andrew Hofer and Céline Moyat Pérez participated in the AGM. The World Games are under the Patronage of the IOC. The IOC President Thomas Bach has announced that he will attend the 11th edition of The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. Thomas Bach showed his commitment to the TWG family virtually, by opening the AGM with his welcome video message.

Dear Member Federation, dear potential host club and host city,

The IFA Board of Directors seeks bids from potential host organizers for

– the IFA 2024 Fistball U18 World Championships,
– the IFA 2024 Fistball Women´s World Championship,
– the IFA 2023 Fistball World Tour Finals and
– the IFA 2024 Fistball World Tour Finals.

Please find the information on the respective events in detail in the following documents:
– Call for Applications U18 World Championships
– Call for Applications Women’s World Championships
– Call for Applications World Tour Finals

It is the aim of the Board to award the events if possible at the IFA 2022 Extraordinary Congress on Sunday 3 July which will be held online. Every applicant will be invited to present the bid to the member federations.

Bidding process and timeline:

1. Express your interest to bid for one of the events latest by 1 June 2022 via the following online form https://tinyurl.com/IFAevents2024

2. IFA contacts you to discuss the event concept from 2 June 2022

3. Submit your bidding documents with your event concept to office@ifa-fistball.com
latest by 26 June 2022

4. Assessment of bidding documents by IFA jury and 2nd round questions from 27-30 June 2022

5. Awarding of the event in the IFA Congress on 3 July 2022

6. Signing of Event contract Mid of July

To all potential hosts: Please do not hesitate to contact IFA Secretary General by mail (office@ifa-fistball.com) any time within the bidding process for consultation concerning the bid.

IFA will provide all potential bidders showing interest the same support to prepare their bidding document.

Potential bidders/hosts could be a:
– national IFA member association or
– club or
– city in co-operation with a club.

Bids will be reviewed by an IFA Jury with input from the IFA Sports Commission, the IFA Youth Commission and the IFA Women’s Commission, with final approval upon their recommendation by the IFA Board of Directors.

In case you have any questions about these events or the process of bidding please contact Christoph Oberlehner, IFA Secretary General via office@ifa-fistball.com.

On 4 – 5 May 2022, 7 National Table Tennis Federations took part in the INTERACT Pilot Training in Sport for All Development. The training was hosted by the ITTF Foundation in Leipzig, Germany. IFA was represented in this workshop by Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner and Theresa Eidenhammer. Both presented a Best practice database with examples on Sport for All activities of many sport federations.

How can International and National Sport Organisations (ISOs & NSOs) promote and develop Sport for All, and create a better world? This is a central question that the INTERACT project – co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, addresses and that is part of its capacity-building framework, which was piloted in Leipzig, Germany, on 4 – 5 May 2022.

During the 2-day training, the participants from Greenland, Kosovo, Malta, Georgia, Botswana, Venezuela and Portugal reflected on the meaning of Sport for All, its importance in society and contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They gathered insights on what role they, as NSOs, can play in Sport for All development and promotion. They shared good practices, knowledge and experiences on how to raise the interest of, and engage inactive people and disadvantaged groups to participate in Sport for All. Sport for all policy, strategy, practices, target groups, purposes, venues and types of initiatives were discussed. Together, they took notice, responsibility and initiated to take action to create a better world.
The pilot training was well received by all participants. Henrik Ottosen, from the Greenland Table Tennis Federation, confirmed that they will “take inspiration from the training, translate the key elements of the learning materials and present them to their Board of Directors for action”, while Jeton Beqiri, from the Kosovo Table Tennis Association, felt that the training was “very productive, with shared experiences and best practices for enabling all sport organisations to promote Sport for All. Multilateral angles brought by different countries were a useful interaction. I recommend all sport organisations to aim for Sport for All as part of their tasks and objectives”.

The training was led by TAFISA, the ITTF Foundation and the German Frisbee-sport Federation (DFV) with the support of all other INTERACT partners. It was the opportunity for the project team to unveil the first project outputs including its toolkit and good practices collection, which will be made available to the public in the coming months.

At the conclusion of the training, Jörg Benner (DFV), highlighted that “Sport for All must be inclusive. A Sport for All strategy is working out if there is a clear intention to include disadvantaged groups”, while Jean-Francois Laurent (TAFISA) underlined that “Sport for All can play a crucial role for a better world. We need sport to play its role in society and sport organisations must come out of their shell”. ITTF Foundation’s Wiebke Scheffler “thanked all participants for their inspirational and active involvement in the workshop. Our intention was not only to talk about Sport for All, but also to include physical activities for all participants wherever possible. We believe that we must lead by example and the training outcomes clearly proved the beneficial consequences of being active.”

INTERACT Online Test Group Workshop & INTERACT Partners Meeting

The pilot training was the opportunity for the INTERACT project to host two side events: an INTERACT project partners meeting on 3rd May – where partners moved forward with the development of the project’s outputs, and an online test group workshop on 4th May.

The test group workshop gathered representatives from the International Functional Fitness Federation, Fédération Internationale de Savate, International Sambo Federation, International Tchoukball Federation, World Dodgeball Federation, World Jiu Jitsu Confederation, Union Cycliste Internationale and International Teqball Federation. It was an opportunity for them to discover the beta versions of the INTERACT outputs and provide very useful feedback for improvement to the INTERACT Team.

TAFISA thanks the ITTF Foundation for hosting the various events in Leipzig, the INTERACT project partners for their hard work, the INTERACT Test Group members for their on-going commitment and support to the project, and the various National Table Tennis Federations that took part in the training.
Stay tuned as the various INTERACT outputs will be published in the coming months!

IFA would like to pre-inform that the 2022 Election of female members Athletes’ Commission will take place on the 9th of July in Birmingham (Alabama/USA) within The World Games.

The member federations are entitled to nominate ONE female candidate per member federation to guarantee a maximum of countries represented.

The nomination should be done by 10th June 2022 at the latest (1 month prior to the elec-tions) by email to office@ifa-fistball.com including a brief biography (including photo).

The IFA Congress on 18 November 2015 in Cordoba (ARG) decided to establish an IFA Athletes’ Commission. The Chair and the deputy chair of the Athletes’ Commission are members of the IFA Board of Directors including a voting right.

Athletes, your vote can make the difference: by choosing those who represent you on the IFA Athletes’ Commission, you are expressing your opinion and selecting an athlete to share your con-cerns within the Fistball Movement.

The members of the Athletes’ Commission are usually elected by the athletes present at the IFA World Championships (men and women). Due to the COVID-19-pandemic and travel restrictions in 2020/21 the term of the female members elected in 2016 was extended until 2022.

The 4 new female members of the commission will be elected in 2022 for a term of 4 years.

The 4 male members of the commission have been elected in 2019 for a term of 4 years.

1. Right to vote
Every athlete has two votes that means each athlete can mark up to two boxes. Any ballot with more than two boxes marked will be regarded as null and void.

2. Nomination of Candidates
The member federations are entitled to nominate ONE female candidate per member federation to guarantee a maximum of countries represented. The nomination should be done by 10th June 2022 at the latest (1 month prior to the elections) by email to office@ifa-fistball.com including a brief biography (including photo) in paragraph for-mat please, not a European CV-style, and not more than 250 words including the bullet point in-formation:

– Sports career: e.g. World Games: Competed in ___ and ___; World Championships: com-peted in ____, ____ and ____.
– Education: e.g. Studies Bachelor of Science in Sport Science and Physical Activity; Mas-ter’s degree
– Professional activities:

3. Date of the election 2022
The election will take place on Saturday 9th July 2022 until 6:00 p.m. local time. The voting cards will be handed over to the heads of the delegations in the heads of delegation meeting.
 
4. Announcement of the results
The elected candidates will be announced on Saturday 9th July 2022.

5. Tasks of the Athletes’ Commission
The responsibilities of the IFA Athletes’ Commission are to:
– Empower Athlete Representation in the Fistball Movement decision-making processes.
– Support Athlete Development in their sporting and non-sporting careers.
– Promote Athlete Involvement in decision-making across the Fistball Movement.
– Ensure Athlete Representation in the Fistball Movement decision-making.
– Evaluate IFA events.

6. Meetings of the Athletes’ Commission
The IFA Athletes’ Commission meets at least once a year.
Meetings may take place by means of conference telephone so participants in such meeting can hear each other at the same time e.g. Skype.
The chair or the deputy chair shall issue invitations no less than 7 days prior to the date of such meetings.

7. Election of chair and deputy chair of the Athletes’ Commission
The IFA Athletes’ Commission elects among its members the chair and the deputy chair. Chair and deputy chair have to represent different genders.

18_IFA Athletes’ Commission Election Procedure 2022

PAFA Sports Director and world class referee Gastao Englert conducted a historical, first time ever international Fistball referees course ONLY FOR WOMEN. The education started with this week with a virtual coaching sessions. It will be followed by another virtual session before three days of practical evaluation will finalize the education.
The minimum outcome to become International Fistball Referee is 85% in two practical evaluations. Currently there are four female candidates three of them being from Brazil and one from Chile. The course will finish in the first weekend of June.

IFA is very happy that this action, through its Referee Commission under the leadership of Gastao Englert, who serves also as IFA Olympic Education Officer, is aligned with the principals of good governance provided by the International Olympic Committee – IOC in the Olympic Charter and with the United Nations Global Compact Sustainable Development Goal – SDG 5, GENDER EQUALITY.

It is with greatest sadness that the International Fistball Association (IFA) has learnt that Joachim Günther, IFA Honorary Member in Germany, passed away at the age of 90.

In 1959, the third place in the German Men’s Championships was the greatest sporting success for him and at the time for the VfK Berlin in a long fistball career, which the striker only ended in 1996.

Parallel to his active career, he was involved on a voluntary basis in the VfK Berlin, the Berlin Gymnastics Association, the German Gymnastics Federation and the International Fistball Association. Since 1974, he supported the Technical Commission (now Sports Commission) as a member and was its chairman from 1982 to 1995. He worked on the organisation of seven Fistball world championships, including in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Namibia.

Joachim Günther has been honoured for his services on many levels. Among other things, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon by the Federal President in 1993. After his retirement from IFA, he was elected an IFA Honorary Member.

The IFA expresses its deepest sympathies to Joachim Günther’s family and friends.

The IFA Board of Directors will meet today online to approve a new member federation in Italy, to hear reports about the upcoming The World Games 2022 and the IFA Fistball World Tour Final as well as to discuss the IFA 2021 Annual Report and the Financial Report.

Today´s Play True Day is traditionally dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of protecting Clean Sport. However, in light of the war in Ukraine, this year WADA is calling on the global anti-doping community and the wider sporting world to speak out in a spirit of peace and reconciliation.

Clean sport is about fairness, harmony and respect, three things that the world is lacking right now. More than ever, let’s stand together in solidarity and ‘Play True for Peace’.

#PlayTrueDay #PlayTrueforPeace

The White Card (#WhiteCard) is a worldwide digital campaign created by Peace and Sport in 2015 to celebrate International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. Holding up a White Card, just like a referee, is an action meant to symbolize the positive power of sport, in contrast with the red card, which signifies the most serious offense in sport, the White Card is a gesture of inclusion, equity and peace.

The annual campaign, recognizes the importance of the peace-through-sport movement, capturing the attention of millions of people each year through social networks in the lead up to International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) on April 6. Founded by the United Nations in 2013 and supported by the International Olympic Committee, IDSDP celebrates the power of sport to drive social change and community development, foster peace and promote understanding. It falls on the anniversary of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

International Fistball Association – IFA, is calling on all Fistball family around the world to support #WhiteCard digital campaign by April 6 and show our commitment to peace efforts worldwide. As part of the #WhiteCard campaign IFA is invited to hold up a symbolic white card and share a photo of themselves doing so on social media using the hash tags #WhiteCard and #IDSDP2022
“The white card acts as a unifying symbol for inclusion, equality and peace worldwide. By holding it up for International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Fistball communities demonstrate that sport can be an instrument for change throughout the world,” said Gastão Englert, Olympic Education Director from The International Fistball Asociation – IFA. “I encourage all Fistball communities to come together to support the #WhiteCard campaign on social media for April 6 and show our commitment to peace through sport around the world.”

The countdown is on: There are 100 days to go until the grand opening of The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, USA. The eleventh edition of the multi-sport event will start on the evening of 7 July in the Protective Stadium. IOC President Thomas Bach will be present at the Opening Ceremony. The Games in the state of Alabama will see 3,600 athletes including 140 fistball players strive for The World Games gold in 34 sports and 223 medal events.

Joachim Gossow, CEO of the International World Games Association, says of the phase that is now coming: “The anticipation is growing among everyone, and it is starting to thrill because we are expecting nothing less than an outstanding Games. I know from talking to Birmingham’s Mayor Randall Woodfin that he has set the bar high for his city and wants to give his citizens a once-in-a-lifetime event.” Nick Sellers, CEO of the Birmingham Organising Committee says with pride: “Our Games will be the first global multi-sport event we’ve held in front of packed crowds.”

Just in time for the “100 Days to Go” milestone, it is clear that participants from more than 100 nations will compete in the Games, which are returning to the USA for the first time since the première in 1981. Currently, 108 nations are listed in the database. The eleventh edition thus sets a record in the nations ranking. Athletes from 103 countries competed at The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland.

For those who can’t make it to Birmingham, a countdown clock is ticking away here until the start of the Fistball competition at The World Games 2022.