All posts by Media Team

Great week in Birmingham for SportAccord 2024

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 came to an end on Friday after an inspiring week. The IFA used the conference of world sports federations for numerous meetings and fruitful discussions with various players from the world of sport, such as the IOC, WADA, IWGA and numerous providers of services for sporting events.

“A big thank you to our great hosts Birmingham City Council & West Midlands and all the amazing volunteers who helped make SportAccord 2024 such a success! We would also like to thank AIMS for the opportunity to use the joint AIMS stand for our activities and discussions in Birmingham,” said IFA President Jörn Verleger.

More than 1,700 participants from 65 different countries traveled to the UK from all over the world to experience a packed program of high-level sessions, conferences, exhibitions, networking and social events at the International Convention Centre.
Topics of discussion and debate ranged from sustainability, innovative technology, fan engagement and new event models to governance, esports and athlete wellbeing.
An engaging program of networking events, supported by the passion of local volunteers, at a state-of-the-art venue in a region with a rich sporting heritage, provided a perfect platform to make connections, strengthen relationships and explore new ideas.

“Birmingham and the West Midlands have provided an ideal platform for sport to bring together international federations, the International Olympic Committee, rights holders, businesses, cities and regions – the whole sporting family,” said SportAccord President Prof Dr Uğur Erdener

IFA ball list valid 1 April 2024

The IFA is pleased to announce the release of the approved fistballs from April 1, 2024. With a choice of five ball manufacturers – Sportastic, Ludwig, Drohnn, Errea and HAWE – we can offer our athletes a wide range of high quality balls.

This selection of approved fistballs is in line with our commitment to continuously improve the standards and quality of the game. Extensive testing and trials have confirmed that all approved fistballs meet quality and performance standards. Athletes can therefore rest assured that every ball is a reliable tool for exciting and fair games.

We would like to express our thanks to Sportastic, Ludwig, Drohnn, Errea and HAWE for their continuous work and commitment to our sport!

List of approved Fistballs valid from 1 April 2024: DOWNLOAD

The INTERACT+ Project is in full swing!

As the INTERACT+ Project goes into it’s second year, the first meeting of 2024 was hosted in Linz, Austria by Project Partner International Fistball Association March 13-14th. The meeting had updates from all work packages. After the successful submission of Literature Review and Theory of Action, University of Limerick updated the Partners on the next stages on testing the Theory of Action as well as the Evaluation process.

Work Package 3 had updates on planning the capacity building trainings for the next two years of the programme. If you are an International Sports Organisation and would like your representatives or employees to learn more about implementing Sport for All in your organisation, please reach out to the capacity building coordinators at geschaefte@frisbeesportverband.de and mbsaibes@foundation.ittf.com. This training is being offered free of charge for any participants who would like to join and will have online trainings for participants not able to travel.

The INTERACT+ Label is an exciting part of the project. We will be launching an online dashboard where organisations can self-evaluate their Sport for All activities, initiatives, and areas of interest in June. To inform and refine the Label, an INTERACT+ Conference with International Sport Organisations and National Sport Federations will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland on October 1st where we can collect expert feedback about the INTERACT+ Label Certification. The next project partner meeting will be online in June.

Brazilian teams dominate first major tournament

The first major tournament of the 2024 World Tour has been played. The international Victor Körbes Cup took place for the 27th time on 16 and 17 March in Novo Hamburgo (BRA).
With 43 teams from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Germany and Switzerland, a total of over 220 athletes took part in 8 categories. Despite recurring rain showers and sometimes poor pitch conditions, the spectators were treated to spectacular matches and fistball at the highest level.

Men’s competition
After the preliminary round matches on Saturday, the home team Ginastica Novo Hamburgo emerged as the favourites. In the semi-final against the argentinian team from Rosario, the young Brazilians lived up to their role as favourites and qualified for the final. The team from Club Merces (BRA) also secured a place in the final. They won the 2nd semi-final against Condor (BRA) with a 2:0. In a very evenly balanced match, the two brazilian teams fought a duel at eye level. In the end, however, Merces were defeated 3:1 and the victory of the first elite tournament and thus 1000 points for the World Tour went to Ginastica Novo Hamburgo. Rosario took bronze and Condor finished in fourth place.

 

Women’s competition
The women’s competition was just as exciting. The ladies from Sogipa Porto Alegre (BRA) emerged as the favourites. They qualified for the final without losing a set after beating the chilean team Llanquihue in the semi-finals. The second semi-final was won by Team Morgenau (BRA). A 2:0 victory against Duque secured them a place in the gold medal match. The women from Sogipa Porto Alegre finally won the tournament. The favourites from the preliminary round prevailed with a clear 3:0. The ladies from Club Duque were delighted with third place and the bronze medal, while the chilean team Llanquihue finished in fourth place.

With the former WADA Presidents Richard Pound (WADA Founding President 1999-2007) and Sir Craig Reedie (WADA President 2014-2019) as well as AIMS President Stephan Fox and the new AIMS Executive Administrator Zhuldyz Baimagambet.

IFA congratulates WADA to 25th anniversary at 2024 Annual Symposium

As part of its 2024 Annual Symposium, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) celebrated its 25th anniversary in Lausanne, Switzerland. “Since its establishment in 1999, WADA has been a basis for our mission to organize a doping-free sport”, said IFA President Jörn Verleger, who represented IFA in Lausanne.

The 25th Anniversary Gala gathered 1,100+ Symposium attendees and other invited guests to celebrate WADA’s first quarter century, the accomplishments of the global anti-doping community and some of its key contributors.

WADA President Witold Bańka thanked everyone that has contributed to the work of the global anti-doping movement over the past 25 years. “Today, we want to celebrate the collective, because we are proud of how many people have recognized the importance of, and have joined, our global collaborative movement for doping-free sport. We know that the roles and responsibilities of our various stakeholder groups are complementary to the goal of protecting clean sport; and that, as ONE TEAM, we are stronger”, he said.

Mr. Bańka then highlighted how certain stakeholder groups and individuals had been particularly instrumental to the creation, evolution and strengthening of WADA and Clean Sport, which the Agency wanted to acknowledge with inaugural “Play True Awards,” to recognize long-lasting and significant contributions to the anti-doping movement.

The 2024 Play True Awards were presented to:
• Ben Sandford, former Chair of WADA’s Athlete Committee, on behalf of Athletes of the World;
• Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, on behalf of the Sport Movement;
• Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House National Drug Control Policy and Chair of One Voice, on behalf of the Public Authorities;
• Richard Pound, WADA Founding President 1999-2007;
• The late Honorable John Fahey, WADA President 2008-2013; and
• Sir Craig Reedie, WADA President 2014-2019

For this first year of WADA’s Play True Awards, WADA identified a short-list of important contributors over the past 25 years. Going forward, the Agency will launch a Play True Award program that will encourage the global anti-doping community to submit nominations for individuals or teams, based on certain categories and criteria that will be established and communicated over the coming months. Those that would then be selected by a jury as Play True Award winners will be publicly recognized and awarded during a dedicated session of WADA’s future Symposiums.

Novo Hamburgo and Club Duque de Caxias win the first World Tour Tournament 2024!

Last weekend (2 and 3 March), Curitiba (BRA) hosted the 8th Copa Merces and thus the opening tournament of the 2024 World Tour.
The teams played exciting matches for the first World Tour points in numerous junior categories as well as in the men’s and women’s categories.
Despite an altercation between the fans of two teams, the tournament was able to continue and finish in accordance with the rules.

In the men’s competition, the team from Novo Hamburgo (BRA) finished on the winners’ podium. They were followed by the home team from Merces (BRA) and Sogipa (BRA).

 

Duque de Caxias was crowned the winner of the women’s competition. The silver medal went to the ladies from Team Morgenau A and bronze went to the host team from Club Merces (BRA).

Player Eligibility at the 2024 World Tour Finals

The IFA Board of Directors has decided, that the time period of eligibility of players at the World Tour Final will be changed from 5 months prior to the event to a fixed date. The deadline of eligibility is now 1st of April 2024.

Explanation:
The IFA Board of Directors agreed in the board meeting dated 10th of February 2024 that it was the intention that the player must be eligible to play for the participating club for a longer period of time in the field season prior to the World Tour Final. As the original plan was to always hold the World Tour Final in September/October, the 5-month period was developed.

By moving the 2024 World Tour Final to the end of July, the European 2023/24 indoor season would also have been affected if the 5-month deadline had been applied. As it was never the intention of the Board of Directors to affect the indoor season, the regulation has now been clarified by the IFA Board of Directors:
“The time period of eligibility of players at the World Tour Final will be changed from 5 months prior to the event to a fixed date. The new deadline of eligibility is 1st of April.”

This is a general change of the rules which applies to all qualified clubs.

Download 2024 World Tour Final Regulations: World Tour Final Regulations 2024