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IFA signed IWGA-IF Commitment: competition venue and days confirmed, new logo published

At the IWGA Annual General Meeting in Esslingen (GER) IFA Secretary General Chris Oberlehner signed the so called IWGA-IF commitment confirming the competition venue and competition days of Fistball at The World Games 2025. The Fistball event will take place from Saturday 9th of August 2025 to Wednesday 13th of August. The women´s and the men´s gold medal match will both be played on Wednesday 13th of August.

Venue: Tianfu Park
After several changes of venue, we are pleased to announce that we will be playing our matches in Tianfu Park.

“We are very glad that we could have been fixed the competition venue during the stay of Competition Manager Sönke Spille and IFA Sports Commission Chairman Gastao Englert some weeks ago in Chengdu”, said IFA Secretary General Chris Oberlehner after signing the formal commitment in Esslingen. “We are more than satisfied with the venue proposed, and we have full confidence that it will be a remarkable event at the heart of a dynamic community.”

The 12th edition of The World Games will be held in Chengdu (CHN) from 7-17 August 2025.

Despite Chengdu being Sichuan province’s capital with an estimated population of close to 20 million citizens, the distances between each venue at peak traffic time and from/to the Athletes Villages and the official hotels is a maximum of 60 minutes.

New logo of the 12th edition of The World Games revealed

In December 2023, the Chengdu 2025 LOC initiated an international contest to create the logo, mascot and slogan of The World Games 2025, calling for designers’ ideas globally. Worldwide contributions ran until the end of February 2024.

A total of 9,235 (national and international) submissions were received from national and foreign applicants, a testament of the world’s creativity to develop the visual identity of the International World Games Association (IWGA) flagship event next year. The submissions breakdown unfolds as follows: 3,562 logo ideas received, 1,924 mascot creations and 3,749 slogans.

The Chengdu 2025 mascot and slogan will be unveiled at the ‘One Year to Go’ event in August 2024.

Resignation of Franz P. Iten as IFA Treasurer

We would like to inform that Franz P. Iten has resigned from his position as Treasurer for personal reasons. The IFA board meeting on April 7, 2024 decided that the day-to-day business would be temporarily managed by the Secretary General.

IFA President Jörn Verleger: “I would like to thank Franz for his work and his commitment to IFA. We have always greatly appreciated his work and his sports policy experience. Franz wanted to give up his position already at the IFA 2023 Congress and we were able to persuade you, dear Franz, to complete the 2023 annual financial statements to be completed. Thank you for your many years of service as IFA Treasurer and all the best for the future. I am proud and happy to have you as a friend of Fistball and as a member of the IFA Board of Directors since 2015. You deserve honor and recognition for your services to IFA.”

Porto Alegre and Novo Hamburgo need our help!

Terrible pictures have reached us from Brazil in the last few days. Persistent heavy rainfall in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and in the southern part of the state of Santa Catarina has led to severe flooding, landslides and bridge collapses with an increasing number of fatalities since the beginning of the week. Thousands of houses and infrastructure have been damaged; many roads are currently interrupted or impassable.

“The state, Rio Grande do Sul, home of the well-known Fistball clubs Sogipa Punhobol and Novo Hamburgo Ginástica, is facing its worst natural disaster in recent history. Please support our Fistball friends in Brazil in their unprecedented work by making a donation under https://www.vakinha.com.br/4749899”, says IFA President Jörn Verleger.

Karlsruhe (GER) will host The World Games 2029

Karlsruhe, becoming the first city to organise the multi-sport event twice since its inception.

A proven host with a strong track record, Germany has hosted the 3rd edition of The World Games in 1989 in Karlsruhe and the 7th edition in 2005 in Duisburg, as well as countless other major international sporting events.

After nomination by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the south-western German city, located at the heart of Europe near the French border, will host the IWGA flagship event in the summer of 2029, 40 years after it organised TWG 1989.

Following a bidding process and careful consideration by the IWGA Executive Committee, the delegates ratified the Executive Committee’s recommendation. The announcement was made in Esslingen (GER) at the International World Games Association (IWGA) Annual General Meeting on 1 May 2024.

IFA President Jörn Verleger: “The Fistball family has fond memories of the 1989 edition in Karlsruhe and we look forward to developing plans for Fistball in our core market of Germany.”

The next edition of The World Games will be held in the period 7-17 August 2025 in Chengdu, CHN.

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.