The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published the 2024 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List), which was approved by WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo) during its meeting on 22 September 2023 and enters into force from the 1 January 2024.

The 2024 Prohibited List also contains:

– The 2024 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes as compared to the 2023 List; and
– The 2024 Monitoring Program, which includes substances that are not on the List, but that WADA wishes to monitor in order to detect potential patterns of misuse in sport.
For a substance or method to be added to the List, it must be determined that it meets at least two of the following three criteria:

1. It has the potential to enhance or enhances sport performance.
2. It represents an actual or potential health risk to the athletes.
3. It violates the spirit of sport.

Major modifications for 2024

All Major Modifications for 2024 are outlined in the 2024 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes, including the following particular information regarding tramadol:

On 23 September 2022, the ExCo endorsed the recommendation by WADA’s List Expert Advisory Group to prohibit the narcotic TRAMADOL in competition, effective 1 January 2024.

The Therapeutic Use Exemption Program

It should be noted that for athletes who have a legitimate medical reason for using a prohibited substance or method that is on the List, they can apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) to determine whether they meet the criteria outlined in the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ISTUE).

Languages and Formats

The 2024 Prohibited List; the 2024 Summary of Modifications and Explanatory Notes; and the 2024 Monitoring Program are available for download on WADA’s website in English, French and Turkish with other languages to follow in the coming weeks.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas with your loved ones. May this festive season be filled with love, peace and joy. A heartfelt thank you for your support, your trust and the moments we shared together in the past year.

Joern & Chris

The participating teams for the 2024 World Tour Finals are confirmed. In addition to the defending champions TV Jahn Schneverdingen (women) and SG Novo Hamburgo (men) and the continental title holders, the top teams from the IFA World Tour 2023 have also qualified.

23 tournaments with more than 70 teams in the ranking: the IFA World Tour 2023 has come to an end. Brazilian clubs were once again able to celebrate as winners. In the men’s competition, the 2023 World Tour Final winner SG Novo Hamburgo once again won the World Tour with 3,300 points. In the women’s competition, SOGIPA/Cargo Way scored the most points, beating the competition with strong 3,500 points.

The two Brazilian teams will also be involved when the World Tour Finals take place in July 2024. In the men’s competition, SG Novo Hamburgo will be the defending champions after winning the last finals tournament in Curitiba in October. They will be joined by the continental champions TSV Pfungstadt (Germany) from Europe, SOGIPA/Cargo Way (Brazil) for South America and South Jersey Fistball Club (USA) for North America. Three teams have also qualified for the final tournament via the World Tour. Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (Austria), Clube Mercês (Brazil) and UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (Austria) were all already part of the 2023 World Tour Finals this October. The eighth starting place is currently still reserved for the host club.

In the women’s competition, several teams have qualified for the World Tour Finals for the first time. Defending champion TV Jahn Schneverdingen (Germany) is seeded, as are the continental winners of SOGIPA/Cargo Way (Brazil) from South America and TSV Dennach (Germany) from Europe. The starting field will be completed by the best-placed teams on the World Tour. For FG Elgg-Ettenhausen, Faustball Kreuzlingen, SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter (all Switzerland) and FBC Linz-Urfahr (Austria), this will be their first participation.

This means that seven places have been firmly booked in both the men’s and women’s competitions. The eighth starting place is reserved for a potential organizer. This is one starting place – either for the men’s or women’s competition. The remaining place would be taken by DSG UKJ Froschberg (Austria/men) or Clube Duque de Caxias (Brazil/women).

The following teams have qualified for the 2024 World Tour Finals:

Men’s category

• SG Novo Hamburgo (BRA): defending champion & 1st World Tour 2023
• TSV Pfungstadt (GER): Winner Champions Cup Europe 2023
• SOGIPA/Cargo Way (BRA): Winner South America Cup 2023 & 5th World Tour 2023
• South Jersey Fistball Club (USA): Winner North America Cup 2023
• Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (AUT): 2nd World Tour 2023
• Clube Mercês (BRA): 3rd World Tour 2023
• UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (AUT): 4th World Tour 2023

Women’s category

• TV Jahn Schneverdingen (GER): Defending champion
• TSV Dennach (GER): Winner Champions Cup Europe 2023 & 5th World Tour 2023
• SOGIPA/Cargo Way (BRA): Winner South America Cup 2023 & 1st World Tour 2023
• FG Elgg-Ettenhausen (SUI): 2nd World Tour 2023
• FBC Linz-Urfahr (AUT): 3rd World Tour 2023
• Faustball Kreuzlingen (SUI): 4th World Tour 2023
• SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter (SUI): 6th World Tour 2023

The 2024 World Tour Final will take place in Germany from July 18 to 21. This means that the most important competition in club fistball will return to Europe after being held twice in Brazil. The first final series was held in Vaihingen/Enz in April 2018. The exact venue for the 2024 World Tour Finals will be announced as soon as possible.

Ranking World Tour 2023

Women

Men

The IFA Board of Directors meeting confirmed the IFA meetings 2024 and approved an updated IFA Honorary Order.

10 December 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This landmark document enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 and sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.

An IFA Policy on Human Rights will be discussed in today IFA Board of Directors meeting.

The topic of “sport and human rights” has moved to the center of social attention. Values such as respect, transparency and independence as well as the three areas of sustainability are practiced by the fistball family and are firmly anchored in the rules and regulations, such as the IFA statutes. The children’s and human rights from the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles) provide a framework for the values of sport.

In doing so, we are following the example of international sport, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which adopted its strategic framework for human rights in 2022. In addition, as civil society organizations, we are committed to the implementation of human and children’s rights within the opportunities that sport offers.

With the help of this policy, we would also like to highlight and raise awareness of the opportunities that sport offers in terms of respecting human rights.

Thank you for your support and your friendship in 2023!
IFA is looking forward to all Fistball activities all around the world with many highlights, especially the U18 World Championships in Chile and the Women’s World Championship in Argentina!

Our office will close on Friday 22 December 2023 at 1pm and will reopen on Monday 8 January 2024 at 9am.

On behalf of the IFA Board of Directors we’re sending best regards and we wish you Merry Christmas and a good start into a healthy, active and happy new year 2024.

The International Fistball Association has launched the bidding process for upcoming international fistball events. Interested candidates can register now.

Offering the best men’s teams in the world a big stage, promoting young talent with the U18 World Championships at their first major international event or welcoming the best club teams in the world to the World Tour Finals – the Club World Cup: The International Fistball Association (IFA) has launched the bidding process for the organization of five events. Interested clubs, associations and cooperations can now submit their interest in organizing the Men’s World Championship, the U18 World Championships 2026 and the World Tour Finals 2025 to 2027.

Transparent bidding process

“We want to enable a fair and transparent awarding of major fistball events,” explains IFA Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner. This is one of the reasons why the association has set up a six-stage bidding process. During the bidding process, all applicants must answer a questionnaire with various key topics. A jury then decides on the award based on a points system. “We want to take the time to get in touch with all potential organizers during this process and talk to them about ideas and plans,” says Oberlehner. The first step is only the basic interest in hosting an event.

After two events took place this year with the Men’s Fistball World Championships in Mannheim (Germany) and the Men’s and Women’s World Tour Finals in Curitiba (Brazil) in October, three IFA events are firmly planned for 2024 – and have now also been scheduled. These include the U18 World Championships in Chile (October 31 to November 2) and the Women’s World Championships in Argentina (November 7 to 10). “Our aim is to fix the events at an early stage and thus give everyone planning security,” says Sönke Spille, who has been Head of Events at IFA since September: “We want to act as a point of contact for interested organizers, eliminate uncertainties and support them on the way to bidding for and hosting the event.”

=> https://www.ifa-fistball.com/events

Six-stage application process with timetable

The following events have been announced for the period from 2025 to 2027

• IFA Fistball World Tour Finals 2025
• IFA Fistball World Championships U18 Men & U18 Women 2026
• IFA Fistball World Tour Finals 2026
• IFA Fistball Men’s World Championship 2027
• IFA Fistball World Tour Finals 2027

The bidding process for the five international Fistball events is divided into a total of six stages:

1. expression of interest in bidding for one of the events (by 15 January 2024)
2. contact by IFA with all interested parties to discuss the event concept (as soon as interest is submitted)
3. presentation of the event concept in a questionnaire (by 20 March 2024)
4. evaluation of the application documents by the IFA jury (25 to 31 March 2024)
5. awarding of the event by the IFA Presidium (6 April 2024)
6. signing of the event contract (2 weeks after board meeting)

If you have any questions, please contact Sönke Spille, IFA Head of Events, by e-mail (marketing@ifa-fistball.com) at any time.

Club Gimnasia Guatambú in Montecarlo, Argentina (Misiones province), will host the tenth Women’s Fistball World Championship. The world title matches will take place from 7 to 10 November 2024.

It is October 7, 1994 when a new era in international fistball begins in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For the first time in history, a match was played at a Women’s World Championship. Eight nations, four from Europe and four from South America, took part in the three-day world championships. 30 years later, the circle is now complete. From November 7 to 10, the women’s fistball team will return to Argentina for the tenth edition of the World Championships. The International Fistball Association (IFA) has awarded the event to Club Gimnasia Guatambú from Montecarlo in the province of Misiones.

Guatambú host a Women’s World Championship for the first time

This is not the first top international event to be held at the Club Gimnasia Guatambú. In the past, the club hosted the IFA 2009 Fistball Masters World Cup and the Men’s & Women’s South American Championship 2017. As recently as September, the Argentinian championship was held at the venue in the north-east of the country with 18 participating teams. However, this is the first time that Guatambú is hosting a world championship. “We would like to thank Club Guatambú for taking on the organization of the event. The World Championship is the biggest event in women’s fistball. After two recent World Championships in Europe, we are looking forward to returning to South America,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger. The last two World Championships were held in Linz (2018) and Grieskirchen (2021), with Germany winning the title on both championships. Verleger: “We are convinced that many nations will take part, continuing the positive development of women’s fistball and showing the diversity of our sport.”

Preparations for the Women’s World Championship have already started in Montecarlo. “It is a great honor for us that the best female fistball players in the world will be our guests in Guatambú in November 2024,” says Laura Laumann, secretary of the fistball subcommittee of Club Guatambú: “For our club, it will be the biggest event in history so far. We are proud and motivated to host a great World Championship.”

“Just a few weeks ago in Guatambú, we saw the passion with which the people in the club are doing everything to organize a great event,” says IFA Head of Events Sönke Spille: “All participating players, staff members and fans can look forward to an incredibly friendly atmosphere and great conditions.”

Qualifying event for the World Games

The 2024 Women’s Fistball World Championship will also serve as a qualifying event for the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China. “In addition to the continental champions, the best-placed teams at this World Championship will get their ticket to Chengdu,” explains Spille. After the premiere in 2022 in Birmingham (USA) with six teams, a total of eight nations will qualify for Chengdu in 2025.

It will be the second international fistball event to take place in South America in the autumn of 2024. From 31 October to 3 November, the best youth teams will compete in Llanquihue (Chile) for the Fistball Men’s and Women’s U18 World Championships. One week later, the best women’s teams will be guests in Argentina. “We see great advantages in the two consecutive events,” says Spille: “South America will be the hub of international fistball for two weeks.”

A new format was a complete success: the referee commission of the International Fistball Association held its second International Referee Congress. All international referees in the sport of fistball were invited. The main topics were the evaluation of the events in 2023, experience reports, votes on the interpretation of the rules and the exchange of ideas. 

“We see the congress as the most important management and educational measure for the best fistball referees worldwide,” said Gastão Englert, Chairman of the IFA Referees Commission, who presented the strategic plan at the congress. “We see this as an interaction between referees, rules, competitions, training and the regulations.” With this in mind, objectives and indicators were defined to ensure that these were achieved. For 2023, these included the established congress, which takes place every six months and is expected to attract over 90% of referees in future. Changes to the rules and regulations are also to be discussed by the end of October each year and then published at the turn of the year. Improvements in the nomination of referees and the infrastructure provided are also part of this strategy.

In the evaluation of 2023, Englert also discussed the use of two referees at the Men’s World Championship in Mannheim and the World Tour Final in Curitiba, as well as the rule adjustments tested at the World Tour Final. In addition, a new game report was used for the first time in Curitiba. Englert: “In Curitiba we tested the “captain on the court” all the time. The result was excellent, cause it was easier to identify independently of the place/position the captain was and make it clear the team representative by the refereeing all the time.”

The two German referees Nicole Heldmaier and Markus Löwe presented the participating referees with experience reports from matches in their careers at national and international events.

“We see the many positive aspects of the exchange at the congress,” said Gastão Englert. Two referee congresses are planned for 2024. “We also see participation as an obligation to meet the requirements as an international referee. The further development of referees is one of the most important topics for us.”

The International Fistball Association currently has 65 referees from 9 countries. The Referee Commission is chaired by Gastão Englert (Brazil) and includes Marcel Meier (Switzerland) and Eric Kindler (USA).