On World Environment Day, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, together with the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), invites to the “Week of the Environment”. Amongst others, IFA President Jörn Verleger was guest in the park of Schloss Bellevue.

For the seventh time, the park of the Federal President’s official residence will be transformed into a city of tents and stages – with around 190 exhibitors as well as a stage and expert forum program on current environmental topics and with well-known and high-ranking personalities from politics, society, business and science. The main stage will host four high-profile panels on the topics of hydrogen technology, climate neutrality and energy security, biodiversity and resource conservation as well as transformation and social cohesion.

A healthy environment is essential. Over 3 billion people are affected by degraded ecosystems. Pollution causes around 9 million premature deaths every year. More than 1 million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction.
Sustainability must become the central basis for decision-making for all of us.

From the policies we support, to the food and transportation choices we make, to the companies whose customers we are. We can all make environmentally friendly choices that will collectively bring about the necessary changes.

“To support natural climate protection, it is crucial to promote a sustainable way of life. Sustainability involves using resources responsibly, reducing waste and promoting renewable energy. Individual action can make a big difference. Everyone can make a contribution to climate protection by taking small steps such as reducing energy consumption, using public transport or recycling waste,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger.

World Environment Day was first proclaimed by the United Nations in 1972. It aims to raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage people to take action. In Germany, Environment Day has been celebrated since 1980.

Where today Cannes is celebrating the final day of the international film festival, the “Festival de Cannes” three months ago the WADA Education Conference was run.

With its highest attendance the Global Education Conference staged at the palais de festival in Cannes three months ago, demonstrated that education is an integral pillar of anti-doping, and a central resource in the protection of clean sport.

Under the theme of ‘Cultivating Our Collective Creativity’, more than 400 participants including IFA President Jörn Verleger contributed to a common education agenda.

“The WADA Global Education Conference in Cannes has changed by view on our clean sport education agenda. We have to change our compliance mindset to a prevention mindset and should much more focus on prevention, value based education and collaboration”, said Verleger.

The fourth edition of the Global Education Conference demonstrated the values of education (not only ins sports) and the importance of continuous improvement through monitoring and evaluation of existing programs and guidelines.
Planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of effective education programs are core objectives of the WADA 2021 International Standard of Education.

„Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world“ (Nelson Mandela)

The 2024 Men’s and Women’s World Tour Finals, the world championship for club teams, will take place in Mannheim in July. Tickets are now on sale for the four-day event in the Rhein-Neckar Stadium.

Experience the best fistball teams in the world live – sports enthusiasts can do just that from July 18 to 21 in Mannheim’s Rhein-Neckar Stadium. Just one year after the Fistball World Championships, the international fistball stars will once again be guests in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. The eight best men’s and women’s club teams will determine their champions over the four days.

“The World Tour Finals in Mannheim promise fistball sport at the highest level,” says Christoph Oberlehner, head of the organizing committee, which consists of the Förderverein Faustball², the International Fistball Association and VfR Mannheim: “The people of Mannheim will still have fond memories of the 2023 Fistball World Championship with the games in the Rhein-Neckar Stadium and the SAP Arena. This year, they can once again look forward to top-class sport – with the best men’s and women’s club teams.” The fistballers from TV Käfertal will also be taking part and, as local heroes, have the chance to assert themselves among the international elite.

Tickets for the event days can now be booked via the event’s homepage. “In addition to the event pass for all four days, we also offer the option of a weekend ticket as well as day tickets,” emphasizes Oberlehner. Day tickets are available from just 12 euros, with discounted tickets for children, young people and students. Early bookers also have the chance to receive a 20 percent discount on tickets in all categories until Friday, May 31. “So it pays to be quick,” emphasizes Oberlehner: “I am convinced that there will once again be a great fistball atmosphere in Mannheim.”

TICKETS

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.

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.”

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, 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.

The IFA U18 Fistball World Championships will take place in Switzerland in July 2026. The event will be hosted by Swiss Fistball and organized by the Turnverein STV Vordemwald at the sports complex in Reiden (canton of Lucerne). The European Women’s Fistball Championships will also be held at the same time.

When the best U18 national male and female youth teams come together in Llanquihue (Chile) in October/November, everyone involved can expect the biggest U18 Fistball World Championship of all time with a total of 18 teams. The future of the competition has also been decided early on. The next Youth World Championship will take place in Switzerland in 2026. The U18 Fistball World Championship will be held at the sports complex in Reiden in July 2026. The event will be hosted by Swiss Fistball with local organizer Turnverein STV Vordemwald. This was decided unanimously by the Board of Directors of the International Fistball Association (IFA) at its most recent meeting. But that’s not all: the European Women’s Championships will also be held at the same time as the U18 World Championships – guaranteeing a double fistball spectacle in just one place. “Even though the event is still over two years away, the excitement is already huge,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger, looking ahead.”

Turnverein STV Vordemwald: Early start to planning

The World Championships are scheduled to take place from July 23 to 26, 2026, and the Turnverein STV Vordemwald has been planning the event since last summer. “In addition to its sporting activities, the Turnverein STV Vordemwald has organized a major event from time to time in the past,” says Luca Flückiger, who chairs the organizing committee as president: “After the planned gymnastics festival in 2020 could not take place, the club was keen to start planning a new major event. As it had been a while since a major fistball event had taken place, with the preliminary rounds of the 1999 Men’s World Championship, it should now be an event in this area again,” says the former Swiss national fistball player. The decision to bid for the U18 World Championships and the Women’s European Championships was made very quickly.

The sports complex in Reiden, just a few minutes away from Vordemwald, will serve as the venue. A total of three match fields are to be built on the existing grass fields, including a center court with mobile stands. Flückiger: “We are delighted to have been awarded the IFA and EFA for the two events and are already highly motivated to organize a great event for the athletes and all fistball and sports fans from near and far in Reiden in two years.”

Support from Swiss Faustball

The club received support for its bid from the Swiss Fistball Association. “By bidding for and hosting the IFA 2026 U18 Women’s & Men’s World Championship, Swiss Faustball wants to support the initiative of the Turnverein STV Vordemwald to organize the largest junior competition at international level on the one hand and, on the other, to offer the world’s U18 national fistball teams women and men a perfectly organized world championship in junior fistball in 2026 that is both qualitative and fistball-friendly, and thus at the same time a platform for viewing and competition,” says Franco Giori, President of Swiss Faustball: “The sport of fistball should thus be promoted and experienced particularly in Switzerland, but also worldwide. I am very proud and pleased about the trust that the IFA has placed in Swiss Fistball and the organizer Turnverein STV Vordemwald by awarding the U18 World Championships.”

Joint event with Women’s European Championship as highlight

The International Fistball Association is delighted to be able to present a host for the U18 World Championship at such an early stage. “The Turnverein STV Vordemwald actively approached us last autumn and signaled its interest in organizing the event,” says IFA President Jörn Verleger: “Over the past few months, Swiss Fistball and STV have gone through our application process, which also included an evaluation of the application documents by a jury. The fact that the planning is already so far advanced at this early stage has impressed everyone.” In particular, the combination of the U18 World Championship and the Women’s European Championship as a joint event is a great idea that will bring many fistball enthusiasts together. Verleger: “We are convinced that we will experience a great event with the U18 World Championship and the Women’s European Championship, which will strengthen the sport of fistball in the long term.”

Join us in celebrating Play True Day on 19 April 2024.

On 19 April 2024 WADA invites the global anti-doping community to take part in the digital campaign.

More: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/play-true-day-assets

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