IFF President Foreword WFC 2016 – 02.12.2016

Dear Floorball friends,

Welcome to the 2016 WFC for men in Riga in Latvia!

It is with high expectations we once again return to the beautiful capital city of Riga for the World Floorball Championships. Last time was 2001 with the women, now 2016 for the men!  Much positive work has happened since in Latvia with good Floorball growth and good developments.16 teams are eager to start the fight for medals, and for the very first time also 6 spots in The World Games 2017 in Poland are at stake.

Floorball has taken important steps forward in order to reach our Vision 2020 and a place in the Olympic Games. With the IOC President, Mr Thomas Bach, we see in his vision “Olympic Agenda 2020”, a lot of initiatives, including possible rotations of sports on the Olympic program, and hence the “upgrading” of the World Games. With Baseball/Softball, Karate, Skateboarding, Sports Climbing and Surfing having been included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, it shows that there now is a realistic chance and possibility for new sports to be included, either directly on the Olympic Program or via the sports labs, sports initiation programs in either the Olympic Games or the Youth Olympic Games.

Concerning multi-sport events, Floorball is successfully now on The World Games 2017 progam, to be held 20-30 July, 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland. Taking part in these multi-sports events requires that we really go public, on all levels, and communicate the important values that Floorball possess, showcasing Floorball with many spectators, and a good youth-oriented atmosphere, continuously having all matches streamed on the internet. Plans for TWG 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama USA, are well on its way in good co-operation with Floorball USA. IFF has, together with the top ten countries, laid down a strategy and an activation plan on the Road to Wroclaw, in order to get full houses, good promotion of TWG and a very good outcome for Floorball in Wroclaw in order to be established not only on the TWG program but also in other multisport events.

The IFF conveys our gratitude to the city of Riga, the Latvian Government, the Latvian National Olympic Committee, and the Latvian Floorball Union, wishing you full success with the WFC!

On behalf of the entire Floorball family, I greet all the participants - athletes, officials, volunteers, spectators, sponsors and co-operating partners and the representatives of media. I heartily welcome you all to the 2016 World Floorball Championships in Riga!


Looking forward to thrilling matches!

Tomas Eriksson
IFF President