In the planning of the umbrella organization, the tradition is broken and the floorball World Cup will not be played every two years.
- Tomas Eriksson left the position of IFF after 28 years, and Filip Shuman, who has been on the board since 2006, was appointed to his place.
- Šuman proposes rules changes, such as an activity rule that would prevent the game’s “dead situations”.
- Criticism of IFF’s schedules and four -country dominance in international floorball has grown.
Tomas Eriksson It was 28 years for the International Floorball Association’s IFF chairman of the International Floorball Association. It is an amazingly long washed as a boss of the International Federation.
There was a change during the men’s World Cup. Eriksson said he would leave the pest and the Czech Republic was appointed to the Swedish site Filip Shuman.
In the sense, the change is not significant in the fact that Shuman has been on the IFF government since 2006. He served as Vice Chairman in 2010-2024.
Now, however, it seems that under the leadership of Shuman, the floorball umbrella organization is making major reforms for the sport.
From 2030 onwards, the World Cup would only be played every four years.
-From the new competition calendar extending until 2034, the first official plan at the Board of Directors, IFF Secretary General, was presented John Liljelund told the media at the Malmö World Cup.
Until now, the world championships have been measured every two years. The main reason for the change is to include continental tournaments. Starting 2026, for example, the European Championships will begin.
-The four-year-old World Cup is not an economically expensive bang for smaller countries, IFF bosses explained.
“Boring game”
The International Floorball Calendar will include continental championship tournaments. They replace the previously floped World Cup qualifiers. IFF / Viktor Källberg
Shuman is also a advocate of rules.
“There have been situations in this tournament that may be very boring moments in the match as the other team feeds the ball down for two minutes,” says Šuman.
Two minutes was an escalation. Šuman referred to the stages of the game, where another team is looking for a breakdown and aims to open the game against the three -way five.
– There is no clear idea for the activity rule yet. It is a clear understanding that in the tactical sense, we often start to “pull the game”. Then the opening is sought for a long time. It’s really boring, if you can say so, the Finnish secretary “Pi” Liljelund told Iltalehti.
He understands that the viewer, who is familiar with the sport, believes that games can be tactically interesting.
– But I mean the players would not hide behind the goal, he added.
On the other hand, one might think that forcing one team to activity encourages another to passive. When the other is forced by the rules to take initiatives, the likelihood of ball loss increases.
Tomas Eriksson (center) left IFF’s presidency after 28 years. Filip Shuman (right) was replaced. Pi Liljelund (left) continues as Secretary General of IFF. IFF / Viktor Källberg
– The activity rule must be such that it only prevents the so -called “dead situations” of the game.
– Not only can the activity rule be outlined, but all parties have to sit at the same table to think about solutions.
Changes soon
Another rules, which is much more current, is related to contact.
“When it comes to hanging and holding an opponent, those rules are being relaxed at some level for the rules released in 2026,” Liljelund said.
– The physical game between the Swedish and Finnish leagues is quite different. In Sweden, virtually no one can move without the opponent’s hand on the shoulder or on the side.
IFF aims to protect the ball skill with contact policies.
A new form of game
The floorball umbrella hopes to find new enthusiasts for the sport.
IFF has decided to invest in three forms of three. Last summer, the first World Championships in the Little Game were played in Finland in Finland.
– It may not get new enthusiasts from Finland or Sweden, but elsewhere it can bring more players to the sport.
The next men’s World Cup will be played in Tampere in 2026. Henri Keränen / Floorball Association
“We believe in it, and we try to build a festival -like event,” Liljelund explained.
The species group has not been sympathetic to IFF’s plans. Criticism has focused on, among other things, the scheduling of the value races.
Shuman said that in the future, the World Cup could be played in October so that the World Winter Sports World Cups, for example, do not overlap with the race.
The rules of four countries
Among other things, the Finnish coach of the German national team Ilkka Kittilä opened his verbal coffin Skull in the interview during the World Cup.
Kittilä criticizes not only the match program in small countries, but also that four Great countries in the sport instead of IFF have a huge saying in international floorball.
In the Malmö Games, Germany was fateful to play five matches in the same many days. Needless to say, such a system does not contribute to narrowing the level differences.
Kittilä criticizes the four -country tournament run by Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The EFT countries also have joint agreements on camp days, where players have to get out of the club team assignments to the national teams. Other European countries play training tournaments across Europe according to the IFF calendar.
– But then, if we have camps, we still play in Switzerland and Sweden. That is, those international weekends are not empty. It’s not reportedly their [IFF:n] on the responsibility. They are unable to determine it. Well who the hell then determines it? I don’t understand that kind of hustle, Kittilä rushed to the skull.
Pi liljelund, would it be time to break the EFT format to get other countries into these international matches other than in the value races?
-Our will would like to play more against these others. But the question is that EFT is completely in the sphere of influence of four countries. For that, Šuman will surely strive to change.
However, should IFF, however, have the power to set the rules that are obeyed?
– We have made the rules for it. However, EFT has its own. A three -country tournament existed before the first international competitions were played. Then the EFT countries agree that they will continue their tradition.
– IFF has blessed it. Changing it is not easy for these four countries. I believe that Shuman will be able to bring leadership to these processes in the future.