IFF Central Board meeting 5/2008 1st of November 2008
Place: Clarion Congess Hotel Prague
Participants:
Tomas Eriksson President
Renato Orlando Vice President § 1-4
Filip Suman
Mona Aagaard
Tomas Jonsson treasurer
Per Jansson
Risto Kauppinen
Stefan Kratz Competition Manager
Merita Bruun Information Manager
John Liljelund Secretary General
Minutes
§ 1. Opening of the meeting
Mr. Eriksson greeted all CB members welcome to the CB meeting held at the Clarion Congress Hotel in Prague, where the IFF General Assembly will be held in December, during the WFC and opened the meeting at 09.30.
Mr. Eriksson thanked Mr. Suman on behalf of the entire CB, for arranging the very nice event at the O2 Arena on Friday.
§ 2. Approval of the agenda
The agenda was scrutinized and completed, with the following amendments:
Appendix 3 – updated IFF Claims
Appendix 19 – new Anti Doping Regulation changes in brief
§ 3 Minutes from the CB meetings
03/2008 in Budapest, Slovakia (13.09.2008),
04/2008 per capsulam, (01.10.2008),
The minutes from the last meetings were scrutinized, approved and put ad acta.
§ 4. Economy
a) Information on IFF claims – status October 31st, 2008 (Appendix 3)
The CB had decided in its last meeting in Budapest, to remind the member associations in debt to IFF that the ordinary members with outstanding membership fees from 2007 and earlier are not entitled to vote at the General Assembly. Such a letter has been sent to the respective parties and Mr. Kratz presented the IFF claims per 31.10.2008 and the actions to be taken until the stipulated dead line of the 1st of December. Mr. Liljelund informed that he had discussed with the SFA President Mr. Sani Mohd. Salim and reminded SFA about the outstanding debts of Singapore.
The CB decided: To approve the report.
b) IFF General Assembly
Mr. Eriksson informed that the IFF General Assembly will be held on the 13th of December at the Clarion Congress Hotel in Prague starting at 09.30 and be followed by a lunch reception directly after the General Assembly.
Mr Eriksson proposed that the CB would discuss the IFF General Assembly based on the proposed agenda for the GA. The following documents need to be put forward to the General Assembly:
1) GA Agenda (Appendix 4)
2) Annual Report (Appendix 5)
3) Finance 2006 and 2007 (Appendix 6a and Appendix 6b)
4) Auditors report 2006 and 2007 (Appendix 7a and Appendix 7b)
5) CB proposal IFF Strategic Vision 2009 – 2020 (Appendix 8)
6) Plan of Action 2009 – 2010 (Appendix 9)
7) Budget 2009 and 2010 (Appendix 10)
8) Nominations (Appendix 11)
9) Anti Doping Regulations (Appendix 12)
10) CB proposal Licence system (Appendix 13)
The CB discussed the proposed agenda for the IFF General Assembly and found it to be well prepared. All of the proposed documents were reviewed in detail and the CB touched upon a small number of questions and made some minor changes to the proposed documents.
Mr. Eriksson presented the Agenda for the General Assembly, which was discussed.
Mr. Liljelund presented the Annual Report and Mr. Jonsson presented the Financial Reports and the Auditors reports for 2006 and 2007.
Mr. Orlando presented the proposal for the IFF Strategic Vision.
Mr. Eriksson and Mr. Liljelund presented the Plan of Actions and the Budget for 2009 – 2010.
Mr. Orlando presented the IFF proposal for a new Licence System in Major Events.
Ms. Bruun presented the changes made in the Anti Doping Regulation, to be proposed to the General Assembly.
Mr. Eriksson thanked the office, the strategy group and the ExCo for the effort made to put together the Annual Report, the financial figures, the Strategic Vision and the Plan of Action.
Mr. Eriksson asked the CB members how to deal with the elections of the new CB. The CB discussed the different ways of organising the elections, in accordance with IFF Statutes.
Mr. Kauppinen felt that it is a huge problem that all candidates for the CB are men and that we don‘t have any women as candidates, taking into account the IOC requirements.
Mr. Eriksson definitely believes that the CB should consist of both men and women. Mr. Eriksson also fully supports a broader perspective, having an outer European participation in the CB.
The CB decided: To take note of the statement sent in by the Finnish Federation and since it was not meant as a motion, it will not be treated as a motion, and therefore found it of the character that it doesn‘t need to be put forward for the General Assembly. The CB further noted that the Polish Federations motion to change the timing of the U19 World Floorball Championships, is not an issue for the IFF General Assembly and that the issue concerning a possible move of the U19 WFC 2009 will be discussed separately during the CB meeting. The CB will inform the GA about the motion and that it doesn‘t find a need to make a proposal in the case.
The CB further decided: That after having in depth gone through all the proposals for the IFF General Assembly and made some minor changes to them, to approve them and put them forward to the General Assembly. In addition the CB agreed, in principle that the CB should consist of both men and women and also decided that the Office will prepare the voting system for the General Assembly.
Mr. Liljelund proposes that the CB asks for nominations for new committee members until the 5th of December, 2008, in order for the elected new CB to be able to appoint the committees as soon as possible.
The CB decided: To approve the proposal.
§ 5. World Championships
a) WFC 2008 Czech Republic
Mr. Suman gave a report concerning the preparation of the 7th Men‘s WFC 2008 to be held in Ostrava and Prague, in the Czech Republic and the official program organised by the CFbU and the City of Prague. At the moment there are over 7.000 seated in the final. There will still be a ticket sales campaign done during November, in order to increase the number of spectators. The preparations are on a whole going well. There will be a Mayor‘s Reception in the Prague City Hall on Friday the 12th at 20.00.
The LOC had invited the mayors of the 150 biggest Czech cities and at least over 50 of the invited will attend either the opening or closing days of the WFC. One of the biggest problems is the communication with some of the participating countries, which has a big effect on the organisation and planning of the program of the teams. There will be only one group of volunteers organising the whole event in Ostrava and then this group will be moved to Prague. Mr. Liljelund asked the CB members to give their additional requests for tickets and accommodation until the 10th of November, 2008 to the IFF Office.
The CB decided: To approve the reports.
Mr. Liljelund updated the situation about the ongoing TV negotiations with the different TV companies and the host broadcaster the Czech TV and the plans to sell and distribute the international signal to IFF member countries. At the moment there are agreements with four national TV companies and Eurosport, with additional discussions ongoing with at least three countries.
Mr. Eriksson felt that the big number of the televised matches is really positive for Floorball and thanked Mr. Liljelund for an excellent job done in the field of TV.
The CB decided: To approve the report.
b) U19 WFC 2009 Finland
Mr. Kratz reported on the qualifications for the U19 WFC 2009 played in Kartal, Hungary between the 10. – 14.9. 2008, with the participation of Spain, Netherlands, Russia, Hungary, Slovenia and Georgia, from which Russia and Hungary qualified for the U19 WFC.
Mr. Kauppinen made a short report on the preparations for the U19 WFC 2009 to be played in Turku and Raisio, Finland from 6th to 10th of May 2009, which are moving in the right direction.
Mr. Liljelund informed that the Finnish federation has received an email from the Hungarian federation where they are stressing that the national exams which are being held during the U19 WFC week, makes it problematic to take part with a competitive team (Appendix 14) and asked if it would be possible to change the dates for the event. Additionally the Polish federation has in a motion proposed to the IFF General Assembly to change the dates of the U19 WFC 2009 in Finland to the 22-26 of April, due to that national examinations are being held in Poland (Appendix 15).
The secretary general has discussed with the U19 organiser Mrs. Kilpikoski, whether it would be possible to make a small move in the timetable, so that the WFC would be played from Saturday 7th to Wednesday 11th of May. The Finnish Federation has now officially answered that there are no possibilities to change the date at this point, due to financial and logistical reasons.
Mrs. Aagaard felt that the timing has to be changed for the future, since there are a number of countries which have national examinations during this period.
The CB decided: To take notice of the report and the Polish motion and decided to look over the timing of the U19 WFC for the future, but not to change the already approven dates for the U19 WFC 2009.
§ 6. EuroFloorball Cup
a) EuroFloorball Cup 2008
Mr. Kratz reported on behalf of Mr. Hans Botman about the EFC Final round in Winterthur, Switzerland played from the 8th to the 12th of October. The event was well organised and the Men‘s category was won by AIK (SWE) and the women‘s were won by the IKSU (SWE). The Jury put forward a case for the IFF Disciplinary Committee, due to that Balrog used shirts without front numbers.
Mr. Liljelund reported about the TV broadcast from the event TV4 in Sweden, Urheilukanava in Finland and Eurosport 2, which broadcasted the men‘s final between AIK and Wiler-Ersigen. The internet test with Sportsman was a good test and an excellent service to the IFF community. Mr. Liljelund expressed that the IFF Office will continue to work with a service to have all IFF Events streamed over the internet.
The CB decided: To approve the report
§ 7. Committees and Function reports
a) ExCo reports
Mr. Eriksson reported on the ExCo meeting held together with Mr. Hein Verbruggen, GAISF President on the 8th of October 2008, in Winterthur in connection to the EFC. The meeting was held in order to strengthen the cooperation between IFF and GAISF and inform Mr. Verbruggen about the work being done by the IFF. Mr. Verbruggen was very positively taken about the level of the organisation of the EFC, the level of the matches and felt that Floorball as a sport and IFF as a international sportsorganisation has a positive future.
Mr. Orlando stressed that the presidents of the four biggest federations agreed that there is a need to review the IFF Strategy. The CB then decided that a working group will have the task to prepare the IFF Strategy Document, which has now been put forward as the final proposal for the IFF Strategic Vision to the CB.
Mr. Orlando explained that in the report of the Strategy working group meeting held during the EFC in Switzerland, the final requirements for IFF and the strategic options were defined. The final proposal for the “IFF Strategic Vision”-document has been sent to the CB members, in due time before the CB meeting. The document is a blue-paper and shall be a living document, which can and should be changed if needed. (Appendix 16).
Mr. Eriksson stressed that this is one of the most important document to be decided upon during the IFF General Assembly. It was very good to have different perspectives in the group, different countries and level of experience of Floorball. The document shall also be used as a base for helping our members develop.
Mr. Kauppinen felt that the document is good and shows what IFF is and where we are going. Still he felt that there are not too many major changes in the way IFF will work in the future, which he finds understandable. Some pictures and charts would help the reader to see how Floorball has developed. As well Mr. Kauppinen would have liked to have a shorter mission statement, but can live with the present one.
Mr. Jonsson also agreed with Mr. Kauppinen, that we need to shorter the document, in order to have it easier to be read.
Mrs. Aagaard would like to add some pictures to the document and make it a little bit shorter.
Mr. Suman felt that the document was a little bit too long, but everything which has been included is equally important for the future of Floorball. It is an important “book” and we will benefit from having such a large document.
Mr. Jansson felt that it is a well done job and we need to define how to use it, with one page for the players, a management summary for the member associations. This is a good platform to build a pinpointed action plan for onward goals, still defining how and what we are.
Mr. Orlando explained that the Management Summary, is the key to the document and it could be taken away from the document, serving as a separate document. The document is for all IFF member associations.
Mr. Liljelund expressed that the task to put the document into action, is one of the most important issues for the CB in the coming 2-6 years. This document is meant for the whole community, defining what Floorball is and where we are going and what we are striving for.
The CB decided: To approve the report.
b) Contacts to International Sports Organisations
Nothing to report
c) RACC
Nothing to report
d) RC
Mr. Jansson reported about the education organised for the WFC 2008 referees in Ostrava on the 4-5 of December. It was stressed that it is important to make the evaluation of this event, in order to know if this is the right way to move in the future.
e) Development function
Mr. Liljelund reported on behalf of Mr. Orlando about the development seminar clinic held in Fresno, California on the 26th to 27th of September, in order to boost the development of Floorball in USA.
The CB decided: To approve the reports.
f) Marketing function
Mr. Jansson stressed that AJ was for the first time visible during the EFC Final round in Switzerland and that this had been noticed in a positive way during the Event.
The CB decided: To approve the reports.
g) Medical committee
Ms. Bruun reported about the medical committee meeting held in Zurich on the 8th of October and the decisions taken there as well as the preparation of the IFF Anti Doping Regulations and the ongoing contacts with WADA. IFF has received the comment from WADA that our proposed AD rules are according the Code.
Ms. Bruun stressed that there has been some issues with the International Standards for TUE‘s and Whereabouts and the level of communication from WADA concerning the changes, which have made it harder to prepare all documents for the IFF General Assembly (Appendix 17 and Appendix 19).
The CB decided: To approve the report.
h) Material function
Nothing to report.
i) Athletes Commission
Mr. Kauppinen reported on the upcoming meeting of the Athletes Commission on the 12th of December 2008 at 16.00 in the Clarion Congress Hotel in Prague. The aim is to introduce the ASC members to the work of the IFF and give them information about the IFF strategy, the Anti Doping regulations and to discuss the tasks for the Athletes Commission.
The CB decided: To approve the report
§ 8. IFF Office
Ms. Bruun reported about the discussions held with the ICWEH, concerning the cooperation and promoting of Electric Wheelchair Hockey. (Appendix 18) The initial contact started already in 2007, when the Norwegian federation wanted to know what type of wheelchair floorball is played in IFF member countries and the IFF made an inquiry asking what type was played in each country. The ICWEH have 12 countries where the sport is played and have organised international competitions. The sport is played with Floorball sticks or metal t-sticks attached to the wheelchairs inside the Floorball rink, with a floorball ball. The ICWEH could be a possible partner for the future, in order to also be able to enter into the Paraolympics, with Floorball, which is in the interest of IFF.
Mr. Eriksson felt that it is good to cooperate with the ICWEH and develop all sorts of Floorball.
The CB decided: To approve the report and gave the Office the task to continue the discussion with the ICWEH.
§ 9. Member Federations
a) Members under suspension
Nothing to report.
b) New Member Applications
Nothing to report.
§ 10. Next CB meeting
The next CB meeting will be held in the Czech Republic during the WFC 2008 in Prague on the 12th of December 2008 at 10.00.
The CB decided: To have the last CB meeting of the present CB, in Prague on the 12th of December (10.00) and that the newly elected CB will have their initial meeting on Sunday 14th of December (09.30).
§ 11. Closing of the meeting
Mr. Eriksson thanked all participants for a effective meeting and closed the meeting at 13.25.
| John Liljelund |
Tomas Eriksson |
| Secretary General |
President |
| 
