|
||
|
IFF Central Board meeting 3/2011
08.05.2011 Place: Hotel Ramada Halle-Leipzig, Halle, Germany Participants: Tomas Eriksson President Filip Suman Vice president Monica Bakke Treasurer Greg Beaudin Hans Botman, Risto Kauppinen Stephen King Oliver Stoll Lars-Gunnar Tjärnquist Edwin Wiedmer Stefan Kratz Competition Manager Merita Bruun Information Manager John Liljelund Secretary General Kaarina Salomaa Competition Coordinator § 7.f - Minutes § 1. Opening of the meeting Mr. Eriksson opened the meeting at 09.00 and greeted the CB members welcome to the IFF CB meeting, expressing that the meeting has been well prepared by the IFF Office and the persons concerned. § 2. Approval of the agenda Mr. Eriksson concluded that there was three updated appendixes, namely the Appendix 10 a and b, IFF application for inclusion of Floorball in the XXXII Olympic Games. Appendix 25, Membership application from Floorball Philippines. Appendix 26, AOFC Activity report. § 3 Minutes from the CB meeting 02/2011 in Bern, (06.03.2011), (Appendix 1) The minutes from the last meetings were scrutinized, approved and put ad acta. § 4. Economy a) Financial report by the 31.03.2011 (Appendix 2) Ms. Bakke presented the financial report and the balance sheet for the first quarter of the financial year 2011, per 31.03.2011. The CB decided: To approve the report. b) Information on IFF claims – status March 31st, 2011 (Appendix 3) Ms. Bakke presented the IFF claims as per 31.03.2011 and the proposals the treasurer Ms. Bakke and Mr. Kratz have prepared on how IFF shall deal with these associations in the future. (Appendix 4). There are some concerns about a number of countries, who are not participating in our events. The other concern was to look on the possibility to have a better interest rate for the IFF accounts. Mr. Liljelund proposed to step up the process with the Ukraine Floorball Federation, which has stopped to respond to all communication from the IFF. Based on the information received from a number of sources from Ukraine, which clearly shows that there are a large number of active Floorball groups in the country spreading the sport and have tried to co-operate with the Ukraine Floorball Federation without any success. There is a possibility to organise a meeting with the different groups in Kiev, Ukraine to clarify the situation. If the Ukraine Floorball Federation doesn‘t answer the specific questions raised by the IFF, the IFF needs to look over the membership status of Ukraine, since Ukraine has not followed its pay-off plan. The CB decided: To approve the report and send a letter to the Ukraine Floorball Federation. § 5. World Championships a) WFC 2011 Switzerland Mr. Wiedmer reported on the preparations for the Women‘s WFC 2011 to be played in St. Gallen, Switzerland. In general the preparation for the WFC is moving ahead as planned for all other fields apart from the marketing. The SUHV has planned to make a calculated loss for the WFC 2011. The city of St. Gallen is very enthusiastic and the test event with the EuroFloorball Tour in April has proved to be very good. The CB decided: To approve the report. Mr. Liljelund gave an update about the situation related to the TV broadcasting from the Event. IFF has sent an offer for the WFC 2011, but so far only the Finnish YLE has answered. IFF is still waiting for answers from the other countries. The situation is very problematic, since the price of the production is very high and we might have a situation where it will be difficult to have the WFC 2011 on Eurosport. Mr. Eriksson expressed that it is important to have a coordination of the TV questions by the Core Country Marketing working group. Mr. Tjärnquist informed that the Swedish federation is making its final decision concerning the TV co-operation in the coming weeks. The CB decided: To approve the report. b) U19 WFC 2011 Germany Mr. Eriksson reported on the ExCo decision taken in advance of the U19 WFC, to increase the number of spots in the final round open for qualification, in order to secure the possibility for new teams to enter the U19 Final round. The total number of direct qualified teams is now 11, instead of 12 previously. (Appendix 5) Mr. Kratz is reported on the withdrawal of Team Japan, due to the tsunami. The IFF Office started the process by asking the Japanese federation about a week after the tsunami, if the team will be able to participate in the U19 WFC. A few weeks later the Japanese confirmed, that in this situation it would not be possible to send a team for both practical and political reasons. The RACC immediately then turned to Spain as the runner up from the qualifications and got them to replace Japan. Mr. Stoll reported on the U19 WFC 2011 played in Weissenfels, Germany between the 3–7.5.2011 with sixteen teams, which he felt that was a very nice event, that might make a small financial loss. There have been a lot of spectators and a very good atmosphere in the Arenas. The city gave the venues for free, but wanted to have half of the entrance fees. Mr. Suman reported on behalf of the IFF Jury chairman Mr. Ari Vehniäinen on the organisation of the U19 WFC 2011 in Weissenfels. The Jury was pleased with the LOC activity and the cooperative attitude of the organiser. The tournament was very successful. Mr. Liljelund is to report on the actions taken together with the organiser to secure having the event on the Internet-TV and the production of the medal matches for TV. The Czech TV has taken the bronze match and the YLE has been given the end of the final and medal ceremony. Mr. Liljelund expressed that we have to raise the level of the product. The CB decided: To approve the reports c) WFC 2012 Switzerland Mr. Liljelund reported on the negotiations started for the organiser contract for the 9th Men‘s WFC 2012 in Bern and Zurich, Switzerland. Mr. Wiedmer expressed that there are some discussions regarding the proposed contract which the SUHV will put forward to the IFF. Mr. Eriksson felt that it is important to sign the agreement early enough, in order to be able to secure transparency for the preparations. The CB decided: To approve the report § 6. EuroFloorball Cup a) EuroFloorball Cup 2011 Mr. Kratz reported on the actions taken to secure an organiser for the EFC 2011 Final round. The Polish Floorball Federation has agreed to organise the event during the first week of October in Rakoniewice. IFF has signed an organiser‘s agreement with the Polish Federation in May. The invitations have been sent out to the National Associations and the dead-line for registration is by the 31st of May The CB decided: To approve the report b) Champions Cup Mr. Liljelund reported that the agreement for the organisation of the Champions Cup 2011 – 2014 has been signed by all the stakeholders. (Appendix 6) Mr. Botman asked what the financial obligations are for the winners of the EFC. Mr. Suman explained that the same obligations and rights are given to the teams coming from the EFC; i.e. pay the participation fee and will receive free board & lodging.. Mr Suman also explained that there are no financial obligations for the federations of the EFC winners, so actually the financial conditions for the EFC winners are very good. Mr. Liljelund further informed that the IFF Marketing function has sent out an offer to the Floorball Manufacturers to participate in the Champions Cup as sponsors in a Floorball Manufacturer village (Appendix 7). So far eight companies have answered that they will participate in Champions Cup and one is still considering the opportunity. The working group Tjärnquist and Liljelund have prepared a proposal for measures to be taken in order to increase the brand value of the Champions Cup. The idea is to start the implementation of these measures already in the first edition of the Champions Cup in Mlada Boleslav, if possible. (Appendix 8) Mr. Tjärnquist informed about the work made in order to become a more known event with its own identity. The idea is to start the implementation as soon as possible. The CB decided: To approve the reports and the proposal Mr. Suman reported on the preparations for the first edition of the Champions Cup to be played in Mlada Boleslav in October 2011. The main objective is to have a good TV coverage and a lot of spectators. In order to secure TV, the organiser will have to move the playing dates for the Champions Cup to be played from Tuesday 4th – Saturday 8th of October. There are a lot of plans in order to secure the spectators, by having a good cooperation with the City and the Labour Unions. Mr. Kauppinen felt that it is important to look for new spectator groups as audience for Floorball. Mr. Tjärnquist felt that the main question is to secure that the halls are full and there are spectators in all matches. If there are no spectators, then there is no need to produce any TV. One should be able to look into basis of the event , in order to have a real product to sell and develop. Mr. Liljelund informed that the negotiations concerning the organiser‘s agreement will start in May, after the signing of the Champions Cup agreement. The CB decided: To approve the reports and decided to change the dates to Tuesday 4th – Saturday 8th of October 2011. § 7. Committees and Function reports a) ExCo reports Mr. Eriksson reported on the activities of the IFF ExCo after the last CB meeting in Bern in beginning of March. Mr. King reported on the present activities of the AOFC. (Appendix 26) The AOFC has sent out an offer for hosting a Floorball Development Seminar, for September 2011. The AOFC together with the Development function will agree who will arrange it. So far there have been two applications from the Philippines and Sri Lanka. There has been a discussion with Thailand, in order to merge the two different organisations. The CB decided: To approve the reports. b) Contacts to International Sports Organisations Mr. Eriksson reported on the SportAccord Convention organised in London, Great Britain from the 04 – 08.04.2011 (Appendix 9). From the political point of view, Floorball is now being looked upon in a really good light, from a number of organisations. The membership of the IMGA, will give us the possibility to enter the first multi-sport event. The ARISF is planning to organise a convention for the IOC recognised IF‘s in the later part of 2012, in order to share learning between the federations and strengthening them as well. If and when the IFF receives the full recognition of Floorball by the IOC Session in Durban in July, then IFF needs to take the next step in order to move forward with entering a multi-sport event. The ExCo will prepare a detailed action plan for the IFF CB in October. Mr. Eriksson feels that this process will be positive also towards the Youth Olympic Games, to be able to participate in the social programme. Mr. Beaudin asked about the approach towards the Universiade and the World University Championships, from a North American view-point. Mr. Eriksson expressed that we need to have more countries taking part and to organise a WUC in a non-European country in the future. Mr. Liljelund reported that IFF has been asked by the IOC Sports Department to fill in the IOC Program Commission Evaluation report for the candidate sports for the Olympic Games 2020. The formula was handed in to the IOC on the 29th of April and was brought to the CB as an appendix to the meeting (Appendix 10a and Appendix 10b) The advantage to be able to send in the application is that we can be able to learn from the process and prepare for the future. Mr. Eriksson expressed that the timeline for the process of the IOC decision for the Sports on the Program of the XXXII Olympic Games, will give us time to look over our operations and it will give us time to learn from other IF‘s. In addition Mr. Eriksson thanked the secretary general for the good preparation made in advance of the IOC documents. The CB discussed the present international situation IFF is in and what type of effect it will have on our ways of working. Especially the relationship with Field Hockey and Ice Hockey will be interesting in the coming years. The CB decided: To approve the reports and decided to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the Sport and Peace. c) RACC Mr. Suman reported on the preparations made by the RACC, including the first RACC meeting to be held on the 27th to 29th of May in order to discuss the RACC division of tasks, check of present regulations, the future of the U19 WFC and the Competition seminar among other issues (Appendix 11). The main idea is to enhance the cooperation with the participating nations and the IFF. Mr. Suman further proposed that the CB would give the RACC the task to appoint the organisers for the qualification tournaments of IFF Events. This is needed since there at time are problems to find organisers. The IFF decided: To approve the report and delegates the RACC the right to appoint the organisers for the qualification tournaments of IFF Events. d) RC Mr. Botman gave a short report about the first meeting of the new RC held in Vantaa, Finland on the 26th and 27th of February 2011 and the decisions taken there. (Appendix 12) Additionally Mr. Botman presented the IFF RC task description and the working plan for 2011-2012 (Appendix 13). Each RC member is responsible for a specific topic and the plans have been made until 2015. The IFF decided: To approve the report e) Development function Mr. Wiedmer reported on the planning meeting organised in March, in Lausanne and the plans for the Development function for the year 2011. The meeting was aimed to give a view of how the seminars are working. All operational requests are coming directly to the Office and are taking care from there. The strategically approach is still to be dealt by the Development function. Mr. Tjärnquist asked how we are to enhance equality in the existing members and increasing the number of female players. Mr. Suman asked if there has been any approach towards the Inner Circle Countries. Mr. King felt that there needs to be a direct connection between the new Licence system and the Development function. Mr. Wiedmer informed that we need to follow the statistical development in order to see what kind of development is happening. Mr. King reported about the discussions held with the Thailand Floorball groups in Pattaya and Bangkok 7th to 8th of March and the actions taken so far (Appendix 14). The groups of Bangkok and Pattaya have now played the first regional match and are starting the discussions to find ways to start to cooperate. Both groups are quite pleased to have the IFF/AOFC supervising the process. Mr. King further informed about the activities AOFC is planning, in order to organise some introduction activities in Sri Lanka in the first half of the year, as well as a full scale development programme seminar in the region. The AOFC has sent out a tender offer for organising the Floorball Development Seminar and will shortly make the decision. The AOFC will make the decision later in May. Mr. Liljelund informed about the activities taken in Iran, in April, in order to help the Iran Floorball Association to develop the sport in Iran (Appendix 15). Discussions with the GBFUA have started to organise a Floorball Development Seminar in Great Britain during 2011. The IFF decided: To approve the reports. f) Marketing function Mr. Kauppinen reported about the workshop held with Asics, in order to find ways of utilizing the partnership to its full. A few new ideas were born, including a MVP trophy given by ASICS for both the Men‘s and Women‘s WFC. Asics will also include the IFF logo in their product information, broadening the IFF brand visibility. The IFF marketing function organised the marketing networking group from the Floorball Core countries for a first meeting in Helsinki on the 16.03, to start the process of coordinating the marketing efforts in the main Floorball countries. The attendants agreed that there needs to be a continuation and it was agreed that the group would meet again on the 13th of June (Appendix 16) The main topics were the TV-visibility and the ways of enhancing the amount and exchanging best practices. Mr. Suman felt that it was a good meeting and it was prosperous to exchange the knowledge. Without being strong in TV and marketing, we are not able to enhance the IFF brand value. Mr. Tjärnquist felt that we need to work together is the key for all development, there is a positive development. We need to have more groups exchanging information. Mr. Kauppinen further informed that the Marketing function is upgrading the IFF Marketing Presentation, in order to be able to support the sales of the IFF Events. The IFF decided: To approve the report. g) Medical committee Ms. Bruun reported about the present status concerning the IFF WADA Code Compliance, where WADA has prior to the WADA IF Symposium now confirmed that IFF is for the time being Code Compliant (Appendix 17). IFF reached the Code Compliance by providing a plan to increase both the in and out-of-competition testing for the coming years. The Final review will be made in November 2011. The first tests have been performed on the Registered Test Pools I and II. Ms. Bruun further reported on the WADA IF Symposium, which was held in Lausanne from the 22nd to the 23rd of March, discussing the new views in the Anti-Doping work and presenting WADA ideas and projects, like the athletes‘ passport and blood testing (Appendix 18). The IFF decided: To approve the reports. h) Material function Mr. Liljelund reported on the plans to organise the IFF Development Board meeting with the manufacturers on the 31st of May, in order to discuss the projects for 2011 and the participation in the ispo fair 2012,as well as the new material regulation for 2012. The IFF decided: To approve the report. i) Athletes Commission Mr. Stoll reported on the actions taken in order to activate the members of the Athletes Commission for the upcoming two year period. The Athletes Commission members have been contacted and they have been asked a number of questions, upon which further steps will be taken (Appendix 19). The summary will be given to the IFF CB meeting in October, when the questionnaire has been completed. Mr. Eriksson felt that it is important to be active towards the Athletes Commission and we are looking forward to response of the athletes. The IFF decided: To approve the report j) Equality function Mr. Tjärnquist reported on the actions taken and the data collected in connection to the Equality function (Appendix 20 and Appendix 21). There is a long way to travel in the organisation to increase the number of female players. It has been very nice to work with Ms. Salomaa putting together the data in the equality questions. The first issue will be to stress the gender equality, since it is an essential part in the development of Floorball, to strengthen our position. The question of equality is not a question for just the Equality function, but for all fields of our activity and the function will closely work together with the other functions of IFF. Mr. Eriksson felt that it is important to make all persons to understand the value of having a strong strategy to develop Equality within Floorball. Mr. King made the comment that the Licence system should include compulsive competitions for women, which could open the market for female players. There is a huge market opportunity for female sports. Mr. Liljelund explained that the discussions held with the Co-chair of the International Working Group for Women on Sports it was mentioned that the IFF should also consider signing the IWG Brighton declaration on Women and Sports as a first action to step up our work for the Equality. The proposal is to sign the Brighton declaration at this CB meeting (Appendix 22). The IFF decided: To approve the report and to decide to sign the Brighton declaration. k) ParaFloorball function Mr. Tjärnquist and Ms. Bruun reported on the actions taken in connection to supporting and promoting the different forms of ParaFloorball (Appendix 23). The Special Olympics and the Electric Wheelchair Hockey have been playing demonstration matches during the U19 WFC in Weissenfels and are very interested to participate in the future as well. The ParaFloorball function has decided to wait before starting the official co-operation with the International Wheelchair Floorball Federation, until the organisation has been founded. The ParaFloorball function is open to support the IWFF and will continue the preliminary discussion with the organisation. Mr. Tjärnquist informed that the Manual Wheelchair contacts are looking forward to a closer cooperation. The basic question is where the Manual Wheelchair Floorball Federation belongs to. Ms. Bruun informed that IWFF is planning to become a member of the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) Additionally the CB discussed whether the IWFF can use the IFF logo as a base for their logo (Appendix 24). The IFF decided: To approve the reports and will start discussion with the IWFF concerning the logo, based on what type of decisions the IWFF will make. l) Information function Mr. Beaudin reported on the plans of the Information function for the period 2011. There is an evaluation of the information and the existing material, which will be presented later. The aim is to bring together a cohesive brand of all our materials. One idea is to build a mobile application for Floorball. The “This is Floorball” booklet will be renewed for the IFF 25-years celebration in St. Gallen. Mr. Eriksson informed that the there are a lot of materials, which the member associations are not aware of even though a lot of information has been sent out. Ms. Bruun expressed that the cooperation with the LOC, concerning the update of the social media has worked very well in the U19 WFC and the IFF is looking forward to cooperating in the same way with the future IFF event organisers. The IFF decided: To approve the report § 8. IFF Office Nothing to report § 9. Member Federations a) Members under suspension Mr. Kratz reported on the situation of the suspended associations Malaysia and Ukraine. The CB decided: To approve the reports. b) New Member Applications Mr. Liljelund reported that Floorball Philippines has sent in an application for membership on the 28th of April, which the IFF CB is to decide upon (Appendix 25). The IFF Office has studied the application and finds it to be in order and is proposing to the CB to accept the Philippines as the IFF provisional member nr. 53. Mr. Liljelund reported that Jamaica has started some forms of Floorball and are looking for ways to form their national association. There is still development made by Croatia, the Dominican Republic and Mozambique, but the Office is still investigating the situation, so no real applications are still present. The IFF decided: To approve the reports and approve Floorball Philippines as the IFF provisional member with number 53. § 10. Next CB meeting Mr. Eriksson explained that the next CB meeting will be held in Helsinki, Finland on the 1st of October 2011 starting at 12.00, with arrival on Saturday. The meeting is planned to continue on Sunday the 2nd of October 2011. § 11. Closing of the meeting Mr. Eriksson closed the meeting at 13.25 and felt that this has been another good meeting and thanked the CB members for their active participation and positive approach. John Liljelund Tomas Eriksson Secretary General President |
||
  
|
||
