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IFF Central Board meeting 4/2013 Place:
§ 1. Opening of the meeting Mr. Eriksson opened the meeting at 08.30 and wished everyone welcomed to the second CB meeting of the year, in connection to the Men‘s U19 WFC2013 played in Hamburg, Germany § 2. Approval of the agenda Mr. Eriksson concluded that there was one updated appendix, namely the
§ 4. Economy a) Financial report by the 30.04.2013 (Appendix 2a) Mrs. Bakke presented the financial report and the balance sheet for the financial year 2013, per 30.04.2013.The financial report shows no unexpected surprise for the year so far. The assets in the balance are a little down compared to last year, but the invoicing of the membership fees has started. Mr. Kratz presented the final financial report and the balance sheet for the fiscal year 2012, after IFF has now received all documentation in connection to the WFC 2012 from the WFC2012 LOC in the April. (Appendix 2b) Mr. Kauppinen felt that it was a great achievement that IFF has achieved the budgeted marketing income for 2012. However it is problematic that the WFC2012 has cost much more than budgeted. The CB decided: To approve the report and approve the financial report and the balance for the fiscal year 2012
Mr. Kratz presented the claims situation by the 30.04.2013, explaining that the amount of claims from 2012 is rapidly starting to decrease and the situation is approving. In addition Mr. Kratz reported on the actions taken with the member federations in debt to IFF. Mr. Suman felt that it was important that the claims are decreasing, since no team should play in the WFC2014 if they have debts. Mr. Suman feels the RACC need to take this into account. The CB decided: To approve the report.
a) WFC 2013 Czech Republic Mr. Suman gave a short report on the preparations for the Women‘s WFC 2013 to be played in Brno and Ostrava, in Czech Republic. The objective is to organise a balanced financial event and beat all spectator records in connection with the Womens WFC. The EuroFloorball Tour was played in the competition arena in Brno. Mr. Suman feels that the organisation is very well on track with the two dedicated employees working on it. Mr. Liljelund informed that the agreement for the organisation of the WFC was signed in end of April and the parties have been working hard with the preparations. The TV negotiations have started and we are waiting for a final decision of the Czech TV. The CB decided: To approve the reports.
Mr. Kratz reported on the agreements made with the organisers of the WFC 2014 qualifications and the ranking of the groups. (Appendix 4) The qualifications will be played in six tournaments in Americas Markham, Canada (3 teams), AOFC Wellington, New Zealand (5 teams), EUR 1 Lochow, Poland (6 teams), EUR 2 Bratislava Slovakia (5 teams), EUR 3 Rotterdam, Netherlands (6 teams) and EUR 4 Valmiera, Latvia (5 teams).
Mr. Stoll reported about the ongoing U19 WFC 2013 played in Hamburg, Germany between the 8th to 12th of May, 2013 with sixteen teams and the experience of Floorball Germany. There has been some problems before the start of the tournament, but the team has improved their performance during the event. Mr. Wolmhed reported on behalf of the U19 WFC 2013 Jury on how the event has been organised and how the IFF Jury has found the Event. There have been a number of issues with the management of the tournament, due to the lack of experience persons leading the volunteers. Another problem has been that there have not been any written plans available, making it hard to distribute the information to the teams and inside the organisation. Mr. Kratz raised some issues the participating teams and the IFF has had with the LOC, especially when it comes to the communication towards the teams and IFF. There has not been information provided to the IFF in accordance to the decisions made during the IFF Preparatory meetings with the LOC. Mr. Eriksson expressed that the IFF has been used to have very well organised events in Germany. Mr. Eriksson believes that there has been a lack of management and written reports. The spectators and teams have not really been affected by this. Mr. Stoll expressed that the LOC has discussed the situation and feels that it is important to learn from this experience. The CB decided: To approve the report
Mr. Eriksson reported on the discussions held in relation to the selection of the organiser of the coming U19 WFC‘s. The IFF ExCo and the RACC has both discussed the applications. For the Men‘s U19 WFC 2015 only the Singapore Floorball Association has handed in a bid to organise the Event (Appendix 5a). Mr. Eriksson have discussed with the ExCo prior to the meeting to discuss the possibilities to find a new organiser. Mr. Eriksson reported that the IFF has for the Women‘s U19 WFC 2016, received two bids, one from Floorball Canada (Appendix 6a) and one from Swiss Floorball Federation (Appendix 6b). Both organisers are after the Competition department evaluation fulfilling the criteria‘s to organise the Event. Mr. Wolmhed reported on the inspection trip made by him to Belleville, Ontario, during the WFCQ 2013 played in Canada in beginning of the year. (Appendix 7) Mr. Wolmhed is in favour of organising the Event in Canada and believes that Belleville will be able to organise an excellent Event. The City and the tourism authorities are behind the project. Mr. Eriksson reported that the IFF ExCo is proposing to appoint Bellville, Canada as the organiser for the U19 WFC 2016. Mr. Eriksson stressed that the Swiss application was equal to the Canadian, but the decision is more based on the fact that we need more good organisers outside of Europe. Mr. King felt that it is important to increase the number of organisers in new countries and the U19 is the right event to test in new countries and therefore supports the Canadian bid. It is important that the Canadian Federation is running the event. Mr. Suman wanted to remind that there is eleven years since the large event outside of Europe, when the Women‘s WFC was organised in 2005. We need to spread the Events outside of Europe to grow our sport and therefore go for it. Mr. Kauppinen agreed with Mr. Suman and expressed that this is the right moment to move out. Both Mrs. Bakke and Mr. Lopez agreed that it would be good to grant the Event to Canada. Mr. Stoll is also in favour, but could also have had given it to Switzerland. Mrs. Kotikova felt that the Canadian organiser will be able to build a great focus and visibility for the Event. Mr. Bollinger expressed that as an IFF CB-member from an international point of view is fully supporting the proposal of the IFF ExCo and the mentioned reasons for appointing Belleville, Canada as the organiser though the two applications were equal concerning the fulfilling of the organiser criteria‘s. But Mr. Bollinger then on the other hand, as the Secretary General of the Swiss Floorball Federation was of course disappointed of not being appointed as host of that WFC in 2016. For Swiss Floorball it is on a strategic point of view important and vital to host frequently WFC‘s – and not only Men‘s but also Women‘s and Juniors WFCs. The CB decided: To approve the report and that it has taken cognizance of the letter from the Singapore Floorball Federation and give the IFF Office the task to seek another organiser for the U19 WFC 2015. In addition the CB decided to appoint Floorball Canada as the organiser of the U19 WFC 2016 in Belleville, Canada. The CB will take a per capsulam decision of the U19 WFC 2015 organiser.
a) EuroFloorball Cup 2013 Mr. Kratz reported on the actions taken to secure the organisers for the EFC qualifications and the EFC Final round 2013. The proposal was to organise the EFCQ in El Escorial, Spain and the EFC final round in Dubnica Nad Vahom or Trencin, Slovakia. Mr. Lopez explained that the proposal to build the event in Spain was not approved by the concerned clubs. Mr. Suman asked if there is any time still to find another solution, to which Mr. Kratz answered that the invitation needs to be sent out in the coming days and without the venue for the qualifications it will have a very negative impact on the registration. The CB decided: To approve the report and appoint the Slovak Floorball Association as the organiser of the EuroFloorball Cup Final round in. The IFF will send the invitation for the EFC Final Round to the national champions and accept the teams in order of ranking.
Mr. Kauppinen reported on the preparations made by the Finnish Floorball Federation to organise the Event in Tampere, Finland during the first week of October (02.-06.10.2013). Due to the organisational change in the Finnish Floorball Federation Mr. Ari Vehniäinen, who is now appointed into the management team of the SSBL, has been replaced with Mrs. Niina Peltola-Styrman as the secretary general for the CC2013. The cooperation of the organiser SC Classic and the City of Tampere has worked very well and the organiser used the EuroFloorball Tour in April to test the arena and the organisation and gathered a lot of experiences. Mr. Liljelund gave a short report that the marketing activities decided by the Champions Cup Steering Group (CCSG), were execute at least to some level in the finals in the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. The SSBL had produced some ad material for the local organisers. Mr. Liljelund further liked to inform that the invitation for the IFF Manufacturer Village at the CC2013 (Appendix 8), has been sent out in beginning of May. This is planned in close cooperation with the CC2013 LOC and its partner Planex Oy. The CB decided: To approve the reports
a) ExCo reports Mr. Eriksson reported on the preparations made in front of the SportAccord Convention and the Annual General Meetings of the SportAccord, ARISF, IWGA and IMGA to be held in St. Petersburg from the 27th to the 31st of May, 2013. The CB decided: To approve the reports.
Mr. Eriksson reported on the preparations for the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar in December 2013 and the actions taken in relation to this. Mr. Sani Mohd. Salim has on behalf of IFF made a recognition trip to Myanmar to set up contacts and investigate the basic conditions for the organisation of the demonstration Event. The process is leaning towards having both Men‘s and Women‘s teams participating in the tournament, which would be played from the 17th to the 21st of December 2013 in Nay Pyi Taw. In addition Mr. Eriksson proposes to appoint Mr. Sani Mohd. Salim as the IFF liaison officer toward the SEA Games organisation. The Steering group will prepare a structured timeline and action plan before end of June. The CB decided: To approve the reports and form the steering group and appoint Mr. Sani Mohd. Salim as the IFF liaison for the SEA Games.
Mr. Wolmhed gave a short report on the preparations made by the RACC, in connection to the coming season and the IFF Events, especially in relation to the new Rules of the Game 2014. (Appendix 9) The RACC is planning to have a RACC meeting during May 2014. The RACC will work on the practical issues related with the competitions. Mr. Wolmhed further made the proposal of the changes of the IFF Rules of the Game Edition 2014 to the CB in accordance with the work of the IFF Rules Group. (Appendix 10) The RACC will have a Rules seminar in connection to the Women‘s WFC. Mr. Kauppinen commented that he hopes we can keep Floorball as safe as possible, while approving the high back and forward swings, so that we don`t need more protective gear. Mr. King was also very concerned about the allowing of the high swing. Mr. Suman asked if the Rules Group had any discussion about the activity rule, in order to activate the game. Mr. Wolmhed and Mr. Kratz answered that there was a discussion held in the Rules Group and that they didn‘t found it necessary to act. Mr. Kauppinen felt that it important to keep the rules as easy as possible. Mr. Eriksson concluded that the Rule Group was given the task to look over the formulation of the interpretation in relation to the high swing of the stick, in order to keep the game as safe as possible. The CB decided: To approve the report and the proposal for the IFF Rules of the Game 2014, to be in force from the 1st of July 2014, giving the Rule Group the task to finalise the some formulations.
Mr. Bollinger reported about the first RC meeting held in Prague, Czech Rep. from the 26th to the 28th of April 2013 and the issues discussed there, among others the RC Plan of Action. (Appendix 11) Mr. Wolmhed asked about the RC plans to look over the interpretations, where the idea was to collect topics to be given to the IFF Rules Group. Mr. Eriksson stressed that the role of Mr. Bollinger is to bring the strategical views of the CB to the RC, which has started very well. Mr. Suman also felt that it is important to keep the handling of the interpretations in the hand of the Rules Group. Mr. Kauppinen would like to thank the Swedish Federation for nominating two female referee pairs and the RC for nominating Mr. Radek Hora responsible for the female referees. The CB decided: To approve the report and add the proposed referees on the list of International Referees.
Mr. Liljelund reported in the absence of Ms. Bruun about the present status concerning the IFF Anti-Doping Work, the Medical Committee and the cooperation with WADA. Ms. Bruun has also participated in the WADA IF‘s Symposium held Lausanne in March and the WADA Education Committee meeting in Montreal, Canada in April. (Appendix 12) The CB decided: To approve the report.
Mrs. Kotikova shortly reported on her contacts with the athletes members of the Athletes Commission, in order to find out how they want to participate in the process. The Athletes Commission is open and willing to participate in the development of the rules, regulation and anti-doping issues for the athletes. It is also important to inform the athletes what the strategic issues IFF is working on. We need to improve the flow of information to the players. Mr. Eriksson felt that it is important to activate the athletes, even if it is difficult. Mr. Kauppinen felt that it is important that the players are requiring more information. The CB decided: To approve the report
Mr. Suman reported on the discussions held and plans made in order to intensify the marketing and sales activities of Floorball and IFF. The main activity has been to secure the TV from the WFC2013 and the WFC2014. In both events there has been a very positive solution, with the basic conditions with the events and TV are set. The exception is that the TV visibility from the WFC2013 will be higher than before. The conditions for the WFC2014 are really good for the IFF and there will be an improved visibility. Secondly we are overlooking the IFF Sponsorship Structure on a long term, but the results should be visible on the financial. In addition the Core Country Marketing group is to be called together for August to discuss the visibility of Floorball. The CB decided: To approve the report
Mr. Kauppinen reported on the plans the Equality function has made together with the four EFT countries to start a girls- and women project in relation to the Association meeting in Ostrava 2013. (Appendix 13) Mr. Eriksson felt that the initiatives are fruitful and important. Mrs. Kotikova asked if there has been any contact made to female players to participate in the process. Mr. Liljelund asked if Floorball Germany with their Ladies strike project to join in, which Mr. Stoll answered that they are interested in. The CB decided: To approve the report
Mr. King reported on the actions to map the IOC members and the countries playing ice hockey and field hockey and where we have contacts. The mapping will be made with all CB members, to put together a plan for the lobbying work. Mr. Eriksson thanked Mr. King for the initial work done and building the plan. The CB decided: To approve the report
Further Mr. Liljelund informed that in addition to Mr. Mathieu Guillemin also Mrs. Linda Noppa from Sweden has agreed to participate in the working group to modernise the IFF Juridical regulation to be coherent with the updated IFF statutes. The working group will have its proposal ready by the end of 2014. The CB decided: To approve the report.
Mr. Liljelund reported on the development activities been carried out during the spring of 2013. - IFF organised a two day coaching Clinic in Luxembourg from the 23rd to 24th of March, with participants from Luxembourg and Belgium. The course was run by Mr. Juerg Kihm from Switzerland. The CB decided: To approve the reports.
Mr. Liljelund reported on behalf of Ms. Bruun about the actions taken in the field of Information for the year 2013. The new updated version of the IFF Event Mobile application has been launched prior to the U19 WFC 2013 including new features as Match result guessing, inclusion of Twitter feeds and shearing on Facebook, YouTube game highlights and new match statistics. (Appendix 16) The joint Champions Cup 2013 web page is up and running and the match slider will be added to the page as soon as the teams have registered and the match program has been finalized. IFF has started using a new type of E-Newsletter, in order to make it more user friendly and easier to share information. The Newsletter has a total of just under 1000 subscribers. The CB decided: To approve the report
Mr. Liljelund reported on the yearly meeting of the IFF Development Board to be held in Helsinki on the 14th of May, in order to discuss the proposed changes for the IFF Material Regulation and the IFF DB development projects in Canada and Spain. The CB decided: To approve the report. d) ParaFloorball operations Mr. Liljelund reported on behalf of Ms. Bruun that IFF has received the information that Special Olympics Floorball has reached the set minimum of 24 countries (Official SO World Games criteria), but we are still waiting for the official SOII announcement. Three Special Olympics coaches form CZE participated in the development seminar in Poland, in the field of coaching. There are some Special Olympics Floorball growth to be expected in Asia and Latin America with support from the IFF and Special Olympics International. New SO countries are taking up Floorball also in Europe, SO Norway has for example started the cooperation with the Norwegian Floorball Federation. The CB decided: To approve the reports
Mr. Eriksson reported that the IFF present member the Great Britain Floorball and Unihockey Association (GBFUA) and the United Kingdom Floorball Federation (UKFF), seeking for IFF membership has both been asked to provide a proposal for how to solve the present issue in the GB. IFF has received the proposals from both organisations (Appendix 17 a and Appendix 17b). Based on these IFF called for a meeting on the 5th of May in London (Heathrow), which the GBFUA was not in a position to participate at, so the meeting was cancelled. The UKFF has been active throughout the whole process, while the GBFUA has been quite slow in answering any questions put forward and being of the opinion that they don‘t understand the reasons for the UKFF application. Mr. King made a short recap of the process, with the GBFUA application to Sport England, which was denied. The GBFUA has time after time to found a reason not to meet with IFF. The two parties have split and it is not likely that they could work together. With the substantial number of clubs and players leaving the GBFUA indicates that the Floorball movement has chosen their way. It would for the development of Floorball be better to have the UKFF as an member, since GBFUA does not show any real interest to develop the international Floorball. Mr. Suman felt that the membership of the IFF is not only giving the members rights, but also brings obligations for the member like developing the sport all over the country, acting in a democratic and open way based on the requirement of the players. Based on the correspondence which has been ongoing for period of time Mr. Suman feels that the GBFUA does not fulfil these requirements for membership. Mr. Stoll asked if there is a possibility to join the two organisations together, Mr. Eriksson answered that it is not likely. Mr. Bollinger stressed that it is important to have a member that is willing to increase the number of members and felt that the choices made by the clubs clearly indicates that there are issues. Ms. Kotikova stressed that in the case of the British Isles the most important is the development of Floorball and comparing both proposals from UKFF and GBFUA it clearly shows who wants to participate in the Floorball development. Mr. Lopez felt that this is related to how the national associations are built, being a member is not just to participate but also building on the good governance of the organisation. Mr. Eriksson also stated that it is not enough to pay the membership fees but also to run the organisation in accordance with the principles of good governance. Mr. Wolmhed thought about the practical issues related to the question. It seems that the UKFF is trying to develop the sport of Floorball in Great Britain, in accordance with the strategic directions of the IFF. Mrs. Bakke feels that IFF has been really patient in the process and think that we need to go with UKFF. Mr. Kauppinen relies with the ExCo reports and the analyses made. Mr. Eriksson concluded that since the GBFUA has already earlier lost the requisite for the ordinary membership, without the Sport England recognition and been made conditional by the IFF General Assembly in December 2012. The CB finds that it is in the interest of the development of the International Floorball to replace the Great Britain membership from the GBFUA to the UKFF. Mr. Liljelund reported that the Russian Ministry of Sport has given the official accreditation for the next two years to the National Floorball Federation of Russia, led by Mr. Maxim Chernov in end of April. The NFFR is to seek membership in the IFF as soon all necessary documents have arrived from the Ministry of Sport. The reason for the two year accreditation is based that the NFFR has activities in around 20 of the 42 districts in Russia and that it is a very young organisation. IFF has asked for a plan of how the clubs and activities of the other applicant for accreditation the Russian Floorball Federation will be included in the NFFR. The CB decided: To approve the reports and in the interest of development of International Floorball approve the United Kingdom Floorball Federation (UKFF) as the new IFF provisional member, replacing the Great Britain Floorball and Unihockey Association (GBFUA) with immediate effect.
Mr. Kratz reported on the situation of the suspended association Malaysia. The Malaysian Floorball Federation had informed that they will pay some of their outstanding debts by end of April, but so far no payments have arrived to the IFF bank account. Mr. Kratz has sent the Malaysian Floorball Federation a letter to ask for their next steps in the process, keeping in mind the upcoming SEA Games in Myanmar. Mr. Eriksson agrees that we need to be firm in process The CB decided: To approve the report.
Mr. Liljelund reported that Croatia has played an International match against Denmark in Sweden on the 27th of April. In addition to this the course organised in Luxembourg might end up in the founding of a Luxembourg national federation and therefore also a membership application to IFF. As a by product of the SEA Games in Myanmar, there are plans to form a Myanmar Floorball Federation, which would seek membership in IFF. There is also a continued process ongoing with the Cameroonian Floorball Federation, which is starting to get organised. The Office has been checking the documents and some additions have been asked for. The CB decided: To approve the report.
Mr. Eriksson ended the meeting at 11:35 thanking the CB members for a good meeting.
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