MINUTES IFF GENERAL ASSEMBLY 13.12 2014
Place: Hotel Gothia Towers, Gothenburg, Sweden
Participants: According to enclosure 12
§ 1 Opening of the General Assembly by IFF President Mr. Tomas Eriksson
Tomas Eriksson opened the General Assembly at 08:30 and greeted all the participants welcome to the 12th IFF General Assembly in Gothenburg, noting that there never before has been this many member Associations present.
Mr. Eriksson addressed the General Assembly with among other things elaborating over the chosen strategy which has proven to be the right one, as we as a community have managed to reach a number of our central targets.
The IFF General Assembly has earlier decided that the implementation of the laid strategy shall be built around three pillars “Lobbying, Marketing and Visibility and Development of the Sport and the Member Associations”.
The work will continue along these lines, as they are the key for our future success.
The challenge is to be able to keep up the speed that we as a community have been able to pull through.
Mr. Eriksson further elaborated over the IFF Olympic path based on existence, awareness, inclusion and implementation and the different phases within each of these parts.
Implications of the Olympic Agenda 2020 was mentioned where;
-the IOC is to consider including a “sports lab” or sports initiation programmes as a part of the Olympic Games or Youth Olympic Games to trigger youth involvement and benefit the host community,
-the IOC and the International World Games Association (IWGA) to closely cooperate regarding the sports programme composition and their respective evaluations,
-to maintain the total number of athletes as 10.500 for the Games,
-the IOC Session to decide on the inclusion of any sport (IF) in the programme,
-the IOC to allow the OCOG‘s to make a proposal for the inclusion of one or more additional events on the Olympic programme for that edition of the Olympic Games
Mr. Eriksson thanked the IFF sponsor Unihoc for their support for a five years sponsorship and just prolonged for another four years and also Asics, Gerflor and Swerink which are all contributing to build the brand.
With these words Mr. Eriksson opened the IFF General Assembly 2014.
§ 2 Approval of present Associations and the voting roll
Mr. Liljelund conducted the roll call and the following ordinary member associations were present;
Ordinary members: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and USA which in accordance the IFF Statutes § 32.2 have the right to vote at the General Assembly, as they have fulfilled their obligations towards IFF which is fulfilled by 35 of these.
A total of 35 out of 39 IFF ordinary members are present, meaning that a simple majority is 18 votes and the 2/3 majority is 24 votes, according to the Statutes.
Provisional members present: India, Iran, Jamaica, Thailand.
Observer: China Floorball development
The General Assembly noted that 35 ordinary and 4 provisional member Associations were present.
The General Assembly decided, that the voting roll was 35 ordinary members and that 18 votes are needed for a simple majority and 24 votes are needed for a 2/3 majority.
§ 3 Greetings to the General Assembly
Greetings from the Swedish Floorball Federation, Mr. Tomas Engholm, President of the Swedish Floorball Federation and Krister Azelius, LOC Chairman of the Men‘s World Floorball Championships 2014, the latter elaborating over the organisation of the ongoing WFC 2014.
§ 4 Election of two scrutineers of the General Assembly
Mr. Eriksson proposed on behalf of the IFF CB to elect as scrutineers and Mr. Thorbjörn Ovedal, Danish Floorball Federation and Mr. Ralph Ramos of Floorball Philippines.
The General Assembly decided accordingly to elect Mr. Torbjörn Ovedal, Danish Floorball Federation and Mr. Ralph Ramos of Floorball Philippines to act as scrutineers.
§ 5 Approval of the agenda (enclosure 1)
The CB proposes the General Assembly to approve the proposed Agenda for the IFF General Assembly.
The General Assembly decided to approve the agenda for the IFF General Assembly.
§ 6 Approval of the protocol of the last Congress in the case of article 33 paragraph 3
The General Assembly noted that the protocol from the last Congress has not been opposed to and is therefore automatically approved according to the statutes (IFF Statutes article 34 paragraph 3).
§ 7 Admission or expulsion of official member Associations
Mr. Liljelund informed that The India Floorball Federation (InFF) and the Iran Floorball Association (IFA) have applied for ordinary membership.
Mr. Liljelund continued and informed that the CB has decided to propose that the following provisional members shall automatically be considered ordinary members, since they have been provisional for at least four years and have not yet applied for ordinary membership. These associations are: Indonesia and Jamaica, according to IFF Statutes, Article 13 paragraph 3.
The CB proposes that they are decided by the General Assembly to become ordinary members
The General Assembly decided unanimously to approve India and Iran, Indonesia and Jamaica as ordinary members.
The General Assembly decided to update the voting roll now to be 38 ordinary members with voting rights present and that a simple majority is 20 votes and a 2/3 majority requires 26 votes.
§ 8 Approval of the CB report (enclosure 2)
Mr. Stephen King presented the Annual report 2013-2014, a short resume from the plan of action decided upon in Zurich, Switzerland for the period 2013-2014 and the activities IFF has had in the period.
Key Achievements 2013-2014 mentioned were;
-inclusion in the Multi-Sport Events Wroclaw World Games 2017, SportAccord Urban Games 2016/2017, South-East Asian Games 2013 Myanmar (demonstration sport) and Singapore 2015 (official sport),
-Full Implementation of the New WFC group system and the full qualification system,
-Agreement of a 2nd Phase of the Champions Cup 2015 – 2017,
-Implementation of the new WADA Anti-Doping Code for 2015
-Continued work with IFF Development work consisting of Floorball Development Seminars and Material Support (Sticks, balls and rinks),
-Launch of the Each One – Teach One project where the IFF EOTO Action Plan has been built and Bi-lateral Country projects has started,
-Implementation of the IFF Licence System including the follow up of the criteria´s for the members participating in Events and help to Close the Gap,
-New level Fan Culture with the IFF Event Mobile Application for WFCQ and U19WFC and monetisation of the YouTube Channel,
-Creation of the IFF Corporate Image for coming WFC‘s,
-Generic WFC web site implementation for WFC 2015,
-Athletes Outreach – Anti-Doping Education during WFC,
-ParaFloorball cooperation – Special Olympics and ICEWH,
-Creation of an IFF Event Management Tool, in cooperation with OnlineDynamics, for management of the IFF Events.
Mr. Eriksson asked the General Assembly to approve the Annual Report 2013 – 2014
The General Assembly decided to approve the Annual report 2013 – 2014.
§ 9 Approval of the financial report and the auditor‘s report
Calendar years 2012 and 2013 (enclosure 3 and enclosure 4)
Mrs. Bakke presented the Balance sheet and Statement of income for 2012 and 2013. The IFF made, as predicted already in the General Assembly 2012 a deficit of 99,836 CHF in 2012.
Mrs. Bakke elaborated over the work to balance the financials and reported that the deficit was lowered to 9,829 CHF in 2013.
The trend goes towards a balanced result which, without promising too much, will be the case for 2014 Mrs. Bakke continued.
Mr. Eriksson asked if the IFF General Assembly had any questions regarding the finances.
Mr. Eriksson proposed the General Assembly to approve the financial reports of 2012 and 2013.
The General Assembly decided to approve the financial report for 2012 and 2013.
The Auditor Mr. Mikael Brandstam presented the Auditors report for 2012 and 2013 (enclosure 5 and enclosure 6) and informed that the annual accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Annual Accounts Act and, thereby, gives a true and fair view of the IFF‘s financial position and results of operations in accordance with generally agreed accounting principles in accordance to IAS.
Mr. Eriksson proposed the General Assembly to approve the auditor‘s report for 2012 and 2013.
The General Assembly decided to approve the auditor‘s report for 2012 and 2013.
§ 10 Decision on freedom of responsibility for the CB
The Auditor Mr. Mikael Brandstam recommended to the IFF General Assembly that the IFF Central Board and secretary general shall be discharged from liability for the financial years 2012 and 2013.
Mr. Eriksson asked if the General Assembly can grant freedom of responsibility for the CB and secretary general.
The General Assembly decided unanimously to grant the Central Board, the President and the secretary general freedom of responsibility for 2012 and 2013.
§ 11 Decision on membership fee
The IFF Central Board proposes not to change the membership fees for the coming two year period.
The General Assembly decided not to change the membership fees for the period 2015-2016 according to the proposal.
§ 12 Approval of the budget and working plan for the next two years
a) Plan of action for the period 2015-2016 (enclosure 7)
Mr. Filip Suman, IFF Vice President, elaborated on the key points of the CB proposal of plan of action for the period between the General Assemblies 2014 and 2016, where further work within the Development sector through Seminars and Cliniques, the Each One Teach One project, Material support to members and new countries as corner stones.
-We need to grow in numbers where the aim is to increase the number of IFF members to approx. 70, increase the number of members associations affiliated in the NOC‘s, to get more players and games and more visibility for the sport in all media channels.
-We need to utilize the opportunity the Olympic Agenda 2020 provides for us and continue the international lobbying and also seek Floorball Ambassadors.
Mr. Suman further informed of the continued IOC Short List process including the preparations for the IOC Short list application process where the making the organisation ready for the challenges is vital as well as securing political support for Floorball Locally/Nationally and Globally.
Further we shall prepare for the upcoming Multi-Sport Games (World Games 2017, Urban Games and SEA Games) where we expect that we only have one chance to showcase the Sport in the Multi-Sport Events so building a strong presentation for the Sport in Wroclaw is very vital. We will need a strong local support and a good number of spectators and to reach that we will market and promote the Event in our channels.
In general the IFF must increase the visibility and the market value of the Sport, strengthen the Brand of the Sport and increase the knowledge of the Sport.
Finally Mr. Suman informed of the new projects a TV Magazine and Combined Sales.
Mr. Eriksson asked if the General Assembly could approve the plan of action for 2015 and 2016.
The General Assembly decided to approve the plan of action for the period 2015-2016.
b) Budget for the calendar years 2015 and 2016 (enclosure 8)
Mrs. Bakke presented the budget for 2015 and 2016 pointing out that these budgets are prepared on a very realistic base but still gives room for development.
Mr. Eriksson asked if the General Assembly could approve the budget for 2015 and 2016.
The General Assembly decided to approve the budget for 2015 and 2016.
§ 13 Elections (enclosure 9)
Chairman and two members of the Disciplinary Committee for 2 years
Mr. Eriksson informed of the candidates as chairman respective members to the IFF Disciplinary Committee.
The General Assembly decided to elect for Mr. Ismo Haaponiemi, Finland (re-election) as chairman and Mrs. Linda Noppa, Sweden (new) and Mr. Tomas Vaculik, Czech Republic (re-election) as members of the IFF Disciplinary Committee.
As substitutes the General Assembly elected Mr. Rudolf Buri, Switzerland (re-election), Mr. Rainer Martiskin, Australia (re-election), Mr. Anthony MacNeil, Canada (re-election) and Artis Krauklis, Latvia (new).
All elections were unanimous.
Chairman and two members of the Appeal Committee for 2 years
Mr. Eriksson informed of the candidates as chairman respective members to the IFF Appeal Committee.
The General Assembly decided to elect Mr. Lars Granqvist, Sweden as Chairman (re-election) and
Mr. Tom Hedkrok, Finland (re-election) and Mr. Kjell Hovland-Olsen, Norway, (re-election) as members.
As substitutes the General Assembly elected Aiga Staltmane-Veksa, Latvia, (new) and Mr. Ron Spence, Canada (new).
All elections were unanimous.
IFF Ethics Commission for 2 years – proposed by the IFF CB for confirmation of the IFF GA
Mr. Eriksson informed of the candidates to the IFF Ethics Commission and also the task of the commission.
The General Assembly decided to confirm the IFF Ethics Commission according to the CB proposal to be Mr. Poul-Erik Höyer, Denmark, as Chairman, and Ms. Carol Roberts, Canada, Ms. Sylvia Schenk, Germany and Mr. Lasse Granqvist, Sweden, as members.
All elections were unanimous.
Confirmation of vacancies in the CB (IFF Statutes 33 paragraph 4)
Mr. Risto Kauppinen has resigned from the IFF CB in November 2014, due to personal reasons and the Finnish Floorball Federation has in accordance with the valid IFF Statutes (Art 33 paragraph 4) to the IFF CB proposed to replace him with Mr. Milan Rantakari until the General Assembly 2016.
Mr. Eriksson conveyed a great thanks from the IFF and informed that Mr. Kauppinen will be properly thanked in another IFF Event.
The CB proposes that the General Assembly shall confirm the vacancy.
The General Assembly decided to confirm the vacancy and replace Mr. Risto Kauppinen with Mr. Milan Rantakari until the General Assembly 2016.
The election was unanimous.
§ 14 Appointment of a chartered auditor for 2 years
Mr. Eriksson informed that the IFF CB proposes re-election of the present auditor Mr. Mikael Brandstam.
The General Assembly decided to re-elect Mr. Mikael Brandstam as auditor of IFF for two years.
The election was unanimous.
§ 15 Examinations and decisions on proposals and motions of the members (enclosure 10 and enclosure 11)
Mr. Liljelund, IFF Secretary general elaborated on the IFF Strategic vision 2009-2020 and gave a half-time revision update (enclosure 10).
The background is that the IFF CB decided in 2007 to define a Strategic Vision for the IFF for the upcoming decade until 2020. The Strategic Vision was approved by the IFF General Assembly in Prague 2008.
In 2014 the IFF CB felt that there is a need to evaluate the present situation and secondary to update the direction, for the Strategic Vision of IFF.
So where are we today? How does the World look around us? How shall we choose the Direction?
The collecting factor for our success has been the joint focus to achieve the ultimate goal, the Olympic Games. The Floorball Community has become more solid and the enhanced operations of the Member Associations has been the key focus the last four years.
The environment for development has changed and we have much more resources to use in the process through the EOTO-project.
So why do we exist? Where do we want to go? What do we believe in?
The Strategic Vision is to serve as a Guiding Lighthouse for the Direction and Development of Floorball worldwide during this decade.
Mr. Eriksson proposed the General Assembly to approve the IFF Strategic Vision 2009-2020 – Half-time revision update.
The General Assembly decided to approve the updated IFF Strategic Vision 2009-2020.
Further Mr. Liljelund presented the CB proposal of the document IFF Good Governance Policy (enclosure 11).
As a part of the process for the Olympic Path, we need to follow the mainline route where it requires that we define the way we need to act and also define what the right way to work is.
Mr. Liljelund concluded that the Good Governance Policy document is describing how we want to move forward.
Mr. Eriksson proposed the General Assembly to approve the IFF Good Governance Policy.
The General Assembly decided to approve the IFF Good Governance Policy.
§ 16 Approval of Regulations within the meaning of article 15 paragraph 2 littera c)
The IFF Central Board does not propose any Regulations for approval for the General Assembly.
The General Assembly noted that there are no regulations for approval by the General Assembly.
§ 17 Decision on all affairs being reserved for the General Assembly by the statutes or by law
The IFF Central Board proposes to the General Assembly to approve the resolution defining that the legal seat of the IFF will be in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The General Assembly decided according to the proposal to define the IFF legal seat to be in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The decision was unanimous.
§ 18 Appointment to be honorary member
The General Assembly noted that there is no proposal on honorary membership.
§ 19 Modification of the statutes (changes in statutes a 2/3 majority is needed)
The General Assembly noted that there are no proposals regarding modifications of the Statutes.
§ 20 Decision on the meeting place for the next General Assembly
Mr. Eriksson informed that the IFF CB proposes that the next General Assembly shall preliminary be held on the 10.12.2016 at 09:00, during the WFC 2016 in Riga, Latvia.
The General Assembly decided accordingly to have the next General Assembly during the WFC 2016.
§ 21 Presentations on coming World Floorball Championships
Before moving over to the upcoming events Mr. Liljelund informed that the contract with Gerflor regarding flooring for the IFF events has been prolonged with four years.
The General Assembly continued with presentations on the upcoming WFC´s in 2015 - 2016.
a) WFC 2015 Men U19 in Helsingborg, Sweden was presented by Mr. Krister Azelius
b) WFC 2015 Women in Tampere, Finland was presented by Ms. Jeanette Good, WFC 2015 Secretary general, Ms. Tuulikki Kangasluoma, WFC 2015 LOC Chairperson and Mr. Perttu Pesä, city of Tampere
c) WFC 2016 Women U19 in Belleville, Canada was presented by Ms. Tracey Legault-Davis, U19 WFC 2016 Secretary general and Ms. Clara Quinn, U19 WFC 2016 media responsible
d) WFC 2016 Men in Riga, Latvia was presented by Andris Dzenis, WFC 2016 Secretary general
e) Floorball Development – Floorball4All was presented by Mr. Benjamin Lüthi, Switzerland
f) XFBall was presented by Mr. Christer Olsson and Mr. Jerry Gray.
§ 22 Closing of the General Assembly
Mr. Eriksson thanked the participants for their efficient work during the General Assembly, all presenters in § 21 and thanked the president of the Swedish Floorball Federation Mr. Tomas Engholm for an excellent organisation of the WFC 2014 and with these words declared the General Assembly as closed at 11:25.
John Liljelund Tomas Eriksson
IFF Secretary General IFF President
Scrutineers
Thorbjörn Ovedal Ralph Ramos
