News
FistbaLl refleCts on a succesSful moNth of spoRt
It has been an exciting week for the International Fistball Association (IFA), with the announcement of its newly elected President, Jörn Verleger, as well as a thrilling end to the 2019 Fistball World Championships final.
Almost 6,000 spectators attended the final in the Stadion Schützenwiese in Switzerland, which saw Germany triumph against Austria after just 50 minutes to claim their third world title. According to IFA figures, the 2019 Fistball Men’s World Championship had a total reach of over 83.4 million people from its combined print, TV and social media coverage, with stories spread all over the world.
The strength and international reach of the tournament was demonstrated by the attendance of some of the key sporting figures at the final, including GAISF Vice President Stephan Fox, GAISF Director Philippe Gueisbuhler, IOC Sports Department representative, Andrew Hofer, AIMS Secretary General Gerd Zimmermann and International World Games Association (IWGA) Board Members Lukas Hinder, Volker Bernardi and CEO Achim Gossow.
Away from the action on the field, Jörn Verleger from Munich, Germany, was elected the sixth IFA President in the organisation’s history. The 47-year-old sports manager succeeds Karl Weiss (Austria), who was elected Honorary President by the Congress. The Vice-Presidents elected were Giana Hexsel (Brazil), Vikki Buston (New Zealand) and Steve Schmutzler (Germany).
The IFA also announced that the 2023 Men’s Fistball World Championship was won by a joint bid from the German Fistball League, the Rhine-Neckar Metropol-Region with the city of Mannheim and the Fistball club TV Käfertal.
“We expect a sold out venue and a big step up in terms of presentation of the sport and the media production for fistball”, Verleger said following the announcement.
The preliminary rounds will take place at the 5,000 seater Rhein-Neckar Stadium in Mannheim. The final round will be played in the modern SAP Arena, the home of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen (handball) and the Adler Mannheim (ice hockey). The indoor arena holds 12,000 spectators and will be the first international fistball event to be played on natural grass indoors.