Tomas Eriksson has been re-elected as president of the International Floorball Federation (IFF).
The Swede, who first assumed the role in 1996, was re-elected during the IFF’s General Assembly in Riga, Latvia.
Floorball’s profile has grown considerably during Eriksson’s time at the helm of the IFF, with the sport having received recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2011.
The number of IFF member associations now stands at 64, with Thailand accepted as the latest ordinary member during this year's General Assembly. Between 80 and 85 countries are also playing at least one form of floorball, the IFF said.
In another boost for the sport, men's floorball will make its debut at the World Games multi-sport event next year. The event will take place in Wroclaw, Poland from July 20-30.
During the General Assembly, IFF Executive Committee member Stephen King introduced the body’s annual report for 2015-16 and pointed to floorball’s growth over the past 12 months.
“The IFF has focused on the three core fields of activity being: increased awareness and visibility, lobbying and development, and increased marketing revenue and financial resources,” King said. “We are more visible in the social media and have more broadcasted matches than before. There has also been an increase in the number of countries participating in the WFCQs (World Floorball Cup qualifiers).”
Regarding the IFF’s plan of action for the next two years, vice-president Filip Suman added: “The ongoing priorities are the lobby work to secure the inclusion of floorball into the multi-sport events, development work for increasing the number of and strengthening our member associations, marketing of the sport and building and spreading the brand of floorball. Now that the IFF is already in the multi-sport events such as the World Games it’s important that we maximise the effect of our participation.”
