Distinguished guests and Floorball friends,

On behalf of the International Floorball Federation (IFF) I have the pleasure and honour to announce the seventh WFC organized in Ostrava and Prague in the Czech Republic.

For the first time implemented in the new IFF calendar, we organize the WFC in December, during the season, which was asked by the players, the spectators, and the fans, and not the least by the media. After a few editions it is time to start the evaluation, but already now we see he tendency that more television companies want to broadcast the WFC, and never before has so many matches been produced to so many countries.

The growth in the Czech Republic is amazing and one has to give great credit to the good management of the Czech Floorball Union for developing Floorball all over the Czech Republic. The Czech association was founded as late as in 1992, and has in this very short period of time grown and developed into a top sport in the Czech Republic attracting both school students and the Czech people at large, and is widely televised and attracting media to a full extent. To pick a few items, we have not earlier seen as many matches being broadcast from a WFC, than in the Czech Floorball, and to my knowledge Floorball is among the very most popular sports in school, and the Czechs were the first to organize the very first edition of the World School Floorball Championships in Brno. Another good example of Floorball being well taken both nationally and internationally is the huge tournament the Czech Open and the youth edition the Prague Games. These are all good examples of a growing sporting nation in Floorball with top officials headed by the President Mr Filip Suman with his team to which we all extend our deepest thanks for hosting the WFC 2008.

On the international level the “family” is constantly growing, and we have as many as 47 member countries in IFF, and growth is vital in order to meet with all Olympic criteria and requirements.

We start off in Ostrava and then we move to Prague, and besides the World Floorball Championships, the IFF organizes on Saturday December 13, its General Assembly, where all member associations meet in order to have elections and take vital decisions for he future of Floorball. In particular I want to stress out that the IFF is now proposing for the coming years to set the Strategical Vision for IFF. IFF has to ask itself why it exists, what it believes in, where it wants to be in the future and how it is going to get there. The purpose of this process, the chosen strategy and the vision and mission of IFF is defined as: “the direction and development of Floorball worldwide during the coming decade”.

The Czech Floorball Union, in co-operation with, and supported by the cities of Ostrava and Prague organize the WFC. IFF is very pleased with the CFBU as a good organizer, and with top officials and good management. On a number of occasions we have seen top events being organized in the Czech Republic, and the level has always been high.

The IFF conveys many thanks to the CFBU in cooperation with the cities of Ostrava and Prague for organizing the WFC 2008.

Looking forward to seeing you all and a thrilling tournament,

Yours sincerely,

Tomas Eriksson
IFF President