National floorball associations and clubs have showed solidarity for Ukraine and Ukrainian Floorball Federation by donating money and equipment over the past days and weeks.
On Friday 25th of February, the IFF strongly condemned the act of war committed by the Russian Federation on Ukraine and its people. The IFF is in direct contact with the Ukrainian Floorball Federation to provide any support necessary and to help to enable their participation in the upcoming World Floorball Championships Qualifications in May. On Tuesday 2nd of March, IFF suspended the National Floorball Federation of Russia and the Floorball Federation of Belarus with immediate effect. The IFF stands in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian Floorball Federation and hopes for a peaceful resolution to this attack.
Several national floorball associations have also offered their help for Ukraine and Ukrainian Floorball Federation. Ukrainian Floorball Federation has also opened a charity fund “Ukrainian Floorball Foundation” to support their clubs and players. More information can be found below and on federation’s channels.
Examples of how the floorball community has supported Ukraine so far:
Czech Republic
Tempish Vitkovice collected 12,000 Czech crowns from ticket sales to support Ukrainians. FBC Liberec collected 21,627 CZK during their quarter-final matches and to donate it to Czech Red Cross. The club is also offering free floorball trainings for refugee children from Ukraine. Tatran Střešovice invited all their fans and supporters to contribute helping Ukrainians and to donate for example medicine through Ukrainian embassy. The Czech floorball store Florbal.com launched blue-yellow balls for sale. All funds will be donated to charity.
Germany
Frankfurt Falcons collected money during their Men’s and Mu17 home matches. The proceeds from their on-site kiosk will be donated to humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Red Devils Wernigerode had a collection during their recent Bundesliga game against Schriesheim for a Ukrainian family that had recently moved to Wernigerode after fleeing the conflict. They managed to raise 1200 euros for the family of 3 to help them settle in to their new life in Germany.
Finland
The Finnish M-Team donated all ticket sales from the match against Pirkat to the Finnish Red Cross. Thanks to the public and partners, almost 3,000 euros were gathered to help Ukrainian people. Other clubs across various Men’s and Women’s leagues have shown messages of support, held Ukrainian flags and stood in solidarity both before and after matches for the people of Ukraine.
Poland
Clubs of Lodz and Olimpia Osowa Gdansk showed their support for Ukraine before their face-to-face match. All collected funds from tickets, (around 1,000 złotys) along with other things, were donated to Ukraine. Olimpia Osowa also collected aid for the Ukrainian citizens at their home match. AZS PŁ UMED Cochise Burger Łódź helped a family from Poltava region who had to leave their home. The club funded them toys, food and bus tickets, thanks to which they could travel to Prague. The club has also organised collections at their home matches for various things that are needed at the Polish border. UKS Floorball Gorzów raised funds for Ukrainians at their match (50 złotys for each goal scored and 20 złotys for each penalty). Many teams before league matches have been holding Ukrainian flags and messages of support for the people of Ukraine.
Latvia
The Latvian Floorball Association released a number of videos from their board condemning the war and showing support for the Ukrainian people. They have also informed the Ukrainian Floorball Federation that they are ready to cover the costs of the Ukrainian national team’s stay considering the WFCQ. In addition, if any of the Ukrainian floorball players need temporary residence in Latvia, they will be able to help. Lielvarde played their most recent playoff quarterfinal match with the Ukrainian flag embroidered onto their jerseys to show support.
Sweden
Jönköpings IK (JIK) women’s team collected 41 bags of clothes, shoes, blankets and hygiene products for Ukrainians. This is the club where Alina Zelena and Snizhana Dubyk from Ukraine recently played. The SSL players and leaders donate all or part of their JIK salaries in March to help Ukrainians flee to neighboring countries and inside Ukraine. Malmö raised funds for children from Ukraine at their home matches. Lerum collected almost 8,000 Swedish crowns and handed the money over to UNHCR organisations, which deals with immigrants from Ukraine. The flag of Ukraine was shown on all the boards before the match of Endre. Storvreta player Otto Weidman raised his game shirt after scoring a goal and had another shirt under it, with a flag of Ukraine and text against war. Linköping held an auction of special players’ match jerseys with the words “#standwithukraine” to raise money for people in Ukraine after their recent matches and also had IFF Central Board member Tamuz Hidir speak to the crowd of 1400 about his story of escaping Ukraine after the invasion began.
Switzerland
All the teams of Floorball Köniz play with the flags of Ukraine. Together with the board of directors, the NLA team decided to donate part of their compensation to aid organisations. HC Rychenberg collected CHF 1,200 for the people of Ukrain at their match against SV Wiler-Ersigen. Both teams showed solidarity with a flag stating “Stop war. Wir gegen krieg.”
Many other countries, clubs and leagues have also shown support for and helped in many different ways and aspects for both the Ukrainian Floorball Federation and the Ukrainian people in general with fundraising and messages displayed. Many clubs across Europe have also offered spaces to train and play for any Ukrainian Floorball players fleeing the conflict.
