Approvals for World Cup men and World Championship 2022!

FIB Technical Committee has approved that the World Cup for men’s club teams will be played in Russia this coming season. As a way to further develop the tournament, it will be played alternately in Russia and Sweden every two years.

World Cup has been organized for many years and played in Sweden. Several games were also played at night when it was held in Ljusdal. Due to too warm weather, the tournament was moved to Göransson indoor arena in Sandviken in 2009.

Russian, Swedish and Finnish teams have won the tournament over the years. The latest champion team is Bollnäs GIF from Sweden who won in Sandviken in October 2019.

The new order for the cup to be played every two years in Russia and Sweden will start with the tournament being played in Russia this coming season. The date of the tournament is not yet decided.

FIB Technical Committee has also approved that the World Championship for Men 2022 will be played in Russia.

Hungary won World Championship Group B

Hungary took home the victory in the World Championship Group B in Irkutsk, Russia. Hungary defeated Ukraine in the final which was played on Friday, March 6. Hungary won a fairly comfortable 4-1 victory. It should be borne in mind that Ukraine played with a player less than the entire match. This when Mykhailo Skalytskyi got a rough red card and match penalty already in the start of the match after just 2:05. Considering that event, Ukraine made a good match and became the second team in the tournament. Slovakia won the game for third prize against Mongolia by 3-2.

For Hungary, the victory qualifies the team for Group A for the next World Championships in Syktyvkar, Russia.

Abdirahmaan’s 15 minutes of fame!

No, it was actually 17 minutes and 25 seconds that Abdirahmaan Mohamed Barkhadle was in the limelight when he scored Somalia’s first goal in the World Championship tournament. He scored 1-0 for his team in the final game of the play offs against Switzerland. But after this moment of joy, Switzerland scored 1-1.

But a goal that deserves to be mentioned it was in any case.

Time for the finals!

Time for the the final games of the World Championship Group B in Irkutsk, Russia. Four teams have proven to be the best. In the semi finals Hungary beat Slovakia 5-0 and Mongolia lost against Ukraine 1-3. That’s why Hungary and Ukraine will meet in the Championship final Friday afternoon, March 6, at 15:00 on Trud Stadium.

The bronze will be played between Slovakia and Mongolia at. 12:00 on Trud. But more games still remains. Game for place 5 between Netherlands and Latvia at 11:00 on Record Arena. Game for place 7 between Japan and Czech Republic at 09:00, also on Record Arena and the last game of the two fights for place 9 between Switzerland and Somalia on Stroitel Arena at 10:00.

All times are local UTC+8

FIB President on the development on bandy!

The Federation of International Bandy is in a very active and exciting period. We recently experienced Women’s World Championships in Oslo. Right now the World Championship Group B for men is in progress, the play offs in the national leagues have started and soon the World Championship Group A is played with the World’s best bandy teams in Irkutsk in Russia.

What could be more relevant than asking FIB President, Mr. Boris Skrynnik, how he views the development of FIB and the sport of bandy in the world.

Read the full interview here!

Putin sent greetings to all participants and guests in Irkutsk!

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a greeting to the participants and guests of the World Championships in Bandy!

(As you know, in Russia the sport is called ball hockey)

 

“Dear friends!

I greet you and congratulate you on the opening of the 40th men’s world hockey championship.

It is gratifying that every year ball hockey draws into its orbit an increasing number of participants and fans of this wonderful sport. Such significant success is the result of consistent, responsible work of the International and National Federations.

And of course, an important role in the development and promotion of Russian hockey is played by our country, which regularly hosts world championships, strives to hold them at the highest level, to acquaint guests with different cities and regions of Russia.

This tournament will be held in one of the largest centers of Siberia – Irkutsk. I am sure that the organizers did everything to make it a real holiday for hockey players and numerous fans of this spectacular winter sports game, remembered by the bright moments of victories and triumphs.

Wish you all the best”.

Mongolia and Hungary most succesfull!

Mongolia and Hungary are the most successful teams so far in the World Championships Group B. Mongolia has won all three matches in Pool B. It started with a big win against Somalia with 10-0 and continued with 4-0 against Slovakia and today, Monday morning, Mongolia beat Japan in an exciting match that ended 2-1. What impressed the crowd most was the skating of the Mongols.
Another team that has won all matches so far is Hungary in Pool A. Yesterday, Hungary beat the Netherlands 3-2 and then Switzerland 7-0 and today, Monday, the team beat Czech Republic 5-1.

The focus is development!

FIB has a clear focus on developing the bandy in several different areas. How can the federation contribute to the bandy in countries with ambition to develop in a number of different areas? That is a key issue. Therefore, an analysis work is currently underway during the World Championship in Irkutsk together with the nations in Group B. This is to identify the needs of the nations to be able to develop the sport and to see what problems and opportunities exist.

Thony Lindqvist and Evgeny Epifanov has been commissioned to carry out the analysis in Irkutsk this week. Both with a lot of experience of national and international bandy. Thony has been a successful player and is still working with Skutskär’s women’s team in Sweden. He has both played and worked as head coach for many years in both Sweden and Russia. He has also been working with education at the Bandy High School in Sandviken. Evgeny was born in Russia and played both bandy and football as a junior in Moscow. In Germany he also played bandy in the national team for several years and cooperated with nearby European countries to develop bandy. He is also member of FIB Executive Committee.

The interviews with leaders and coaches in Irkutsk are about many things. How much the number of players in the countries have changed in recent years, the skills of leaders/coaches, the conditions regarding ice rinks and equipment and not least the needs and wishes of the nations themselves for the development of the sport.

The report from Thony and Evgeny will be communicated to FIB’s congress during the World Championship tournament for Group A in a few weeks. Then FIB will take the ideas further in its development work together with the teams in Group B.

An important news in this context is the plans for construction of a new full-sized art-frozen arena for bandy in Zurich, Switzerland. That will be important for the development of bandy in central Europe.

New world penalty record!

Many players in the bandy world have in their careers made a visit to the penalty bench, both time-limited and match penalties. But the question is whether or not Kristián Lukšo, defender in Slovakia, today Sunday March 1, entered the sections of history books you may not directly boast of. He managed to get a red card penalty…twice … on the same day! Most players never get that chance because they rarely play two matches on the same day. But this Sunday, Kristián did.

In the morning’s match against Latvia, he got a red card for dropping an opponent when he was completely free with the goalkeeper. Red card! In tonight’s loss match against Mongolia, he got a 10-minute penalty for rough play against a Mongolian player. When he left the field he was violent towards the penalty bench. Red card again! The world record is going to be hard to beat and we recommend no one to try to beat it.

To find out if it is a world record, we consulted the tournament’s head supervisor and the chairman of the FIB Rules and Referees Committee, Mr. Olle Modin. Olle shook his head a few times at the story “we have never experienced it ever”…

No player was hurt so you might read this with a smile on your face. It is understandable. But we may hope that Kristián has learned one lesson, or maybe two, anyway. Because he gets the chance to play more in Irkutsk as both red cards were not considered rough.

Dennis Pacsay the fastest goal scorer in Irkutsk!

Hungarian midfielder Dennis Pacsay became the fastest goal scorer in the World Championship tournament Group B in Irkutsk. In the opening match against the Netherlands, he scored the first goal already after 4 minutes and 27 seconds into the first half.

Dennis Pacsay plays in the Swedish Division 1 South with his team Finspångs AIK where this season he only scored 4 goals. But in Irkutsk playing for Hungary he was the fastest.