(ATR) Finland defeated arch-rival Sweden 6-3 to defend their title at the World Floorball Championships in Prague.
The final contest at the 17,500-capacity O2 Arena was witnessed by 16,276 fans. The overall attendance for the nine-day tournament was 181,518, a new world championships best.
International Floorball Federation (IFF) president Tomas Eriksson was overjoyed with the results of the Prague event.
"The biggest legacy of this is that the Czechs have set an exemplary example for upcoming organizers," Eriksson tells Around the Rings at the O2 Arena in Prague. "They have brought added value with the fan zones and all the school kids coming to the games on weekdays and that is awesome."
"There were more people attending this championship than many other sports," he said.
"I believe this event will be among the 15 to 20 biggest world championships or multi-sport events in the year 2018," IFF secretary general John Liljelund added.
Switzerland defeated the host Czechs for the bronze medal at the 16-nation tournament, which concluded on Sunday.
Nineteen of the forty-eight games were shown on the Olympic Channel. Livestreams and domestic coverage of games were also available in 10 countries.
The fast-paced six-on-six team sport, which is similar to ice hockey without the ice or fierce body checking and played with a plastic wiffle ball, is striving to expand its global footprint well beyond its Scandinavian roots.
One criticism of the sport has been the domination of Finland and Sweden since the inception of the world championships in 1996, with other contending nations trailing far behind. The Scandinavian neighbors have combined to win every world title. Additionally, the two rivals have met in 10 of the 12 finals.
"You might know that until 1992, for 33 years, there were only four medalists at the ice hockey world championships and that was not a problem for anybody," Liljelund points out. "We have had five in floorball in 22 years on the men’s side."
"We need to grow on all of the continents," Eriksson added.
The IFF held its general assembly in Prague on Saturday, where the launch of a European Championships was finalized. The first edition will be in 2023 and held in Switzerland.
"More visibility, more awareness, another trophy to fight for and the chance to give the trailing four (countries) a chance to close the gap with the top four," Liljelund said of the mission of the new European tournament.
Eriksson said that the youth-oriented team sport whose rules were established in the late 1980’s has a bright future and will continue to expand worldwide.
"Europe is still the engine in the floorball movement, but we see a few nations in Asia that are emerging very well," Eriksson said. "We need to spread the message and award a world championships outside of Europe. Singapore and Thailand would be eligible and ready to organize the next men’s or women’s world championships."
Olympic status for floorball is a long-term dream.
"The goal, of course, is to join the Olympics, but one has to take it step-by-step," Eriksson said. "Paris 2024 is closed, there still could be a chance for L.A. in 2028 and we don’t know who will be the organizers for 2032.
"This is not the predominant objective in the short period – we have to focus on the continental games and other multi-sport games and be fully established there."
The next edition of the men’s floorball world championships will be held in Helsinki in 2020.
ATR coverage of the World Floorball Championships is made possible by the generous support of the IFF.
Written by Brian Pinelli in Prague
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