From 13th to 15th of September, Salzburg will be the centre of the fistball world. The best women’s and men’s club teams will compete for the title at the Fistball World Tour Final in the Sportzentrum Nord.

Deputy Mayor and Sports Officer Bernhard Auinger is delighted: “I am delighted that we have succeeded in bringing another major international sports tournament to Salzburg, the IFA Fistball World Tour Final, after the Tennis Davis Cup. Salzburg has already proven several times that it is an ideal venue for large sporting events. This will also be the case this time.”

The city of Salzburg supports this fistball highlight of the season with more than 30.000 euros. Around 15.000 euros will be provided directly and the rest as value in kind (e.g. personnel for set-up and dismantling, provision of various equipment and objects, etc.). “In addition to financial support, the organiser also needs manpower and services in kind such as the provision of personnel for set-up and dismantling. Now that everyone is pulling in the same direction, this event will certainly be another sporting milestone in the city of Salzburg,” sports consultant Auinger continued. Since 2017, Sportzentrum Nord has been an attractive venue for popular sports for Salzburg, but the modern centre has also made a name for itself internationally as an event location for top sports. Several international competitions have already taken place, such as the European Company Sports Games, the Mozart Trophy (an international youth football tournament with over 80 teams from seven nations) and Austrian championships in table tennis and breakdancing.

Most important title in club fistball

A total of 16 teams – including teams from Argentina and Brazil – will compete in the World Tour Final in the state capital. “It is the most important title to be won at club level in fistball. The fans can look forward to a sports spectacle,” IFA President Jörn Verleger looks forward to the event. “The best fistball players in the world come to Salzburg and show off their top skills. At our side events, spectators and fans can also become active themselves”. As a German he of course keeps his fingers crossed for the four German teams in particular and after the World Champion title they are also striving for the next international title. With this tournament, fistball should gain an even stronger presence in the Salzburg sports scene and in school sports.

Added value for the people of Salzburg – the exciting supporting programme

Sports fans can look forward to an extensive supporting programme in addition to exciting matches and top sporting performances. Additionally to an own kids area with various sports stations, Friday is dedicated to the schools of Salzburg with free admission. On Saturday, a multi-sports tournament with fistball, football, table tennis and volleyball will take place on the sports grounds. Before the medal games begin on Sunday, it is the turn of the U10 and U12 players to take part in their own fistball tournament. The best teams are allowed to enter the Center Court with the final teams.

Added value for the sports city of Salzburg – media value of up to one million euros

On the three days of the competition, around 2,000 spectators* are expected at the centre court in the Sportzentrum Nord. The organisers are expecting around 800 overnight stays in the region by the participating teams alone. The international field of participants from Argentina, Brazil and the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) will also make the sports city of Salzburg better known. In addition, there will be national and international coverage of Salzburg as a sports city in print and online media worldwide. ORF broadcasts more than six hours live on ORF Sport+ and there are reports in ORF Kurzsport (about 600,000 viewers* & 8% MA) and in ORF Sportbild (about 50,000 – 100,000 viewers*). All reports are also available on ORF TVTHEK. Around 250 volunteers ensure that everything runs smoothly. These mainly come from Salzburg and Upper Austria. The IFA expects over 150,000 people to be reached on social media channels. The Women’s World Championship 2018 in Austria, with a media value of more than EUR 700,000, can be used as a comparative value by reporting in the national and international media. Everyone is confident that this advertising value will be exceeded.

The programme in detail:
On Friday, 13th of September, the final tournament with the quarter finals of women and men will start at 10 am. Saturday (from 11 a.m.) and Sunday (from 12 noon) will be dominated by the semi-finals and medal matches. A centre court with room for 1,000 spectators* will be created in the Sportzentrum Nord for the World Tour Finale.

Salzburg for Austria:
The two Austrian teams “Union Haidlmair Schwingenschuh Nussbach” for women and “Tigers Vöcklabruck” for men are among the favourites. As eighth and third in the world rankings, respectively, the Upper Austrians* qualified for the World Tour Final for the first time. The local heroes can be trusted to have a lot to offer, as the reigning Austrian champion, Nussbach and Vöcklabruck are among the closest favourites as vice state champions. The support of the fans is assured.

That’s what players* say:
Sabine Süffert, Sogipa (Brazil)
“We currently train three times a week for preparation. On September 7th all players will land in Europe. On Saturday, 8.9., everyone will meet in Austria and on Sunday we will start with a test match against the Austrian national team. Furthermore there will be a test match against the Austrian champion and World Tour participant Union Nussbach. For me, the World Tour Finals will be a special event, as I have been studying in Salzburg for six months now”.
(Sabine Süffert has been preparing for the finals in Linz/Urfahr since spring and also trained with Seekirchen and Vöcklabruck).

Mathias Karafiat, Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (Austria)
“Our goal is to reach the semi-finals and win a medal at our first participation in the World Tour Finals. We want to take the momentum from the World Championship and the tournament victory at the Major tournament in Jona with us and show fistball on world class level.
For preparation we played many tournaments: Rohrbach, Widnau and Jona. After the World Championships all but 1-2 participants entered the intensive preparation for the World Tour Finals. We train together at least twice a week and apart from that we meet regularly in smaller groups for defense or service training. All players are in top-form, except Max Huemer, who has shoulder problems.”