The International Fistball Association (IFA) aligns with the decision of the International World Games Association (IWGA) as well as of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus are banned from TWG 2022 resp. should be banned from all international sporting events.

The decision is in line with letters IFA wrote to its umbrella sport organisations last Thursday, 24th of February in view of the Russian military invasion in Ukraine to cancel sport leader meetings as the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit, 15-20 May 2022 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

IFA President Jörn Verleger said “We feel great compassion for the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Worldwide sanctions in all social fields are all the more effective the more social actors participate in them. The goal of ending the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible justifies this step, even though it also affects athletes who are not responsible for this war.”

IFA has currently no member federation in Russia, Belarus or Ukraine.