Sweden and Åby hosted this year’s WC, both for women and for men. But next year there won’t be a world championship at all, according to a press release that the Norwegian Bandy Federation published this weekend.
“Norway’s bandy association is suffering with our players who are now missing out on a long-awaited bandy World Cup,” they write.
The International Bandy Federation (FIB) has not yet made any official statement, and the Swedish men’s national team’s captain Mattias Sjöholm does not seem to be aware of the matter either.
— I didn’t know that, so I can’t comment on it much. We’re going to have a meeting here in the near future so maybe I’ll find out more, he says Bandy pulse.
There have long been uncertainties surrounding the WC 2024. According to Bandypuls, it is about the fact that the FIB has had difficulty finding possible organizers for the championships.
It is also related to the situation surrounding Russia, one of the major bandit nations, which is suspended due to the country’s war of invasion in Ukraine.
Already last month, Hans Elis Johansson, chairman of the Swedish national team committee, was aware that there could be a championship-free year in 2024.
— It is very likely that there will be no WC at all. If it is to be arranged, it is about the television agreement and that the club that organizes knows what they are doing and gets involved. And who bears the costs? It’s not easy to win a World Cup without Russia, he told Bandypuls on October 17.