Finland will face the winner of the Czech Republic-Latvia match in the floorball World Cup semi-finals on Saturday, December 9. Live broadcast of the semi-final match on TV2 and Areena from 10:45 a.m.
The women’s World Floorball tournament in Singapore has been a disappointment. This is what the general secretary of the International Floorball Association IFF thinks John Liljelund.
– We are disappointed with the number of viewers. We have also told Sports Singapore and the country’s ministry that we would have liked more. This (the number of spectators) makes it difficult to justify taking the games to places other than Europe, says Liljelund.
Singapore was chosen as the race organizer because the association was convinced by the promise that awareness of the sport would grow in Asia.
Liljelund states that increasing floorball’s popularity in Asia is extremely important to the association. It will continue to be pursued, and floorball will again participate in the World Games multi-sport event in 2025 in China.
– The problem for us is that the floorball fans wonder why the games have been brought to Singapore when there is no one in the stands.
– It may be that Asia will no longer play (the World Cup). It depends on whether the floorball World Cup is connected to another multidisciplinary event. But there is certainly no need to come to Asia for a while, Liljelund points out.
Why have the games failed?
Liljelund believes that the weak popularity of the World Cup is due to little marketing. In addition, Singapore has inflation this year was at its highest level in 14 yearsalthough it has declined.
– There has been talk that the tickets are perhaps too expensive for Singaporeans. I would guess that the biggest reason is that no marketing has been done because the race organizer has not seen it as necessary, says Liljelund.
He says that since September, the IFF has been pressuring the competition organizer every week to take action to increase the number of spectators. However, no action was seen before the latest discount campaign. Tickets for the elimination and medal games are on sale at half price.
– I have received an answer from the Singapore Sports Commission that there was no one at the Table Tennis World Championships before the finals either. Presumably they don’t measure (success) the same way.
Who will offset the losses from the World Cup?
– I would bet that Sports Singapore, i.e. the state of Singapore, will offset the losses of these games.
Sports Singapore is an agency under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. Its mission is to develop the country’s sports culture.
It was thought in advance that the World Cup held in Singapore would also be expensive for the national federations, supporters and TV productions. According to Liljelund, the threats associated with large costs are being realized.
The final match will be played in a hall with a larger capacity than the preliminary group and playoff matches.
– About 3,000 plus spectators are expected for the final. It is impossible to say how many viewers will come. And the organizer doesn’t know it either, even though it’s been told to them, says Liljelund.
Singapore players Amanda Yeap and Yun Shawn Yee say that they only saw some ads on social media as the start of the World Cup tournament approached. Yeap says he’s not disappointed with the crowd numbers because it’s important for the team to see friends and family in the stands.
The national association and the entire sports community are working hard to ensure that the popularity of floorball in Singapore grows, Yeap assures. He estimates that going to sports events is not very common in the country.
– We hope that the locals will get excited about the playoffs, but we are not so sure about that. Compared to football, other sporting events are not very popular. I don’t know the ticket prices, but they can be a bit expensive for locals, Yee states.
Positive effects at the level of desire
Urheilu’s floor bandy specialist Toni Lötjönen thanks General Secretary Liljelund for his frankness. Lötjönen emphasizes that all threats related to the Games have come true.
– The positive thing is that the situation was somehow reacted to, i.e. ticket prices are half price – it’s not quite everyday. But hardly any Europeans have gone to book flights, even though the tickets are on sale, he states.
Singapore has also applied for the 2024 Men’s World Cup. The international sports federation has stated that it first wants to see how the ongoing competitions will succeed.
– As Liljelund very honestly said, Asia is a bit as seen. The next men’s World Cup cannot be taken to Asia under any circumstances, because the sport base is in Europe.
Although the audience numbers have been disappointing, the IFF’s goal is to increase the sport’s popularity in Asia. Lötjönen estimates that the positive effects are currently at the desired level.
– These World Championships show that the local sports organizations are still quite in their infancy. Such World Games or Asian Games events are a different matter. If floorball gets to them, it’s worth being there. However, the World Cup itself is the showcase once a year, while the women’s and men’s competitions are held every other year. Floorball cannot miss this opportunity anymore.
“The tournament starts again”
Finland beat Poland in the quarterfinals with a clear score of 11–2 on Thursday. Hanna Niemelä hit three times and assisted one goal. It was also effective Veera Kauppiwhich hit powers 1+3.
In the match, the triple court was especially successful: Niemelä, Johanna Homi, Meri-Helmi Höynälä, Ulla Valtola and Mia Vallenius. Finland’s head coach Lasse Kurronen praised the triple field’s humility and hard work.
– They are the coach’s dream players. Very humble, listen to instructions carefully and accept role as role. You don’t see a lot of airwaves or other extras from them, but every time what is ordered comes, Kurronen said after the match.
Finland will face the winner of the Czech Republic–Latvia match in the semifinals. Expert Lötjönen states that the tournament is only starting now.
– The good and bad things can actually be erased. The tournament starts again with such a different game. That’s the match between heaven and hell. The final is the minimum performance for that team, the bronze medal match would be a disaster.
According to Lötjönen, the most important thing is how head coach Kurronen prepares the team for mental pressure.
– The Switzerland game in the opening group was not a pressure match in the same way. We succeeded in that game when the team was really good and liberated. The same is needed on Saturday.
Finland will face the winner of the Czech Republic-Latvia match in the floorball World Cup semi-finals on Saturday, December 9. Live broadcast of the semi-final match on TV2 and Areena from 10:45 a.m.