Our friend and producer of Tchaaa4 products, Daniel Scheen of Belgium, was recently invited by Belgian national TV to help produce some short video clips to promote the forthcoming UEFA European football Championships.
“Each clip is only three seconds, and they will be on TV between advertisements, or just before the news or weather forecasts,” Daniel said.
“All members of the Belgian ‘Red Devils’ national team were there, and had to flick.
“I was there to show them how to flick or to replace their hands in the clips.”

Daniel said all the players took part, and it was an amazing day, being able to meet the squad.
“For Eden Hazard, I had to shoot, and he had to stop it with the goalkeeper. It was quite hard because I had to make it so that the shot would reach the goal, but not score, so he could save!”
The videos will be launched soon on TV, before and during Euros.

Unfortunaly, due the COVID rules, Daniel was not allowed to do selfies with the players!
Of course, we asked Daniel what the players were like, playing table football.
“Not great!” he said.
“They have their talent in their feet, not their fingers!”

The producers asked that no images be published yet of the players “in action”, but as soon as they go public, we’ll showcase them.
In the meantime, we’ve included a few pictures Daniel was allowed to show.

The pandemic has decimated competitive play for our sport, but things are continuing in small pockets around the world.
Three official FISTF training centres have been approved in Italy — SS Lazio, Black Rose Roma and the amazing Subbuteoland — and one in Malta (Ħ’Attard Subbuteo Club), but they are not alone.
Our friends in Singapore have created the Imagio Sports Table Football Academy, located in Viva Vista, a small shopping mall in the southwest of Singapore.
The two main principals are two local Singapore players, Michael Choong and Nic Tan.

Nic and Michael, principals of the Imagio Academy. They have produced training videos

“Our main aim is to grow a community of active sports table football players who come and play regularly, and who enjoy themselves playing the game and improve over time,” said Nic.
“When that happens, we believe that there will be natural progression in other areas like participation in competitive play like FISTF tournaments.”
He said they treat the academy as a commercial venture as well.
“We have been fortunate to get the place at a good rental rate, but we do believe that financials can play a part in motivating the correct behaviour e.g. by incentivising regular play through membership. It also acts as an incentive for the principals to find ways to be creative in attracting people and not just to treat the place as a play venue which is always the temptation,” he said.
Michael said the mall is not a popular one as it is meant largely to serve the residents who live in the condominium above the mall.
“So we cannot rely on walk-ins for business. For now, we’re relying on more online promotion and smart partnerships. For example, we were invited to participate in a vintage fair organised by Journey East, a local furniture store recently. The table we brought provided a unique and nostalgic feel to the fair for our partners, and we used the opportunity to find new players and sell equipment.”
He said the academy is not too far from one of Singapore’s local universities, which is a possible future target.

“Given the COVID situation, and where travel-loving Singaporeans are unable to go overseas, more and more people are looking for unique activities to do for themselves and their family (especially children), so we’re going to look for ways to tap on that,” Michael said.
“Naturally, just like many clubs around the world, we are open to anyone: males, females, young, old, parents and children, friends.”
Nic and Michael confirmed that this was a “private venture”.
“We do not have any affiliation or support from the national association, the Table Football Association of Singapore (“TFAS”), or any of the local clubs. That said, given the small community here in Singapore, naturally, we do have positive interactions with them,” Nic said.
“For example, people who approach the Association to buy equipment get referred to us sometimes as we do sell equipment. Similarly, if participants at our Academy are interested in competitive play, we do tell them about our national competitions (i.e. FISTF tournaments) organised by TFAS.”
Michael also supplies equipment to the Academy, both beginner sets as well as advanced equipment through his role as a distributor for Astrobase products.
“We do just about everything, finding and meeting new players, conducting lessons, maintaining our Facebook and Instagram pages. Competitively, we both play for the Subbuteo Club Dragons Hong Kong with our friends, the Carabillos, who are based in Hong Kong,” said Nic.

Nic (second from right) a member of the victorious Singapore national team at the 2019 Asian Cup

You can find the Academy on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Imagio.Sports.Table.Football.Academy
On Instagram at: Imagio.STF.Academy

Imagio Academy Singapore

As a result of the postponement of all sports competition in Malta by government and health authorities due to COVID-19, the FISTF Satellite in Bormla was cancelled this weekend.
We thank our friends at Bormla Subbuteo Club and their Secretary Josef Camilleri for their efforts.

The English Subbuteo Association recently elected a new Chairman, Justin Finch, who has a great pedigree as both a player and association official.
After his election, he issued the following statement, which we reproduce here. 
FISTF wishes Justin and the whole ESA Committee the best for the future.

Justin Finch, World Cup 2018 Gibraltar

ESA Chairman Statement from 
Dear Members,
On Sunday 21st February. I was delighted to accept the role of ESA Chairman at the annual general meeting which was held at 7pm on Zoom and attended by the current ESA Board and paid members.
Some you will be aware that the role of ESA Chairman is a challenging task and I would like to go on record to mention that I have the utmost respect for the development work of the previous Chairman David Pawsey and existing board members; Brian Daley, Alan Lee, Tim Bowen and Martin Hodds.
My new role as ESA Chairman provides us with an opportunity to drive a new strategic vision to support the future of our game which I believe will help formulate greater collaboration across all formats of Subbuteo table football.
Over the past few weeks, I have been preparing a strategic plan and creating the foundations for successful new approach to how we structure the association. and with the support of all board members, I believe we can achieve some exciting new development for the game throughout the UK.
For far too long there has been unnecessary divides within our game and this is something I want to change for the greater good. More importantly we want to combine our strategic plan by listening to our members and acting on some of their ideas to help support this new strategy.
For greater transparency, I have put together a 10 point strategic plan to support the development of the ESA which include:

• ESA Board Appointments
• Communication
• Rebrand / Website Development
• Editorial
• PR / Marketing
• Sponsorship
• New Membership
• England Squad / Home Internationals
• Game Format Collaboration (Collectors, Old Subbuteo, WASPA, FISTF)
• Video Promotions / Interviews

My first phase of this process above will be to appoint new board members (see below), so we can create stronger support network. 
Just on a final note, I would like to once again send my sincere thanks to David Pawsey for his role as the previous chairman and I look forward to representing our members and the growth of our fantastic game.
Keep on Flicking!
Justin Finch
ESA Chairman

Following Justin’s election, the ESA announced the new Board for the English Subbuteo Association (ESA).

Chairman- Justin Finch
Vice Chairman and National Organiser- Alan Lee
General Secretary- Brian Daley
Treasurer- Tim Bowen
Tournament Director- Martin Hodds
Marketing Director- Danny Lilley
Communications Director- Bob Varney
Head or Team England- Darren Clark
The expansion of the board signals a new era for the ESA and its commitment to supporting the growth and development of Subbuteo in England.

In line with the decisions of the FISTF Congress 2020, we are seeking people who would like to work on the FISTF Homologation Committee.
If you have some technical expertise and experience in design, and an understanding of our sport and equipment needs, we’d like to hear from you.
Please contact your National Association to have your candidature put forward to the FISTF Board.

This group will not only work on the equipment regulations, but also on assisting event organisers and manufacturers in complying with the regulations.
For example, as an event organiser, how do I know what equipment is legal or not?
We need to have a proper approach to this for all manufacturers, organisers and players.

The scope of works will be:
> Re-examine the existing definitions of equipment to ensure clarity across all parts (figures, bases, goals, pitches, goalkeepers, balls).
> Provide a means for all Tournament Organisers, MNAs and players to access relevant information about homologated equipment.
> Work with equipment manufacturers to provide a proper means of identifying their products as being homologated.
> Work with the Marketing Director to define any fees, rights, obligations of manufacturers and FISTF in any arrangements.

Members of the group do not necessarily need to be registered players, but can be recommended by an MNA.

Applications should contain a brief outline of what expertise they feel they can bring to such a group.
Please liaise with your national association.

Please note that nomination to the committee is not a guarantee of automatic selection, which remains the responsibility of the FISTF Board.