Happy New Year to all our Member Associations, Clubs, Players and Families.
We look forward to a prosperous 2023.
Our Member Nations have made some bold decisions at the recent Annual General Meeting.
There will be a ‘short’ 2023 season before we revert to a September-August season.
Other changes for the 23-24 season include amendments to how we classify Veterans and the ‘Under’ categories and allowing new systems for tournaments.
Growing our playing base is obviously a number one priority for 2023 and beyond.
This development of ‘grassroots’ is the responsibility of each national association and their clubs.
FISTF will do whatever it can to support our members, but it is at a local level that the growth must be achieved.
FISTF’s responsibilities are clearly outlined in our Statutes:
2.1 (FR) Promouvoir le Sport Football de Table (STF).
(EN) To promote Sports Table Football (STF).
2.2 (FR) Développer des relations amicales entre les officiels et les joueurs des Associations (MNA et MNAP) en favorisant l’organisation de matches de football de table dans chaque région.
(EN) To develop friendly relationships between officials and players of Associations (MNA and MNAP) by promoting the organisation of matches of sports table football in every region.
2.3 (FR) Gérer le Sport Football de Table en prenant toutes les mesures et décisions légales et réglementaires nécessaires pour la gestion sportive, administrative et financière du STF au niveau mondial.
(EN) To manage sports table football by taking all necessary statutory and regulatory measures and decisions for the sports, administrative and financial management of sports table football at the world level.
To that end, the FISTF Board and its various support commissions (Disciplinary, Rules, Editorial, Equipment) have worked to produce a range of documents to ensure competition can be conducted around the world.
In the coming days we will release an updated Equipment Guidelines, as well as the FISTF Handbook and FISTF Tournament Organisers Handbook.
Additionally, we are working towards creating an authoritative World Cup Handbook to cover all aspects of this important tournament.
Our new Sports Director, Chris Angelinas, will also work with the Rules Committee to replace members who have stepped down.
The Disciplinary Commission is now headed by our experienced colleague Frank Chetcuti Dimech after the retirement of Antonio Miguel Montaño García, whose outstanding leadership of the Commission was much appreciated. New members of the Commission are also being sought.
Together with our IT Administrator Roger Trouillard, we have worked to streamline much of the bureaucratic red tape when it comes to forms required to be submitted. Already we are making more use of Google Sheets to allow faster and more efficient information transfer. More forms will be moved to Google Sheets in the future.
We are now moving into the period where the World Cup 2024 Tunbridge Wells takes precedence, and the local organising committee will be making announcements soon.
On the local front, we rely on our national associations and their players. It is always the responsibility of the associations to fully represent their players, and for the players to take part in discussions how their association is run.
We wish everyone the best for all tournaments in which they play, to enjoy themselves and respect their opponents, referees and officials.
Gelukkige Nuwejaar; سنة سعيدة; Feliç any nou; šťastný nový rok; Gelukkig Nieuwjaar; سال نو مبارک; Bonne Année; Bliadhna mhath ur; Gutes Neues Jahr; Καλή χρονιά; שָׁנָה טוֹבָה; Boldog Új Évet; Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhuit; Buon anno; あけましておめでとうございます; 새해 복 많이 받으세요; Is Sena it -Tajba; 新年快乐; Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku; Feliz Ano Novo; С Новым Годом; Feliz Año Nuevo; blwyddyn newydd dda; Happy New Year.
The FISTF Board
