General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20264 min read

Floorball

Floorball is an indoor team sport played with plastic sticks and a light plastic ball, in which each team fields five players and a stickless goalkeeper on a rink enclosed by boards. It developed in Sweden in the 1970s and is governed worldwide by the International Floorball Federation (IFF), founded on 12 April 1986 in Huskvarna, Sweden, by the floorball associations of Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Governing body	International Floorball Federation (IFF), founded 12 April 1986 in Huskvarna, Sweden, by Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland¹
Playing format	Five field players and a goalkeeper per team on court; the goalkeeper plays without a stick; 3v3 and 4v4 variants exist on modified courts²
Rink and game time	40 m by 20 m enclosed rink; three 20-minute periods with two 10-minute intermissions³
Scale	Played in over 80 countries by more than a million people⁴
International status	The IFF is recognised by the IOC and floorball is a medal sport on The World Games program²^•⁸
First men's World Championship	1996 in Sweden; the final sold out with 15,106 spectators at the Stockholm Globe Arena¹
Offside	There is no offside rule⁵

Origins

Some roots of the sport reach back to 1958, when a plastics industry in Minneapolis, USA, introduced plastic sticks under the name Cosom, and Cosom floor hockey was played in the USA and Canada.¹ The first Cosom plastic stick was introduced in Sweden in 1968, after which many versions of games with balls and pucks were played there.⁶ In the 1970s the floorball sport played today was developed in Sweden, drawing on the Cosom material with influence from basketball and ice hockey.¹^•⁶ The first official floorball club, Sala IBK, was founded in Sweden in 1979.⁴

Growth of the IFF

The IFF was created as an umbrella organization to organize international competitions for national and club teams for both men and women.⁷ Denmark and Norway joined in 1991, and the first official IFF Congress was held in Zurich in 1992.¹ The first European Cup was played in 1993, for women in Helsinki and for men in Stockholm.¹

The first World Championships for Men was played in Sweden in 1996, with the final selling out at 15,106 spectators in the Stockholm Globe Arena.¹ The first World Championships for Women followed in 1997 in Åland, Finland.¹ The IFF gained provisional membership of GAISF in 2000, received provisional IOC recognition in December 2008, and full IOC recognition on 8 July 2011.¹ Floorball was an official sport at The World Games in Wrocław, Poland, in 2017 and again in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2022.¹

The federation's presidency has passed through four holders: András Czitrom of Sweden (1986 to 1992), Pekka Mukkala of Finland (1992 to 1996), Tomas Eriksson of Sweden (1996 to 2024), and Filip Suman of Czechia from 2024.¹

The game

Floorball is traditionally played indoors with sticks that have a carbon fiber shaft and plastic blade. In the original version each team has five field players and a goalkeeper on the court, with the goalkeeper playing without a stick; other formats are played 3v3 and 4v4 on modified court sizes, with or without a goalkeeper, and many of these modified versions are played outdoors.² The IFF sets the rink at 40 m by 20 m, enclosed by boards with rounded corners, and regular game time is three 20-minute periods with two 10-minute intermissions.³ Contact is restricted: forcing or pushing an opponent is allowed only shoulder to shoulder, and a field player may not play the ball above knee level with stick, foot, or lower leg.³ Minor infractions give a free hit, while more serious offenses bring penalties of two, five, or ten minutes, or expulsion for the rest of the game.³

The absence of an offside rule contributes to the game's speed; one IFF publication describes floorball as one of the fastest ball games in the world.⁵ The sport has historically become popular in countries where ice hockey is played, such as Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic.⁶

Reach and recognition

By its fortieth anniversary in 2026, the IFF counted floorball as played in over 80 countries worldwide by more than a million people, with participation in multi-sport events such as the South-East Asian Games and The World Games.⁴ The IFF is recognised by the IOC, an ordinary member of GAISF, and cooperates with FISU.²^•⁸ The IFF vision statement describes floorball as the most inclusive team sport, played with over a million registered players on all continents.²

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Hockey and remaining team sports › Floorball

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026

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