The city of Pori, Finland, will be the host city of FIB senior World Championships 2026. FIB Executive Committee decided to allocate the upcoming World Championships for Men A and Women to the Finnish Bandy Federation and Pori (Björneborg in Swedish). The tournaments will be held during the week 3 in 2026. That week includes 12-18 January 2026.
Henrik Nilsson.
Henrik Nilsson, FIB President:
-We are delighted to announce that the 2026 FIB World Championships will be hosted in Pori, Finland. The city of Pori and the local bandy community has shown tremendous enthusiasm and we are confident that it will provide an outstanding stage for the world’s best bandy athletes. This decision reflects both the city’s commitment to growing winter sports and Finland’s proud tradition in bandy.
Finland hosted the FIB Men’s World Championships last time in 2001 in Oulu and Tornio, and organised both the very first FIB Women’s World Championships in 2004 and also the women’s championship 2014 in Lappeenranta.
Antti Parviainen, Chair of the Finnish Bandy Association, is of course excited about the decision:
Antti Parviainen.
-This is a major victory for Finnish bandy tradition – the World Championships are returning to Finland after 25 years. A tremendous amount of work has gone into this bid, and we owe a big thank you to the City of Pori and bandy club Narukerä for their early and enthusiastic support. Now that the decision is official, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Personally, I hope to see strong backing from the business community and the entire bandy and sports family for this historic event.
The time for these tournaments are set in January due to the fact that they will be played outdoors. That also gives a limit to the number of participating national teams. FIB is therefore also working to ensure a World Championship Group B for those teams that can not participate in Pori. More information will be published as soon as possible after decisions.
OTHER IMPORTANT TOPICS FROM FIB EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE THIS WEEK!
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FIB EC reviewed and evaluated the working Committees and their performance in order to ensure their active and effective operation. The FIB Member Associations will be involved soon regarding their opportunity to make suggestions.
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The Chairman of FIB Rules and Referees Committee, Egil Larsen, Norway, has asked to resign from his position as chairman. EC accepted the resignation and expressed its gratitude for his contribution.
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FIB EC also approved the proposal from the Technical Committee for all the 2025/2026 tournaments. Information about all World Championship and World Cup Club team tournaments will be published very soon.
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Of particular note is that the United States has expressed a desire to host the World Championship for Women in 2027. FIB will start a dialogue with American Bandy Association to evaluate the possibilities for that to come true in the season 2026-2027. The interest from the USA is fully in line with the ambition that more countries than usual will be interested in hosting FIB international tournaments.
FIB has a lot of work ongoing in all parts of its operations. Especially at the beginning of the planning process for new seasons, a lot of decisions are to be taken. FIB’s transparency is particularly important and that is why continued publication of decisions takes place as soon as possible after it’s approval. We know that openness is appreciated and therefore it is an important ambition for FIB.
Sweden-Finalnd in men’s final 2025.