The IFF has confirmed the qualifiers for the Men’s Under-19 World Floorball Championships ©IFF

International Floorball Federation (IFF) has confirmed the participants for the Men’s Under-19 World Floorball Championships, after the governing body were forced to cancel remaining qualification events due to coronavirus.

The IFF said the cancellations followed months of discussions with the organisers and participating teams, including several postponements.

"It is very disappointing that the COVID-19 situation continues to prevent us from holding international events," said Sarah Mitchell, IFF event manager.

"For the IFF Member Associations, the logistics of international travel at this time, especially with junior players, is too great, and the focus for most countries is on re-establishing their national competitions, which the IFF fully supports."

The IFF said Italy and Poland, the organisers of the European qualifiers, worked hard to safely proceed with their events but doubts over participation of teams impacted the events.

Five teams said they definitely could not participate, while all others were hesitant amid long-term restrictions on floorball activities within their own countries, safety during the event, or possible quarantine and testing requirements.

In the Americas, the lack of possibility to safely and easily travel between United States and Canada meant there was no realistic possibility of their qualifier going ahead.

The Asia Oceania Floorball Confederation (AOFC) group event had already been cancelled due to travel and quarantine restrictions within the region.

The IFF Central Board had earlier ruled where qualification events cannot be held, the qualifying teams will be determined based on current rankings.

The final three qualifiers were called off due to coronavirus concerns ©IFF
The final three qualifiers were called off due to coronavirus concerns ©IFF

Australia, Japan and New Zealand have been confirmed as the final AOFC qualifiers, while Canada has secured the Americas spot.

Poland, Russia and Slovenia secured the final European qualification spots.

The IFF confirmed tournament top seeds and hosts Czech Republic will compete in Group A of the tournament, alongside Finland, Latvia and Slovakia.

Sweden are joined by Switzerland, Denmark and Germany in Group B.

Group C includes Slovenia, Russia, Canada and New Zealand, with Norway, Poland, Japan and Australia featuring in Group D.

Teams in Groups A and B will compete to win the Under-19 World Championships, with Groups C and D offering opportunities for the lower ranked sides.

Competition in Brno is scheduled for between April 28 and May 2 at the Městské haly Vodova venue.