Dear Federation Members,
Dear Partners,
Dear Friends,
 
 
I hope this letter finds you well and in good health during these ever-changing times.
The global spread of the virus made us all face lots of challenges and many of us have had to cancel or postpone important events.
What I retain from this period is the way our community worked together to contain the virus and to remain connected. In spite of all adaptations we witnessed, no one can precisely predict the duration of this crisis, needless to say we all share the uncertainty of the future.
 
As international travels are still not possible in some areas in the world, besides strongly discouraged even when possible, the ITSF is not able to guarantee the equality of opportunities for the players to take part to international tournaments. The temporary suspension of the ITSF Tour since March 15th and the cancellation of all 2020 World Series, added to the inability to foresee the developments of the crisis for the coming months, makes it difficult to ensure an acceptable balance of tournaments to maintain the ITSF ranking in a fair way.
For all these reasons and despite its sincere will to maintain the competitions, the ITSF made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 ITSF Tour and Ranking.
 
This decision involves the followings:
- There will be no further official ITSF tournaments in 2020.
- There will be no rankings for the 2020 Season.
- ITSF Tournaments played from January to March 15th in 2020 will be added to ITSF Ranking 2021, with no restrictions to the normal running of a season.
- There will be no change for the World Championships qualifications based on 2019 rankings and 2019 tournaments as provided for by ITSF Rules.
- World Championships qualifications through 2020 ranking will be substituted by additional spots granted to National Federation under certain conditions.
 
The ITSF is working on solutions to substitute these spots originally provided by 2020 ranking.
The next decisions about 2021 ITSF season will be taken at the end of the year, depending on the future developments of the pandemic.
 
No doubt that the coronavirus pandemic, that shut down table soccer activities worldwide, has strongly affected teams and clubs. We fully understand that many of you are eager to be back at the tables. However we continue to insist that everyone shall remain cautious. If your local government authorises table soccer activities to resume in your country, make sure to strictly observe their covid-19 guidelines in force.
You will find below examples of initiatives from various countries that might inspire you. In all cases, your decision shall not interfere with local regulations. 
- France: click here
- Italy: click here
- Austria: click here
 
For the past few months, our familiar world has experienced dramatic shifts. However we are confident that you will all continue to put human well-being at the forefront and that international and national competitions will resume soon.
 
Yours Sincerely,
 
Farid LOUNAS
President
 

Dear Federation Members, Dear Partners,
In keeping with the current sport policy caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to provide equal treatment for the players everywhere in the world, the ITSF and the DTFB have decided to cancel the ITSF World Series by Leonhart, originally planned from September 17th to 20th.
This global crisis has severely affected the ITSF 2020 sport season. The ITSF Commissions are now fully dedicated to consider various scenarios in order to elaborate relevant solutions for the World Ranking and for the next ITSF World Cup qualifier. The decisions taken about those matters will be announced in July, to be applicable from August 31th.
 
We would like to renew our warning to the players, the national federations and the tournament organisers, to continue in exercising a high degree of prudence in their activities with respect for the national sanitary requirements. The virus is still extremely virulent in many areas of the world and it is the responsibility of everyone to show solidarity with the people affected by the pandemic.
 
Best regards,
 
Farid LOUNAS
President of the ITSF
 

Dear Federation Members,
Dear Partners,
Dear Friends,
 
Given the extraordinary situation caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic and in order to provide equal treatment for the players everywhere in the world, the ITSF Executive Committee has taken the decision to extend the suspension of the ITSF Tour until the 31th of August. The ITSF Executive Committee reserves the right to extend the suspension after the end of August according to the world’s sanitary developments.
 
If the local regulations allows it, the ITSF will not prevent federations to run their tournaments at a local stage, but those tournaments will not be part of the ITSF World Tour and thus will not be taken into account for the ITSF ranking and qualifying processes. However, for the common good health of all players and organisers, we highly recommend to avoid sport gathering.
 
The ITSF is currently discussing their particular situation with Federations Members, in order to reach appropriate adjustments of the sporting processes for the coming months. The utmost care will be observed regarding conditions of participation in international tournaments for all players, for purposes of ensuring a fair ranking. However, if this proves impossible before the end of the season, the ITSF will draw the necessary consequences.
 
We wish to encourage all players, federations and clubs to acknowledge the unique circumstances that we are all going through now and to continue with the efforts to preserve the good health of all.
 
Farid Lounas,
President of the ITSF

Dear Players,
 
As everyone knows, the world is going through a serious crisis and it comes as no surprise that Table Soccer’s global organisation is also affected.
Solutions have been examined but despite everyone's best intentions, it has been concluded that the 2020 World Series by Bonzini would not be postponed but cancelled, World Series by Garlando is also cancelled for same reasons.
As many worlds’ areas, the north of Italy is particularly affected by the covid-19 pandemic. It will take a long time to recover psychologically and financially. For those reasons, the Italian Federation (FPICB) is going to cancel the 2020 World Series by Roberto Sport.
This decision leads to the cancellation of the ITSF European Champions League, that was planned to be held in Italy. The cancellation is also due to the fact that many countries won’t be able to reach the team qualification requirements for this competition. 
A decision regarding 2020 ITSF World Series by Leonhart will be made in a few weeks.
 
At the present time, the ITSF is carefully analysing possible scenarios to adjust sporting processes. Depending on how long the situation continues and how many tournament are finally cancelled, decisions may affect 2020 World Ranking and World Championships qualifications.  We are working on all scenarios to protect players, federations, organisers and partners.  We will aim to make adjustments depending on the situation on each continent.
 
However, those particular circumstances shall not prevent us to continue the development of our sport and to pursue our goals.
The Global Association of International Sport Federations (GAISF) has taken a further step to support Observer Members in their journey toward IOC recognition by issuing an official letter, which encourages National Olympic Committees and National Sport Authorities to work closer with Table Soccer National Federations.
In order to further our goal toward sport recognition, we will need to improve the fieldwork, bringing appropriate tools for national federations to improve the level of professionalism in our sport.
Let us seize this opportunity to focus on local to continental foosball development and work to launch the “ITSF World Foosball Centres”. These centres are meant as a relay of the ITSF on each continent. Set up and managed in cooperation between National Federations, the centres will pool expertise, experience and resources. They will be dedicated to developing new projects as well as to organise training sessions, meetings and camps about various subjects from technical to managerial skills. To ensure their excellence, the ITSF World Centres will receive specific support from the ITSF, delivered case by case according to their needs and foosball development project.
In the coming weeks, ITSF representatives will contact presidents of National Federations to get into the details of this program and to take stock of each particular situation.
 
We are grateful to our National Federations and to the fooser community for your understanding and swift collaboration during those difficult times.
 
Farid Lounas
ITSF President

#ITSFProTour2020
New tournaments accepted:

Pro Tour - Crazy Pro Tour 2020 will be held in Bulgaria, Sofia July 3rd to 5th on Leonhart Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

 

Pro Tour - Storm Riders Pro Tour 2020 will be held in Bulgaria, Sofia September 4th to 6th on Leonhart Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

All ITSF tournaments initially scheduled in May have been postponed or cancelled.
Information regarding tournaments scheduled in June will be shared as soon as possible.
 
Tournaments POSTPONED:
- Pro Tour Gauchy 2020, France
- Pro Tour 1. Aktivpark Open 2020, Austria
- World Series by Bonzini 2020, France
- Master Series Foos Rumble at the Falls 2020, USA
- Master Series FTSI National Championship 2020, India
- Pro Tour Open LICB 2020, Italia
 
Tournaments CANCELLED:
- Master Series Saint-Petersburg Open Masters 2020, Russia
- Master Series Texas State Championships 2020, USA
 
The ITSF World Tour calendar is updated with the latest information. Refer to it regularly.

The impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on Table Soccer's World 
This message is available in:
Arabic عربي  -  Chinese 中国人  -  English -  Español - Français - Deutsch - Italiano - Persian فارسی 
 
Dear Federations Members, Dear Partners, Dear Players,
First of all, and most importantly, I hope that this message finds you and your families in good health and safe in these most difficult of times.
In the light of this unprecedented situation, where virtually all of our National Member Federations have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, I urge you to continue preserving your health by all means and to follow the instructions of your public authorities.
Covid-19 has resulted in major disruption to the Table Soccer calendar and undoubtedly has impact on all of us. Be assured that the ITSF will consider each specific situation. Feel free to contact us directly at info@tablesoccer.org, our team will do its best to listen and help case by case.
Many of the March and April competitions have been cancelled. Other are still to be completed and that remains our aim, but this will happen only if the conditions allow for it. We want to avoid taking decisions too quickly and we will not require our players to take any risks for their health. The ITSF will be in touch with each tournament organiser and will estimate in real time the impacts for the 2020 sport season.
It is my fervent hope that the World’s situation improves fast. In any case, it will remain crucial to limit international movements for the rest of the year.  We will do our best to maintain a reasonable calendar for the players, but the end of the season might be very dense.
At the same time, we would like to bring you as much stability as possible, by not letting you in a state of uncertainty. This is why, and for the reasons mentioned above, we announce that the World Masters and the ICC are definitively cancelled for this year. Intercontinental travels and competition are not appropriate to the worlds’ sanitary situation.
If it becomes possible to maintain the European Champions League, the competition shall be associated with another major tournament, as a World Series, in order to spare the participants’ efforts in a busy period.
The next major tournament - World Series by Bonzini – initially planned in May will not take place at that time. In order to avoid cancelling the event, the ITSF and the organiser are currently trying to look for a possible date to postpone it, in accordance with nationals and international calendars. We thank you for your understanding, your patience and your cooperation so far.
In this rapidly changing landscape, the situation is evolving differently from one region of the world to another. We are currently, and will remain, available by email, phone or video-call for players, federation, event organiser, manufacturer and every single actor of the Table Soccer World, to bring them support facing those difficult times.
No doubt that the Foos-community will emerge stronger from that crisis and that the busy beehive of Table Soccer competitions will resume soon. In the meantime, keep yourselves and your relatives safe.
Yours Sincerely,                                                              
Farid Lounas
President of the ITSF

Tournaments updates
All ITSF tournaments initially planned in April have been cancelled or postponed.
Last updates:
Cancelled:
- Master Series - 22nd Czech Championships 2020 (Czech Republic)
- Master Series - Saint-Petersburg Open Masters 2020 (Russia)
 
Postponed:
- Pro Tour - Copenhagen Open 2020 (Denmark)
- Pro Tour - Romanian Bonzini Championships 2020 (Romania)
 
For more tournaments details, take a look at the ITSF World Tour calendar: www.tablesoccer.org/tournaments

As everyone knows, the current situation is disrupting the usual competition calendar and will have consequences on the sporting processes. Countries that had planned to organise major ITSF events are undergoing different situations that put tournaments organizers in a precarious position.
As those subjects are a low priority compared to the sanitary situation and individuals' health, ITSF is still in discussion with organizing federation to confirm or not the holding and the qualification process of the European Champions League, the World Masters and the ICC.
 
The ITSF, in collaboration with the federations, will inform the players about the status of announced tournaments, at least :
- 30 days before a Pro Tour, a Master Series or an International Series
- 45 days before a World Series (which means soon regarding ITSF World Series by Bonzini)
 
Here are the list of the major changes until now - keep an eye on the ITSF World Tour calendar which is constantly updated: www.tablesoccer.org/tournaments
❗ POSTPONED:
- Czech LEONHART Championship 2020. New date: 12-14 June
- Simmental Open 2020. New date: 15 - 16 August
- FUS Slovak Masters 2019/20. New date to be defined
- Q8foosball ITSF Tour 2020. New date to be defined
- Foosball Shenanigans 2020. New date to be defined
- New York State Junior Foosball Championships 2020. New date to be defined
- Abu Dhabi Masters 2020. New date to be defined
- Illinois State Championships 2020. New date to be defined
 
❌ CANCELLED:
- Hall of Fame Classic 2020
- ITSF Pro Tour Hannover 2020
- Seoul Open 2020
 
All our thoughts and support goes to the affected populations, the federations, the fooser and their families, hoping that this unprecedented situation will not last too long.
 

Covid19 is a global threat and must not be underestimated. 
To the countries which are not affected by the containment measures and which continue their foosball activities, the ITSF would like to address specific advises. Those are a complement to governmental and health recommendations and shall not substitute them. Covid19 is a global threat and must not be underestimated. 
Foosball events carry risk of spreading infections due to the close proximity of opposing players for airborne transmission, and touching surfaces, including handles and balls, which may previously have been touched by infected persons.

Accordingly we would advise ALL players:
- Do not attend any public events, including regular playing sessions or club nights, if you are feeling unwell or if you have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for coronavirus within the past two weeks.
- Do not shake hands with opponents.
- Use disinfectant wipes on all handles and balls before and after use.
- Often wash your hands and avoid touching your face

 

Given the particular situation generated by the coronavirus epidemic, the ITSF recommends tournament organisers to pay attention to the governmental legislation in effect in their countries regarding sporting events and gathering of people.
The ITSF will not substitute nor contradict the countries' regulations.
In case of postponement, new dates and locations will be announced progressively on Facebook and on the ITSF website.
 

The Czech Foosball Association informs all players that their tournament Czech LEONHART Championship 2020, initially planned on March 27th - 29th, has been postponed on June 12th - 14th in Prague.
Please check the Tournament Page for Details here
We apologize for the inconvenience.

#ITSFProTour2020
New tournament accepted:
Pro Tour - Copa Argentina 2020 will be held in Argentina, Bernal December 4th to 6th on El Cotorro Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

#ITSFMasterSeries2020
New tournament accepted:
Master Series - Abu Dhabi Masters 2020 will be held in UAE, Abu Dhabi April 10th to 11th on Tornado Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

The Slovakia Federation informs all players that their tournament FUS Slovak Masters 2019/20, initially planned on March 13th - 15th, has been postponed. The New Date will be published as soon as possible. Take a look at the Tournament Page for Details here
We apologize for the inconvenience.

#ITSFMasterSeries2020
#ITSFProTour2020
This week-end, 2 Countries around the World are hosting a Tournament !
 
◾In Slovakia, Bratislava
March 13th - 15th: FUS Slovak Masters 2019/20
Further info here
Table: Rosengart
 
◾In Bolivia, Cochabamba
March 14th - 15th: ProTour Sudamericano - Bolivia 2020
Further info here
Table: Multi Table

The Switzerland Federation informs all players that their tournament Simmental Open 2020, initially planned on April 4th - 5th, has been postponed on August 15th - 16th in Simmental. Take a look at the Tournament Page for Details here
We apologize for the inconvenience.

Due to some Issues with the Venue, the organiser is forced to cancel the ITSF Pro Tour Hannover 2020

It was supposed to take place in Hannover, Germany on April 4th - 5th with Leonhart Tables.
The tournament page has been deleted from the ITSF website.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

#ITSFProTour2020
New tournaments accepted:

Pro Tour - Pro Tour Open LICB 2020 will be held in Italy, Leini May 29th to 30th on Roberto Sport Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

 

Pro Tour - Vostrov Open Air 2020 will be held in Czech Republic, Mnichovo Hradiste July 24th to 26th on Rosengart Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

#ITSFMasterSeries2020
#ITSFProTour2020
New tournaments accepted:

Pro Tour - Copenhagen Open 2020 will be held in Denmark, Copenhagen April 23rd to 25th on Bonzini Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

 

Pro Tour - Jago InterCup VI 2020 will be held in Bulgaria, Sofia June 5th to 7th on Multi Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there

 

Master Series - Sofia Grand Masters XIII 2020 will be held in Bulgaria, Sofia October 2nd to 4th on Multi Tables - Further information on that tournament are displayed there