The Federation of International Bandy -FIB- has defined the international tournaments for the 2026-2027 season following a proposal by its Competition Committee and approval by the Executive Committee. The programme maintains much of the structure of last season, with youth national team and club categories taking a central role, although it introduces a significant exception in the senior calendar.
The men’s and women’s Senior Group A World Championships will not be played this season. The FIB has explained that Finland, Norway and Sweden have decided not to participate for financial reasons, making it impossible to organise those tournaments. Instead, the possibility of staging senior friendly matches or tournaments in Norway or Sweden is being studied, with a proposal still pending approval by the international federation.
Uppsala keeps the youth World Championships
The youth World Championship National Teams events for women under-17, men under-17 and men under-19 will again be played indoors in Uppsala. The Swedish Bandy Federation will be the host federation and Uppsala BoIS will handle local organisation for an event scheduled for week 13 of 2027, between 29 March and 4 April, probably over four days including the weekend.
The FIB gave a positive assessment of the format used last season, when matches from the three age groups were alternated over four days. Finland, Norway and Sweden took part in all age categories, and players also acted as spectators when they were not competing, supporting other teams from the stands. Sweden won gold in all three tournaments in the last edition.
The club World Cups are concentrated in Sweden
In the club calendar, the World Cup Club Teams Youth Men 16 will be the first tournament of the new season and will remain in Katrineholm from 30 October to 1 November. The competition moved there last season from Bollnäs, after many years in that venue, and will again have the Swedish Bandy Federation as host and Katrineholm Bandy as local organiser. IFK Vänersborg were champions in the last edition.
The World Cup Club Teams Youth Women 17 will also have a Swedish host, although the venue has not yet been decided after last season’s tournament was played in Mölndal and Gothenburg, with Västerås SK as champions. In the men’s categories, the Youth Men 17 and Men 19 tournaments will remain at the Gubbängen Indoor Arena, in Stockholm, in the days after New Year: Men 19 will be played from 2 to 4 January and Men 17 from 4 to 6 January. Vetlanda BK won Men 19 last season and Villa Lidköping BK won Men 17.
A senior pause that opens a future review
The absence of the Senior Group A World Championships comes after a particularly relevant 2025-2026 season for international bandy, with those tournaments played outdoors in Pori, in Finland. The FIB will now study the possibility of organising friendly competitions for men and women, probably with three or four national teams, although dates, venues and format will be announced once the proposal has been finalised.
The international federation will also create a working group to analyse the future of its tournaments from the 2027-2028 season onwards. The group will bring together experience, technical knowledge and representation from several national federations to study the frequency, venues, dates, format and use of indoor or outdoor arenas in the World Championships and club World Cups. The 2026-2027 calendar therefore maintains the youth and club base while the FIB opens a broader review of the competitive model for international bandy.
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