The World Freestyle Football Association has announced today the new format of qualifications for the official 2023 World Freestyle Football Championships: the Freestyle Football Pulse Series, a succession of highly competitive regional tournaments that will ensure all corners of the globe are covered and every single freestyler can compete for a spot in the World Final.
Following the announcement in October 2022 that the 2023 World Finals were to happen in Nairobi, Kenya, the WFFA has added today that 5 live regional events spread across the globe over the year will act as qualifiers and serve to identify who qualifies for the right to compete for the World Title.
After going fully online in 2020 to accommodate the global restrictions in travel and gatherings of people, and evolving into hybrid models in 2021 and 2022 where live and online qualifier stages were introduced, 2023 will see a fully live experience to best judge the talents in the sport of Freestyle Football. Also, for the first time, the qualifiers will be focused only on regional events, instead of National Qualifiers – a decision aimed at ensuring that every competition offers the highest quality and competitiveness to its participants.
The 2023 Freestyle Football Pulse Series will take place in Hiroshima (Japan), New York City (United States of America), Mombasa (Kenya), Riga (Latvia) and Córdoba (Argentina) between May and September 2023.
Freestylers will be able to choose whether they compete in a physical event or in the Online Pulse; those living in the Americas will also be able to decide whether they compete in the North (New York) or in the South (Córdoba). However, once a decision is made, there will be no second chance – no freestyler will be allowed to participate in two different Pulse Events in the same season.
The exact dates of the Pulse Events, plus all relevant information about each stop, will be released on the official WFFA social media channels as the competitions come close.
Once all events in the Pulse Series are over, the very best 16 men and 16 women from all corners of the world will be competing in November in Nairobi, Kenya for the World Championship title, which has previously been held by the likes of Sean Garnier (France), Lia Lewis (UK), Andrew Henderson (UK), Melody Donchet (France), Aguska Mnich (Poland) and Ricardinho Chahini (Brazil).
Steve Elias, President of the WFFA, said: “This new format is designed in response to popular demand from the athletes, as it aims to give all freestylers the best possible community experience and a fair, neutral stage for all to compete on”.
Daniel Wood, Head of Partnerships at the WFFA, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with some fantastic regional partners to make this historical series of events a reality. A huge thank you goes out to our friends at Homeboyz Entertainment, Events DC, Mudita Sports and Ghetto Games, amongst many more: it’s going to be a huge year for Freestyle Football!”.
Stay tuned to the official channels of the WFFA to follow the latest updates!
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