The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) are delighted to announce that the successful bid to host the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Championships 2018 has been awarded to the town of Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy.

The Championships will welcome teams to the north-eastern Italian town from the 24 September to 1 October 2018.

The IWAS Executive Board were pleased to accept the final recommendation from the IWAS Powerchair Hockey Executive Committee following the successful second site visit to the proposed venues of the Italian bid. 

The site visits, conducted by members of the Executive Committee, focused on a sport specific suitability criteria for both accommodation and sport facilities. Teams will stay and play at the same venues seen at the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Championships in 2010, allowing the LOC to further improve the services provided at the previous competition. The 200m distance between the accommodation and competition venue were also a key deciding factor in the final award of the bid.

IWAS Powerchair Hockey Vice-Chairman,  Niels ten Hagen said, "The final decision between the two final bids was not an easy one to make, but it was the Italian accommodation and transportation that gave their bid the upper hand. Italy has facilitated fantastic development of Powerchair Hockey over the last two decades and we greatly look forward to bringing the World Championships back to Lignano Sabbiadoro."

The Executive Committee praised the ‘strong LOC with a good mix of knowledge and experience’ that has been working through the bid process.

IWAS looks forward to working with the LOC and the Sport Executive Committee ahead of the Championships. Good luck to all the teams on their preparations!

For regular updates in the lead-up to the Championships, please visit the IWAS Powerchair Hockey website and Facebook.