Somalia national bandy team represents

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

in the

Bandy World Championship The Bandy World Championship is a competition between bandy-playing nations' men's teams. The tournament is administrated by the Federation of International Bandy. It is distinct from the Bandy World Cup, a club competition, and from the W ...

. It is controlled by the

Somali National Bandy Association Somali National Bandy Association is the governing body for the sports of bandy and rink bandy for Somalia. The organization was founded in 2013 and is formally a part of the Somali Olympic Committee. The same year, the Somalia national bandy team ...

, which is a member of the

Federation of International Bandy The Federation of International Bandy (FIB; french: Fédération internationale de bandy, russian: Международная федерация хоккея с мячом, sv, Internationella Bandyförbundet) is the international governing bo ...

. The squad participated in the

2014 Bandy World Championship The 2014 Bandy World Championship was held between 26 January and 2 February 2014, in Irkutsk and Shelekhov, Russia. 17 nations participated in the tournament, playing in two divisions partitioned into two subdivisions. A team representing Somalia ...

in Irkutsk,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, the first team from Africa to take part in bandy competitions. They participated in all following tournaments as well, consistently taking the last position.

Background

All selected players, except an ice hockey player living in Canada, are Somali nationals who live in the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

town of Borlänge and play for the local club Borlänge Bandy (Borlänge-Stora Tuna BK, later renamed Peace & Love City). The team is coached by former Swedish international Per Fosshaug. Somalia national bandy team is financed by the municipality of Borlänge and

Somali Olympic Committee The Somali Olympic Committee ( so, Guddiga Olimbikada Soomaaliyeed) is the National Olympic Committee representing Somalia. Logo Image:SomaliOlympicCommittee.jpg, Former logo See also * Somalia at the Olympics References External linksSoma ...

. The project was launched in May 2013 and the team planned already by then to participate in at least two World Championship tournaments. This has been reported in media from around the world. In the

, the Somalia squad played in the Group D of Division B with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Japan,

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The tournament was played between 26 January and 2 February. In the first game, they lost to Germany 1–22, and consequently scored their first WCS goal. They subsequently lost all other games, scoring one more goal against Mongolia, and then one more in play-offs against Ukraine. In 2016 and 2017, Somalia has also played friendlies against an unofficial Afghanistan national bandy team. The Afghan team is created by Afghan ex-pats in Karlstad, Sweden, but is not sanctioned by the sports governing bodies in Afghanistan, so it is not allowed to take part in the World Championship.

Team 2014 squad

Somali squad at the 2014 World Championship in Irkutsk,

, 26 January – 2 February 2014.

References

External links

China - Somalia game of 3 Feb 2015 at Youtube
from the

2015 Bandy World Championship Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

(the game starts about 5:10 in)
Somalia - the Netherlands game of 1 Feb 2015 at Youtube
from the

(the game starts about 4:55 in) {{National bandy teams National bandy teams Bandy Bandy in Somalia