It is played indoors with 96–115.5 cm-long (37.8–45.5 in) sticks and a 70–72 mm-diameter (2.76–2.83 in) hollow plastic ball with holes.

While the IFF contains 80 members, floorball is most popular where it has been developed the longest, such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The game of floorball is also known by many other names, such as saalihoki (in Estonia), salibandy (in Finland), innebandy (in Sweden and Norway), unihockey (in Switzerland and Ireland), unihokej (in Poland), and grindų riedulys (in Lithuania).

In Sweden, voices have been raised to get rid of the word innebandy as name of the sport, to avoid confusions with bandy.

The basic design of floorball sticks is believed to have come from the ice skating team sport of bandy.

[17] After a decade or so, floorball began showing up in Nordic countries where the former schoolyard pastime was becoming a developed sport.

When the IFF was founded in 1986, the sport was played mostly in the Nordic countries, several parts of the rest of Europe and Japan.

That number included the United States, who was the first country outside Europe and Asia to recognize floorball.

[5] By the time of the first men's world championships in 1996, 20 nations played floorball, with 12 of them participating at the tournament.

10 years after the IFF was founded, the first world championships were played, with a sold out final of 15,106 people at the Globen in Stockholm, Sweden.

In addition to that, the world's two largest floorball leagues, Finland's Salibandyliiga and Sweden's Svenska Superligan were formed, in 1986 and 1995 respectively.

In December 2008, the IFF and the sport of floorball received recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In July 2011, the IOC officially welcomed the IFF into its family of Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).

The Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland remain the only five countries to have ever captured a medal at a World Championship event.

This format caused much hardship for countries such as Australia, Canada, Slovakia, and Spain, who have all been trying to get to the B-Division from the C-Division since 2004.

In 2010, the IFF adopted a FIFA-like continental qualification system, where teams must qualify to play at the world championships.

Depending on the number of countries registered per continent or region, the IFF gives spots for the world championships.

For example, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and the United States would need to play for one spot at the world championships in a continental qualification tournament for the Americas.

[28] Typical equipment for a floorball player consists of a stick, a pair of shorts, a shirt, socks, and indoor sport shoes.

Players may wear shin guards, eye protectors and protective padding for vital areas although most do not.

When they are completely outside the box, goalkeepers are considered field players and are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands.

First 3vs3 World Floorball Championships were celebrated in Lahti (11-12 May 2024) with Finland winning the female tournament and Latvia doing the same in the male category.

[33] A simplified less formal version of floorball, played with smaller team numbers and shorter periods, and typically outdoors on various surfaces, including AstroTurf.

The clock is stopped in the case of penalties, goals, time-outs and any situation where the ball is not considered to be in play.

The best comparison in terms of legal physical contact is Association football (soccer), where checking is used to improve one's positioning in relation to the ball rather than to remove an opposing player from the play.

A field player may not enter the marked goal area and playing without stick is prohibited.

When a player commits a foul or when the ball is deemed unplayable, play is resumed from a free hit or a face-off.

A free hit means that a player from one of the teams restarts the play from the place where the ball was last deemed unplayable.

If an 'extreme' foul is committed, such as physical contact or unsportsmanlike conduct, a player may receive a 10-minute personal penalty.

The Asia Pacific Floorball Championships are played every single year in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, or Japan.