Background Little is known about sports injuries in international floorball competition.

Objective To investigate the incidence and pattern of injuries among adult female and male floorball players during the major international floorball events (World Championships and Champions Cups).

Design Prospective study.

Setting International Floorball Federation (IFF) events 2012–2015.

Participants In total, 112 teams with 2179 athletes (mean age 24.6±4.8) took part in the twelve IFF events.

Main Outcome Measurements The team medical persons were requested to report all new injuries during matches and practices throughout the events by using a structured injury form. The time of exposure was calculated for entire teams based on the IFF statistics.

Results Sixty-eight injuries were registered among 67 players. The overall rate of injury (per 1000 match and practice hours) was 3.07 (95% CI 2.35 to 3.80). Injury incidence during match play was 21.24 (95% CI 16.13 to 26.35). All except one of the injuries were acute traumas. The ankle was the most commonly injured body part (26%), followed by the head/face (18%) and the knee (18%). The most frequently reported injury types were sprain (46%), contusion (26%) and strain (16%). Five ACL injuries occurred and four of them in females. Injuries to the head/face included five lacerations, four contusions, two eye injuries and a concussion.

Conclusions Three percent of floorball players suffered from an injury during the twelve IFF events. Ankle sprain was the most common injury type. More data of floorball injuries on the international level is needed to enable more accurate knowledge of injuries and their risk factors.