French Roller Derby National Team will not participate in the 2017 World Games

Press release

” FIRS (International Federation of Roller Sports) announced in January 2016 that they will organize, in the fall of 2017, the World Roller Games in Nanking, China. An edition which will bring together, for the first time ever, all of the different skating and skateboarding sports. Roller derby is one of the new disciplines that has been added into this international competition. Nevertheless, FIRS having recently officially announced that the roller derby games will be played under USARS’ rule set and not WFTDA, we, FFRS and National Technical Direction, have decided not to engage our French women and men’s national teams in this event.
All the competitions that take place in our country, whether it’s Championships or friendly games, are played under the rules published by the WFTDA. We do not wish to engage our skaters in international competitions that do not reflect the sport that is played in our country.
We nevertheless will continue to interact with all the international bodies in order to develop the sport of roller derby as it is practiced in our country. “