Italy’s American football federation all set for meeting of European federations in Rome
In addition to the host nation Italy, twelve countries have confirmed that they are attending the international meeting on November 26th organized by the Federazione Italiana Di American Football (FIDAF). The meeting was called by Italy to bring together European federations to discuss and find a solution to the recent sundering that has undertaken European American football.
In September, the IFAF Europe leadership resigned due to disagreements with actions undertaken by an International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Paris Congress led by Tommy Wiking. Wiking’s faction of the of international body of American football passed numerous changes to the structure of governance of the sport. These changes affected the status of IFAF Europe, and since the resignations Gregor Murth (Austria) and Goran Nisavic (Serbia), Wiking’s IFAF established a new IFAF Europe ‘Continental’ organization and, under controversial circumstances, appointed new leadership. These changes, among others, have disturbed and disappointed many national federations in Europe and have led to Saturday’s meeting in Rome.
The twelve countries that have confirmed their attendance are Austria, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Israel, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. They will appear at the summit seeking an opportunity for mediation and to reunify the American football movement in Europe.
Notably absent are nations who side with the Wiking-led IFAF faction, otherwise known as IFAF Paris. Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Ireland have chosen not to attend Italy’s summit in Rome.
Nations who recognize Richard MacLean (Canada) as the rightful president of IFAF, aka IFAF New York, are attending the event. These nations are Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway, Israel and Sweden. It is currently unclear where the remaining nations stand in the worldwide IFAF split.
The main subject of debate, IFAF Europe, will be represented at the Rome meeting by its Director of Sports Romeo Tjoe-A-On (Netherlands), and Javier Carrasco (Spain), who are among the original IFAF Europe Competition Committee members. It is unclear why they are not representing their national federations at this meeting.
Per a release by the host Italy’s FIDAF;
“This is an extremely important occasion for all the parties involved to discuss and resolve all the issues concerning the future of our sport in Europe, which is why President Orlando (Italy) has been working for weeks to ensure the meeting delivers the desired outcome. The meeting to heal the rifts in European football is being held at the headquarters of CONI (Largo De Bosis, 15) in Rome on 26 November.”
Please see the full release below;
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