IFAF Europe set to decide recommendations for future of 2020 European championships
IFAF Europe head Dr. Gregor Murth will host a meeting Thursday May 28 involving all the participating nations to decide if and how the 2020 European Championships will be held.
According to the original schedule, the tournament was set to be played the weekends of August 1 and October 24.
Naturally, due to the coronavirus pandemic, everything has changed.
As each nation has handled the coronavirus situation differently, and with some countries such as France, having shut down the season early with no plans at this point of opening up to even allow practice, the chances of having a tournament this year would seem remote. The recommendations will be submitted to the Competition Committee who in turn will present them to the Executive Board for a final decision.
Member nations will be asked to vote on whether to cancel the game days set for August and October and then also if there is no tournament in 2020, how to proceed in 2021.
Murth raises interesting questions in the agenda given the uncertainty of the situation. How far into the future can decisions be made? What are the prospects for the tournament beyond the seven month scope of any decision? What rules can be introduced given the state of flux in which every nation finds itself?
The participating countries will be asked the minimum steps needed to restart the tournament in 2021 ranked on a seven-step scale ranging from no practice allowed to international games allowed with spectators.
The crucial question is of course what happens to nations that are unable to participate, or are able to participate but only to a limited extent?
As stated earlier, any decisions made will serve as recommendations to be submitted to the Competition Committee who in turn will present recommendations to the Executive Board who will make the final decision.
