IFAF U19 European Championship qualifiers set
The International Federation of American Football has announced the qualifier matchups for the IFAF 2019 Men’s U19 European Championships to be held in Bologna, Italy from July 29 to August 4, 2019..
With the host team, Italy, and the top three ranked teams based on the results of the previous European U19 Championships, Sweden, Denmark and Austria, automatically qualified for the tournament, the remaining eight teams will play in a qualifying round.
No Germany
Notably absent is Germany. According to IFAF, the American Football Federation of Germany has not brought their account into good standing by paying their fees, thus, it would seem, deciding to forgo international play for the national team.
IFAF President Richard MacLean:
“Yes I believe the tournament will be a showcase of up and coming European talent. And that Italy will be a fantastic host. Unfortunately Germany remains not in good standing and that is keeping their athletes from participating. I hope this issue is resolved before the next tournament deadline so German athletes can participate.”
The deadline for application for the IFAF Men’s Senior World Championship is January 12.
European U19 Championship ranking:
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Austria
- France
- Finland
- Italy
- Great Britain
- Netherlands
- Russia
- Spain
- Norway
- Slovakia
The matchups are as follows:
France will face Slovakia, Finland takes on Russia, Great Britain and Norway will play each other and the Netherlands plays Spain.
The @IFAFEurope u19 qualifiers are set:
Slovakia 🇸🇰 @ 🇫🇷 France;
Russia 🇷🇺 @ 🇫🇮 Finland;
Norway 🇳🇴 @ 🇬🇧 Great Britain, and
Spain 🇪🇸 @ 🇳🇱 Netherlands. #roadtoitaly— Int'l Federation of American Football (@IFAFMedia) January 5, 2019
The dates for these single-round elimination games will be determined by the teams.
The biggest change in this process is that the home team gets to propose the dates for the game (at least 2) and the away team chooses which of the dates is used.
During qualification, the home teams have to compensate the visiting team for a part of their travel costs. The visiting team can chose between free
accommodation for its team or a mileage allowance for the travel distance.
