Ireland has cancelled 2020 season

American Football Ireland, the governing body for American football in Ireland, has now changed its postponement of the league to a full cancellation of the season.

The spread of the deadly COVID-19 has hit Ireland as it has the rest of the world.

American Football Ireland Commissioner Brian Cleary:

“It has been decided that the 2020 Adult Kitted season will be cancelled in its entirety. A number of factors were considered in making this tough decision. There remains uncertainty as to when this crisis will end, which makes it very difficult to publish a schedule that will allow for enough time to prepare and complete a season for our members.

It may also prove very difficult to secure ambulance bookings for fixtures due to the increased workload of our front-line services. We are also very aware of the financial difficulties our clubs and members may be facing during this time and do not wish to add any more pressure on our members than you are already facing. Ultimately we need to put your physical and mental welfare first before football.

We will continue to monitor the situation and if circumstances allow we are open to the possibility of hosting a 2-3 week invitational tournament at the end of the summer for clubs that wish to participate and have some form of kitted football in 2020.

With immediate effect all current Adult Kitted, Coaching, Officiating and Non-Playing memberships will be extended until 30th September 2021 and there will be no need to purchase or renew your membership for the 2021 season.

No decision has been made yet in relation to Youth and Flag football. We will continue to monitor the situation and liaise with our Directors in the coming weeks and update you when we have a clearer picture on the possibility of the Youth and Flag seasons going ahead.

It is important to note that we have put our insurance on hold at this time and under no circumstances is any physical footballing activity to take place until further notice.

Please look after yourselves and your loved ones and we will continue to provide updates as the situation unfolds. If you have any queries please contact me at [email protected]”

Current coronavirus situation in Ireland

Ireland has so far had 5,364 reported cases of COVID-19 with a total of 174 deaths attributed to the virus. Ireland has been put under similar lockdown measures to the UK. Residents are told to stay home until at least April 12 unless they are buying groceries, attending medical appointments or getting medication, getting brief exercise or making essential family visits. Almost all stores have been told to close and all gatherings outside of families have been banned. Public transport is available only to essential workers and people are asked not to travel beyond a 1.2 (2 km) radius from their homes for any reason.