IFAF Men’s 2020 European Championship Group A schedule now set

It is shaping up to be the busiest fall for European national teams ever.

IFAF Europe has announced the full fall schedule of games for the group stages of the IFAF Men’s 2020 European Championships.

The “tournament” will be played on a bi-annual basis with each team having two games a year, ideally one home and one away game. The games are played individually and not in a tournament format. This will give coaches and players more time to prepare properly. Emphasis in the first year of the two-year cycle will be placed on travel distances. In the second year, the emphasis will only be on the ranking of the teams based on the results of the first year.

The top 12 teams have been slotted into Group A.

Group A: 2019 – 2020

A total of 12 teams will play in the top group is played with 12 participants. In the first year they are set in 4 Divisions with three teams each. It is not planned to add teams in the two year period. The Divisions for 2019 are:

EC Division A

1. France
2. Serbia
3. Czech Republic

EC Division B

1.  Austria
2. Italy
3. Switzerland

EC Division C

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Netherlands

EC Division D

1. Sweden
2. Great Britain
3. Russia

Division matchup schedule (Home vs Away):

Division A
November 9/10, 2019: France vs Serbia
October 13, 2019: Czech Republic vs France
October 26, 2019: Serbia vs Czech Republic

Division B

September 21, 2019: Switzerland vs Austria
October 6, 2019: Austria vs. Italy
October 20, 2019: Italy vs Switzerland

Division C

October 12, 2019: Netherlands vs Finland
October 19, 2019: Denmark vs. Netherlands
October 26, 2019: Finland vs. Denmark

Division D

October 19, 2019: GB vs Russia
November 2: Sweden vs GB
September 28 or October 5: Russia vs Sweden

Group A – Year 1 of the Competition – Group Stage

The top four teams are set on the #1 spots in the Divisions. The teams ranked #5-8 are set to the #2 spots and the teams ranked 9-12 are set on spot #3. The teams are allocated to one of the four divisions in order to minimize overall travel costs for all participants.

Group A – Year 2 of the Competition – Playoff Stage

In the second year the teams with the same rank in the Divisions are put into groups of four teams:
• Top Group: #1s play for spots 1-4
• Middle Group: #2s play for spots 5-8
• Low Group: #3s play for spots 9-12