On Monday, the newly elected president of one of the two factions in a dispute over which is American football’s international governing body, Richard MacLean (Canada), issued a ‘Letter to Nations.’
Last month, the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) group that held its annual Congress on September 17 in New York elected MacLean as the new president when incumbent president Roope Noronen (Finland) chose not to run for re-election.
The tasks MacLean outlines for his administration include making ‘the Executive Board accountable to the membership’ and conducting a ‘full review of our current financial model.’
MacLean acknowledges the current division in the sport. He states they are ‘committed and charged’ to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ‘to settle issues which arose in 2015.’
The CAS is an international quasi-judicial body established to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne (Switzerland) and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne. All Olympic International Federations have recognized the jurisdiction of CAS for at least some disputes.
MacLean says he will focus on ‘long-term planning, affordable competition structures, development programs for new countries and the stability that comes from having aligned goals that actually serve the members.’
Mr. MacLean was most recently president of Football Canada from 2013 until June of this year. He has been a member of Football Canada’s Board of Directors since 2009 has also served as Football Nova Scotia president since 2004. On the IFAF stage he most recently served as IFAF America chairman.
Here is the full ‘Letter to Nations.’
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