IFAF membership reaches 62 as Nigeria, first African nation, is added

NEW MEMBERS ELECTED AT 14th ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL

IFAF membership reaches 62 as Nigeria makes history as the first African federation of American football; 58 delegates from 34 countries meet in Vienna

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) held its 14th annual Congress in Vienna and made history by ratifying the first American football federation on the continent of Africa.

A total of 58 delegates representing 34 countries and four continents met at the Marriott Hotel in the Austrian capital to discuss the worldwide governance of the sport of American football in conjunction with Austria hosting the fourth IFAF Senior World Championship. Countries represented were: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United States and Uruguay.

Achievements of the Congress included:

Establishing Nigeria as the first IFAF federation on the African continent.
Approving full memberships of three new federations.
Approving the IFAF Strategic Plan.
Approving the election of two members of the IFAF Athletes Commission to the IFAF Executive Committee.
The election of Dr. Elesa Argent as IFAF Secretary.

El Salvador, Mongolia and Nigeria were welcomed as new IFAF members, taking the total number of countries playing some form of the sport around the world and represented by IFAF to 62. Significantly, Nigeria became the first federation from the African continent to earn full IFAF membership.

The Amobi Okoye Foundation has led the inauguration of a national federation in Nigeria and an IFAF delegated joined the Nigerian-born Houston Texans defensive tackle on a visit to his homeland in March. The foundation will initially plan to start two high school tackle football leagues of six schools each and a youth flag football program.

The IFAF Strategic Plan was approved by members and a transition group was appointed to oversee the transition of continental federation into committees under IFAF.

Dr Elesa Argent from Great Britain was elected to the role of Secretary a year after she was elected to the IFAF Executive Committee as Fourth Vice President.

Delegates approved the election of a male and female member of the IFAF Athletes Commission to the IFAF Executive Committee. Tea Törmänen, who represented Finland at the 2010 IFAF Women’s World Championship and Filip Jönsson, a member of the Sweden team at the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship, were proposed by the players elected to the Athletes Commission by their fellow athletes and will serve on the committee for a 12-month period.

Before attending the IFAF Congress, delegates were the guests of the U.S. Ambassador to Austria William C Eacho III, who also attended the 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship Gold Medal Game between USA and Canada on Saturday.

The Ambassador and his wife Donna welcomed the IFAF group to their historic residence, famous for being the venue where U.S. President John F. Kennedy held a summit with Russian Premier Nikita Kruschef at the height of the cold war in 1961. U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Russian Premier Leonid Brezhnev also met in 1979 to discuss nuclear disarmament where the IFAF delegation enjoyed a lunchtime barbeque.

About IFAF
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) unites 62 countries on six continents through a burgeoning international sport. With national football federations in existence for more than 75 years, IFAF was created in 1998 to organize and further develop the game through international cooperation and global competition. The IFAF office is located near Paris, France.