![]() | |
Abbreviation | IFAF |
---|---|
Formation | 1998 |
Type | Sports federation |
Legal status | Governing body of American football |
Headquarters | La Courneuve, France |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 74 members (April 2023)[1] |
President | Pierre Trochet |
Main organ | Congress |
Affiliations | ARISF |
Website | americanfootball.sport |
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) is the international governing body of gridiron associations. The IFAF oversees the IFAF World Championship of American Football, which is held every four years. The IFAF became a provisionary member of SportAccord in 2003, and became a full SportAccord member in 2005. The organisation's head office is located in the French commune of La Courneuve, in the Île-de-France region.
The IFAF recognizes in their respective areas the following branches and have 120 members as of May 2022:[2][3]
Americas (23)
Asia (30)
Europe (42)
Oceania (8)
Following the cancellation of the 2015 IFAF World Championship in Sweden for financial reasons, the event was moved to the United States. In February 2015 Tommy Wiking resigned as president of IFAF due to the cancellation of the event. During the 2015 meeting, Tommy Wiking was illegitimately put[clarification needed] as president, and caused a schism. One group, in New York, elected Roope Norenen as interim president in September 2014, and Richard MacLean in 2015. The other group, based in Paris, recognized Tommy Wiking as president.
In September 2016, "IFAF in Paris" suspended six nations for not submitting players information for anti-doping, The suspended nations were the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Finland, and Denmark. A group of European federations wished for a reunification of the sport during a December 2016 meeting in Rome.[4] In May 2017, after a split that created rival groupings of the International Federation of American Football, the IFAF grouping based in Paris stripped its recognition of USA Football,[5] citing disputes over anti-doping enforcement. IFAF (Paris) instead recognized the United States Federation of American Football as the USA's governing body,[6] and the USFAF organized a team to participate in the 2017 World Games, in which it won a bronze medal. The grouping of the IFAF based in New York continued to recognize USA Football[7] and organized the 2017 Women's World Championships, which the USA won.[8]
In March 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) determined that the IFAF (NY) was the proper governing entity and voided all decisions of the other IFAF entity, including their decision to strip USA Football of its recognition.[9] USA Football is currently the internationally recognized governing body for American football in the United States.[10]