International Federation of American Football

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Wikipedia

International Federation of American Football
AbbreviationIFAF
Formation1998; 28 years ago (1998)
TypeSports federation
Legal statusGoverning body of American football
HeadquartersLausanne, Switzerland (until 2025 Paris, France)[1]
Region served
Worldwide
Membership78 members (Aug 2025)[2]
President
France Pierre Trochet
Vice president
Canada Jim Mullin
General secretary
United States Eric Mayes
Key people
Managing director
United Kingdom Andy Fuller
Main organ
Congress
AffiliationsARISF
Websiteamericanfootball.sport

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) is the international governing body of American football associations. The IFAF oversees the organization and promotion of all international competitions across both contact and non contact versions of the game,[3] including the IFAF World Championship, which is held every four years. The IFAF became a provisionary member of SportAccord in 2003, and became a full SportAccord member in 2005. In 2023, IFAF was officially recognized as an Olympic IF (International Federation) by the IOC. In 2023, IFAF marked a historic new streak, with flag football being selected as one of the five new sports for the LA 2028 Olympic Summer Games. The organization's head office relocated to Lausanne, Switzerland in 2026. [4]

Structure and organization

The IFAF recognizes in their respective areas the following branches[5][6] and has 78 as of August 2025:[7]

Members

Africa (11)

Americas (18)

Asia (13)

Europe (30)

Oceania (6)

Variants

Source:[8]

  1. Tackle football[9]
  2. Flag football:[10] 40 minutes with two halves of 20 minutes
  3. Wheelchair football:[11] Indoors or outdoors
  4. Beach flag football:[12] 4 players - 25-yard field - 30 minutes with two halves of 15 minutes

Competitions

American football competitions

Men

Junior

Women

Flag football competitions

Men / Women

Governance

President

Pierre Trochet (France) was elected President of IFAF in December 2021.[13] He was re-elected unopposed for his second and final term in December 2024.[14]

Former presidents

Source:[13]

  • Eiji Sasada (Japan): 1998–1999
  • Frederic Paquet (France): 1999–2006
  • Tommy Wiking (Sweden): 2006–2015
  • Mac Kaneuji (Japan): 2015–2015 (interim)
  • Roope Noronen (Finland): 2015–2016
  • Richard MacLean (Canada): 2016–2021

Governance controversy and schism

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 event's cancellation before being reinstalled in the position. One group in New York had elected Roope Noronen as interim president in September 2014, followed by Richard MacLean in 2015. Another group, based in Paris, recognized Wiking as president.

In September 2016, the Paris IFAF suspended six nations—the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Finland, and Denmark—for not submitting player information for anti-doping. A group of European federations wished for a reunification of the sport during a December 2016 meeting in Rome.[15] In May 2017, after a split that created rival groupings of the International Federation of American Football, the IFAF party in Paris stripped its recognition of USA Football,[16] citing disputes over anti-doping enforcement. IFAF Paris instead recognized the United States Federation of American Football as the USA's governing body,[17] 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[18] and organized the 2017 Women's World Championships, which the USA won.[19]

In March 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) determined that the IFAF in New York was the proper governing entity and voided all decisions of the other IFAF entity, including their decision to strip USA Football of its recognition.[20] USA Football is currently the internationally recognized governing body for American football in the United States.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Contacts". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 2025-10-05. 16 Boulevard Saint Germain CS 70514 – 75237 Paris CEDEX 05 France
  2. ↑ "Member Federations". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "History". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  4. ↑ "Pierre Trochet: "This isn't a goodbye to Paris, it's just a see you later."". Francs Jeux. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
  5. ↑ "IFAF Congress ratifies new structure". usafootball.com. 7 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Kelly, Roger (18 August 2014). "Structural changes on the horizon for American Football in Europe". AmericanFootballInternational.com. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.americanfootball.sport/member-federations/24
  8. ↑ http://www.americanfootball.sport/
  9. ↑ http://www.americanfootball.sport/a-guide-to-tackle-football/
  10. ↑ http://www.americanfootball.sport/a-guide-to-flag-football/
  11. ↑ http://www.americanfootball.sport/a-guide-to-wheelchair-football/
  12. ↑ http://www.americanfootball.sport/a-guide-to-beach-flag-football/
  13. 1 2 "President". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  14. ↑ Preston, Michael (2024-12-07). "Congress Review". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  15. ↑ "European federations attempt to reunify American football with series of measures following crunch Rome meeting". 9 December 2016. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  16. ↑ "Football". Archived from the original on June 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ "IFAF Accepts USFAF as Provisional Member from USA - IFAF". Archived from the original on 2017-05-16.
  18. ↑ "IFAF - Articles - View - 1654". Archived from the original on 2017-07-26.
  19. ↑ "IFAF - Articles - View - 1659". Archived from the original on 2017-07-26.
  20. ↑ "Court of Arbitration rules against IFAF Paris, affirms Tommy Wiking resigned as President". 28 September 2017.
  21. ↑ "Nations: Americas | NATIONS | International American Football". Archived from the original on 2018-05-02.