International Federation of American Football proposed for full recognition
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has been proposed by the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be approved by the IOC Session for full IOC recognition in accordance with the Olympic Charter. The decision will be made by the IOC membership during the meeting of the 140th IOC Session in Mumbai (India) from 15 to 17 October 2023.
IFAF, which was granted provisional recognition by the IOC EB in 2013, has demonstrated that it has fulfilled all the necessary criteria in order to obtain full IOC recognition.
The statutes, practices and activities of IFAF conform with the Olympic Charter, and the Federation has adopted and implemented the World Anti-Doping Code, as well as the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions.
In addition, IFAF has demonstrated that it:
- maintains its independence and autonomy in the governance of its sport; and
- meets the criteria outlined in the recognition procedure for summer sports to have a minimum of 50 affiliated national federations from at least three continents that exercise a specific, tangible and ongoing sports activity in the one or several sports (or disciplines) the IF administers.
Finally, there were no objections from the member Federations of all the IF Umbrella Associations.
Officially funded in 1998, IFAF is the international governing body for the sport of American football and is responsible for all regulatory, competition, performance and development aspects of the game on a global level.
At present, IFAF can count on 74 affiliated National Federations on five continents, with an estimated number of almost 4.8 million registered athletes.
IFAF currently holds World Championships on a quadrennial basis; and flag football was on the sports programme of the World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.