Italy responds to postponement of European Championships

The Italian American Football Federation – FIDAF, Federazione Italiana Di American Football – issued a statement in response to the postponement of the 2018 European Championship tournament announced earlier this week.

The four-team tournament would have included Italy as well as Germany, Austria and France.

According to the FIDAF, discussions on postponing the event apparently have been going on for several weeks.

“There had been talk of postponing the event for several weeks, but the official announcement came yesterday. The European Championships A-Group tournament (for which Italy had also qualified) should have taken place in Frankfurt in July but has been postponed until a later date still to be announced. Once again, the longstanding dispute that has split the football world is to blame; a dispute that still needs to be untangled and resolved. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in September that Tommy Wiking be removed from the IFAF presidency and invalidated all his actions since 2015 and the future of the European Championships rides on the final CAS decision.”

Marco Quercio, Deputy Vice President of FIDAF and National Team Manager:

“It is with great regret that the FIDAF accepts this decision, but wishes to reassure its athletes and staff without delay that the work of the national team will continue uninterrupted.”

According to Quercio, the work invested in developing the Italian National Team over the last four years will continue:

“The development project, which began four years ago, has not been halted and its goals are unaffected: to be competitive on the European stage again. This is why, in addition to the previously announced Alps Bowl against Switzerland on January 28, the Federation is already working on organizing a major international event in July in Castel Giorgio (TR), which has resumed its role as the “home of American football” in Italy. So, our Blue Team plans to fill the stands of the legendary “Vince Lombardi” Stadium yet again and calls on fans from all over Italy to come and watch a top-flight game. Against whom? We’ll find out soon, but we know it will be a first-class opponent.”