American Football Championship 2018

The 2018 European American Football Championship was the 14th edition of this tournament. It was played as a tournament with several qualifying rounds. The participating national teams enter the tournament at different times according to their performance at the last European Championship. This mode was a modification of the previous competition mode and takes into account the significant growth in the field of participants.

mode

Six teams took part in the European Championship tournament. The four best teams at the 2014 European Championship were already qualified for this. A total of 16 teams competed in various qualification phases for the remaining two places.

The first qualification phase took place in 2015 in the form of simple playoff games. Of the twelve teams that competed, six were already participants in one of the tournaments of the last European Championship. These six teams competed as a seeded team with home rights against an unset team. The winners qualified for one of the two tournaments that were held in 2016. The host and already qualified for these tournaments were the second and third placed teams in division B of the last European championship. In both tournaments, which were played in parallel, four teams determined a winner in playoff mode. These two winners competed in 2017 in one playoff game each against the fifth and sixth placed at the 2014 European Championship. The two participants in the 2014 finals had home rights. The winners from these encounters took part in the 2018 European Championship.

qualification

The terminology relating to the qualifying rounds changed during the course of the competition. Initially, the second qualifying round, which was scheduled in the form of round-robin tournaments, was the European championship of Group B. The qualifying rounds in 2015 and 2017 were accordingly the qualifications for A and B European Championships.

First round

	Alcorcón August 30, 2015 12:00 p.m. ( CEST )		Spain	20:28	Israel		Estadio Santo Domingo
				(0: 7, 7: 6, 6: 7, 7: 8)

	Basel September 26, 2015 6:00 p.m.		Switzerland	21: 0	Slovakia		Rankhof stadium
				(7: 0, 7: 0, 7: 0, 0: 0)

	Pushkin October 10, 2015 1 p.m.		Russia	20: 0	Norway		Tsarskoye Selo Stadium
				(0: 0, 10: 0, 7: 0, 3: 0)

	Belgrade October 10, 2015 2 p.m.		Serbia	56-0	Hungary		Voždovac Stadium
				(14: 0, 21: 0, 14: 0, 7: 0)

	Pardubice October 11, 2015 2 p.m.		Czech Republic	14: 7	Poland		Letní stadium
				(0: 0, 0: 0, 7: 7, 7: 0)

	Waalwijk October 24, 2015 6:00 p.m.		Netherlands	17: 3	Belgium		Mandemakers Stadium spectators: 4,200
				(7: 0, 3: 3, 7: 0, 0: 0)

With one exception, the favorites that were "set" by the European Federation of American Football (EFAF) and thus enjoyed home rights prevailed in all of these games . The supposedly weaker teams were drawn to them and, with the exception of Israel - whose first international match was this qualifying match against Spain - ultimately left behind. The winners thus qualified for the next round, which played the participants in the last qualifying round in two tournaments with hosts who were also seeded and already qualified due to past performances.

Second round

Tournament in Italy

In addition to the seeded hosts, Serbia, Switzerland and Israel also took part in the qualification tournament in Lignano Sabbiadoro ( Italy ).

2nd September 2016					4th September 2016
1	Italy	40
8th	Israel	10			final
					1	Italy	17th
					4th	Serbia	14th
4th	Serbia	17th
5	Switzerland	0
					Placement game
					5	Switzerland	51
					8th	Israel	0

	Lignano Sabbiadoro September 2nd, 2016 2:00 p.m. ( CEST )		Italy	40:10	Israel		Stadio G. Teghil
				(7: 0, 3:10, 14: 0, 16: 0) Match report

	Lignano Sabbiadoro September 2nd, 2016 7:00 p.m. ( CEST )		Serbia	17: 0	Switzerland		Stadio G. Teghil
				(14: 0, 0: 0, 0: 0, 3: 0) Match report

			Placement game
	Lignano Sabbiadoro September 4th, 2016 3:00 p.m. ( CEST )		Switzerland	51: 0	Israel		Stadio G. Teghil
				(0: 0, 21: 0, 20: 0, 10: 0) Match report

			final
	Lignano Sabbiadoro September 4th, 2016 7:00 p.m. ( CEST )		Italy	17:14	Serbia		Stadio G. Teghil
				(3: 0, 7: 0, 7: 0, 0:14) Match report

Tournament in Great Britain

In addition to the seeded hosts, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Russia also took part in the class B tournament in Great Britain.

16th September 2016					18th September 2016
2	Great Britain	30th
7th	Russia	3			final
					2	Great Britain	38
					3	Czech Republic	13
3	Czech Republic	20th
6th	Netherlands	13
					Placement game
					6th	Netherlands	17th
					7th	Russia	6th

	Worcester September 16, 2016 3:00 pm		Czech Republic	20: 13	Netherlands		Sixways Stadium

	Worcester September 16, 2016 7:00 p.m.		Great Britain	30: 3	Russia		Sixways Stadium

			Placement game
	Worcester September 18, 2016 10:00 am		Netherlands	17: 6	Russia		Sixways Stadium
				Match report

			final
	Worcester September 18, 2016 2:00 pm		Great Britain	38: 13	Czech Republic		Sixways Stadium
				Match report

Third round

The third and final qualifying round should take place in 2017. The two winners of the 2016 tournaments, Italy and Great Britain, were to play in play-off games against Sweden and Denmark, which were already seeded for this round of qualification due to participation in the 2014 finals . However, the play-offs never took place, instead the place and field of participants changed due to a power struggle in the world association.

IFAF power struggle

At the end of 2017, after the third qualifying round was canceled, the AFVD announced that Italy would participate in the final round. The already qualified Finns as well as the other teams still in the qualification did not belong to the starting field. No reasons were given. At the beginning of 2018 it became known that the European Championship would be postponed indefinitely. The AFVD cited organizational reasons without specifying them.

In March 2018, plans for a European Championship in Finland were announced. The field of participants now consisted of six teams again. In addition to Italy, the reigning European champion Germany , who was already qualified by his title, was no longer part of the starting field. In contrast, the teams Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain, which are still in the qualifying phase, as well as hosts Finland were there. In this case too, the selection of the field of participants was not justified. The Italian Association then wrote a protest note demanding their participation.

While the original EM plans in Germany were supported by the so-called IFAF Paris, the current plans for the tournament in Finland come from the ranks of IFAF New York. Both organizations claim to be the legal world association.

Finals

Attendees

The four best-placed teams in the last European Championship were already qualified for the final round in Germany: Germany , Austria , France and Finland . Two further participants should be determined through a qualification phase. In June 2017, the AFVD announced on its homepage that, besides Germany, Austria and France, only Italy , which allegedly prevailed in a qualification against 15 other teams, is participating. Instead of the originally planned six teams, the field of participants was reduced to four teams. With the organization of the tournament by IFAF New York, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain moved into the field for Germany and Italy.

Venue

At first, Germany was the host and it should be played in several cities. On July 20, 2016, the AFVD announced via Facebook that, contrary to previous information, all games in Berlin would be played in the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark . In July 2017, the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt was announced as the venue .

As of November 20, 2017, the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) suspended the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) because of outstanding payments for the anti-doping service in the amount of 34,877 euros. The reason for the lack of payments was that former IFAF President Tommy Wiking concluded the agreement on April 20, 2016, although he had already resigned on April 30, 2015. The International Sports Court (CAS) declared in a ruling on September 28, 2017 that all Wiking contracts were invalid after April 30, 2015. However, as the responsibility in IFAF was unclear, the payment was not made and as a result there was a suspension. France, Italy and Austria then canceled their participation and the European Championship was postponed indefinitely by IFAF Europe and the local organizing committee, but canceled for 2018.

The tournament subsequently organized by IFAF New York took place in Vantaa , Finland .

Group stage

Group A

space	country	Sp	TD	Diff.	Points
1	Austria	2	81:18	+63	4-0
2	Sweden	2	33:61	−28	2: 2
3	Denmark	2	35:70	−35	0: 4

	July 29, 2018 4:00 p.m. ( EEST )		Denmark	15:40	Austria		Spectators: 502 Referee: Øyvind Løken
				(0: 0, 7:14, 8: 6, 0:20) Game report

	July 31, 2018 4:00 p.m. ( EEST )		Sweden	30: 20	Denmark		Spectators: 347 Referee: Bård Beylich
				(0:14, 7: 0, 17: 0, 6: 6) Match report

	August 2, 2018 4:00 p.m. ( EEST )		Austria	41: 3	Sweden		Spectators: 512 Referee: Øyvind Løken
				(21: 3, 10: 0, 7: 0, 3: 0) Match report

Group B

space	country	Sp	TD	Diff.	Points
1	France	2	63:23	+40	4-0
2	Finland	2	42:28	+14	2: 2
3	Great Britain	2	16:70	−54	0: 4

	July 29, 2018 8:00 p.m. ( EEST )		Finland	28: 7	Great Britain		Spectators: 1,650 Referee: Bård Beylich
				(7: 0, 21: 7, 0: 0, 0: 0) Match report

	July 31, 2018 8:00 p.m. ( EEST )		Great Britain	9:42	France		Spectators: 428 Referee: Øyvind Løken
				(3:14, 3:14, 3: 7, 0: 7) Match report

	August 2, 2018 8:00 p.m. ( EEST )		France	21:14	Finland		Spectators: 2,518 Referee: Bård Beylich
				(0: 0, 7: 0, 0: 7, 14: 7) Match report

Placement games

			Play for 5th place
	August 4, 2018 11:00 a.m. ( EEST )		Denmark	16:33	Great Britain		Spectators: 303 Referee: V. Lamminsalo
				(0: 7, 0: 7, 8:12, 8: 7) Match report

			3rd place match
	August 4, 2018 3:00 p.m. ( EEST )		Finland	35: 21	Sweden		Spectators: 1984 Referee: Bård Beylich
				(7: 0, 7: 6, 7:15, 14: 0) Match report

			final
	August 4, 2018 7:00 p.m. ( EEST )		Austria	14:28	France		Spectators: 1757 Referee: O. Løken
				(0: 7, 14: 0, 0:14, 0: 7) Match report

Web links

• Official website for the European Championship 2018 (Finnish / English)
• Official site for the first qualifying round (English)
• Official site of the qualifying tournaments in 2016 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ John McKeon: IFAF Europe 2016 Euro Qualifying Tournament. In: americanfootballinternational.com. November 17, 2015, accessed February 3, 2016 . 
2. ^ ^{A b c} John McKeon: IFAF Europe Unveils New Qualification & Tournament Formats. In: americanfootballinternational.com. April 6, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} EM 2018 in the Commerzbank Arena. In: afvd.de. AFVD , June 10, 2017, accessed November 19, 2017 . 
4. ↑ EM 2018 postponed. In: afvd.de. AFVD, January 7, 2018, accessed June 25, 2018 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b c} International Federation of American Football European Championship schedule set. In: americanfootballinternational.com. March 7, 2018, accessed June 25, 2018 . 
6. ^ Roger Kelly: Italians in uproar over exclusion from IFAF European Championships. In: americanfootballinternational.com. March 9, 2018, accessed June 25, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Just the tip of the iceberg - EM 2018 canceled . In: Touchdown24 . tape 6 , no. 2 , February 2018, p. 42 f .