IFAF — International Federation of American Football

What is IFAF?

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) is the international federation for American football in its tackle and flag forms. Its Statutes, in the edition “updated at the 2020 Annual Congress”, describe it as a “non-profit association”. They list among its purposes acting as the “ultimate governing body for the sport of American football throughout the world”, controlling “the international sporting calendar”, adopting rules implementing the World Anti-Doping Code, and seeking the addition of American football to the Olympic programme.^[2] IFAF’s documents page also lists 2023 and 2025 editions of the Statutes, published as Word files.^[3]

The Statutes make the Congress, meaning the members and the elected Board in general meeting, the body with “supreme and ultimate authority”.^[2] IFAF publishes separate guides to tackle, flag, beach flag and wheelchair football, and it runs world championships in both tackle and flag.^[16][10]

IFAF governs the international game between national federations. In the United States the professional game is run by the NFL and the college game by the NCAA, outside IFAF’s national-team competitions.

What does IFAF govern or do?

Rules and competitions: IFAF’s site carries pages for its national-team world championships: in tackle football for senior men, senior women and under-20 men, and in flag football for senior men and women, plus continental championships in both forms.^[16][11] It also carries IFAF rules, IFAF world rankings of national teams, eligibility and officiating rules for its events, and pages on international referees and international transfers of players between member federations.^[16]

Anti-doping: IFAF’s history states that in 2003 “IFAF became formal signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code”.^[1] WADA lists IFAF as a Code signatory among the ARISF members.^[7] The Statutes list among IFAF’s purposes “adopting rules implementing the World Anti-Doping Code”.^[2]

Disputes: the Statutes state that IFAF “recognises the CAS”, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as having exclusive jurisdiction over the disputes they list.^[2] See the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

What it does not govern: the Statutes place IFAF’s authority over international competition and over its members, the national federations. Professional leagues and college and school football are organised outside that structure.^[2]

When was IFAF founded and where is it based?

Founding: IFAF’s history page states: “In 1998 the International Federation of American Football was officially formed.”^[1] Olympedia independently records that IFAF “was officially formed in 1998”.^[5] The same history places national federations far earlier: Canada’s in 1896, Japan’s in 1936 and the first European federation in 1976.^[1]

Seat: IFAF gives its postal address as “Maison du Sport International SA, Av. de Rhodanie 54, 1007 Lausanne”, Switzerland.^[4] The contacts page was last updated in June 2026. The 2020 Statutes name no city: they provide that the legal seat “will be registered at an address under advisement from IFAF’s retained legal counsel”.^[2] The World Games site gives a different address for IFAF, 16 Boulevard Saint Germain, Paris, France.^[8] The 2025 Statutes file listed on IFAF’s documents page could not be read.

Governance dispute, 2015–2018: after the 2015 Congress in Canton, Ohio, two groups each claimed to be IFAF. One was based in Paris and recognised Tommy Wiking as president; the other recognised Richard MacLean.^[12] On 23 March 2018 American Football International reported the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s 50-page award in IFAF v. Wiking. The award found that Wiking had resigned as president on 30 April 2015, and that “any and all actions” he had taken as president or on IFAF’s behalf were “null and void”.^[12] The award’s case number and exact date were not retrieved, and this account rests on that single secondary report.

How is IFAF recognised?

IOC: IFAF states that it “became provisionally recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)” in 2013, and that it “was granted Recognised Status by the IOC at the 140th IOC Session in Mumbai, India” in 2023.^[1] Olympedia gives the same two steps: “provisionally recognized by the IOC in 2013”, and “Recognized Status at the 141st IOC Session”.^[5] The two sources differ on the session number. The IOC’s own record could not be retrieved.

Olympic programme: IFAF states that in 2023 “Flag Football was approved by the IOC for inclusion in the programme of the Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles in 2028”.^[1] Olympedia describes it as an optional sport for 2028, and records that American football was a demonstration sport at Los Angeles 1932.^[5] The LA28 organising committee lists flag football among its sports.^[9]

Umbrella bodies: ARISF’s member page, retrieved 30 September 2026, lists IFAF.^[6] ASOIF’s member page, retrieved the same day, lists IFAF among its six associate members; it is not among the 30 full members.^[14] WADA lists it as a Code signatory in the ARISF group.^[7] IFAF states that it became a formal member of SportAccord in 2005.^[1] The World Games site names IFAF as the federation for American football. Tackle football was invitational at Duisburg 2005 and Wrocław 2017; flag football was on the programme at Birmingham 2022 and Chengdu 2025 and is scheduled for Karlsruhe 2029.^[8]

What does IFAF organise?

Flag football world championships: IFAF states that the men’s flag championship was “first held in Austria in 2002” and then every two years.^[11] The most recent edition, IFAF World Flag 2026, was played in Düsseldorf, Germany, over four days ending on 16 August 2026. IFAF reported that Canada’s women beat the United States 27–20 in the women’s final, and the United States’ men beat Italy 46–26 in the men’s final.^[10]

The event also served as LA28 qualification. IFAF reported that “the United States, Italy and Canada have qualified for the men’s six-team competition at LA28 and in the women’s tournament, Canada, the United States and Mexico have all booked their place”.^[10]

LA28: the LA28 organising committee describes flag football as a “non-contact format of American Football” making “its Olympic debut in 2028”. It lists a six-team men’s tournament and a six-team women’s tournament at Exposition Park Stadium (BMO Stadium).^[9]

Tackle: IFAF’s page on the senior men’s World Championship states that it was first held in 1999 and is “held every four years”. The most recent edition it records was in Canton, Ohio, won by the United States. The page, last updated in July 2023, listed the next edition for 2025, and no report of a 2025 edition was retrieved.^[13] See Olympic qualification.

Who are its members?

Olympedia records that “as of January 2026, the IFAF has 79 member federations”.^[5] IFAF’s own member-federations page loads its list dynamically, and no dated total from IFAF itself could be retrieved.

Categories: the 2020 Statutes set four categories, reviewed each year: Full Member, Associate Member, Allied Member and Inactive Member. Members meet in the Congress, which the Statutes define as “the Members of the Organisation and its elected Board in general meeting”.^[2] IFAF has held its Congress in Canton (2015), New Jersey (2016), Vancouver (2017), Panama City (2018), London (2019), online in 2020 and 2021, Birmingham, Alabama (2022) and Paris (2023).^[15]

Continental structure: IFAF runs continental championships in tackle and flag football, and its governance structure includes continental committees alongside its global committees.^[16]