Latest news with #FlagFootballWorldChampionships
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Flag football at the Olympics: NFL players will reportedly be approved to take part in 2028 Summer Games
When flag football makes its debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the NFL should have a presence. League owners are expected to vote Tuesday in favor of NFL players taking part in the event at the Summer Games, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. It's one of three major proposals league owners will debate at its May meetings. Owners are also expected to vote on whether to ban the tush-push and whether to alter how the playoffs are seeded. Both of those votes are expected Wednesday, per Schefter. Advertisement While NFL players are expected to be approved to take part in flag football at the Olympics, some details regarding their participation may still need to be sorted out. The 2028 Summer Olympics will take place between July 14 and July 30. That's right around when NFL training camps typically open, meaning the league and its teams will need to figure out how to how players can participate in the Olympics but still be ready for the NFL season. There will also be questions over which players will be allowed to play in the Olympics. Will teams need to approve which players can take part in the Olympics? Will there be any pushback from the NFLPA over player workload? Additionally, USA Football already has men's and women's flag football teams. Both clubs won the gold at the Flag Football World Championships in August. The men's team that took part in that event was comprised of non-NFL players. It's unclear what will happen with those players if NFL players are allowed to take part in the Olympics. The 2028 Summer Olympics will be the first time flag football will be part of the games. The setup and rules of the event will differ from NFL-style football. Advertisement Each team will feature 10 players total. Five players from each team can take the field at a time. Teams will play two 20-minute halves at the games. The field will be smaller than a regulation NFL field. The Olympics will feature a 70 x 25 yard field, including 10 yards for each end zone. Teams will begin on their own five-yard line and have four downs to make it halfway down the field. Teams can elect to run or pass on each play. A down ends when a flag is removed from a player, when they go out of bounds or when a forward pass hits the ground. If a team reaches the halfway point in four downs, they have four more downs to score a touchdown. If they are unable to do that, the other team takes possession of the ball on its own five-yard line. After a touchdown is scored, a team can elect to go for an extra point by running a play from the five-yard line. A team can also go for two points from the 10-yard line. Advertisement If teams are tied after 40 minutes of play, each team will receive possessions until one team achieves an unanswered score. Given the popularity of football in the United States, Team USA is expected to be a favorite to win the gold at the event.
Reuters
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Exclusive: Football-IFAF expands flag championships to Africa ahead of LA28
NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - IFAF will hold its first African Flag Football Championships in June, executives have told Reuters, expanding the continental championships at a critical moment ahead of the sport's Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The competition from June 20-21 in Cairo, Egypt, joins existing events in the Americas, Europe and Asia Oceania, as the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and the NFL look to build the sport's reputation as a global phenomenon. The competition will operate as a pathway to qualification for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships. "As a sport, you can't say you are a global sport and you exclude Africa. It's impossible," said NFL Africa Lead Osi Umenyiora, a British Nigerian former defensive end who won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants. "That's what, in conjunction with IFAF, we're really trying to build here: A truly global sport." IFAF President Pierre Trochet said the championships would create opportunities for new players as the sport is determined not to become a "one-and-done" Olympic entrant. "LA is the beginning of the story for us and a commitment that is shared with IFAF and the entire team of the NFL to look for a future edition - '32 and beyond - and it's just as a result that those continental competitions are growing so fast," said Trochet. "It's a consequence of our common goal to stay in the Olympic programme on the long term." CLEARER PATHWAY The NFL has ramped up its promotion of flag football since the sport was announced as part of the Los Angeles 2028 programme, with the non-contact format that emphasises speed and agility offering a clearer pathway for women to compete. Played without the expensive helmets and pads used in gridiron football, some also see the sport as more accessible to newcomers, with a lower chance of injury than in the bone-crunching world of the tackle game. The NFL will co-host youth football development events in conjunction with the championships, expanding the NFL Africa programme to Egypt for the first time, as the U.S. league continues its push toward internationalisation. Umenyiora, who moved to the United States when he was 15, got his start in flag and touch football and said the sport once seen as the sole domain of North America was quickly knocking down those barriers. "(You) add in the Olympics. You add in the national team. You add in the IFAF competitions, the continental competitions that are going to be taking place hopefully for us on a yearly basis, and I think the idea of the NFL globally is not that far-fetched," he said. The league announced ahead of the Super Bowl that it would play its first-ever regular season games in Dublin and Australia in 2025 and 2026, respectively, and last month said it was exploring the possibility of a game in the United Arab Emirates. In the 2023 season, 88 foreign-born players participated in at least one regular-season game, with Nigeria accounting for the second-largest group of international players behind Canada. With 12 teams - six men's and six women's - expected in Los Angeles, Trochet said each continent will have "an equal chance to access the qualification pathway. "If an African team is fortunate enough to get in in 28, one is going to win," said Umenyiora.
