Court move could threaten sellout American football game

The Irish American Football Association is preparing to serve High Court proceedings against the US naval academy football team. The move could threaten its sellout game against Notre Dame at the Aviva stadium.

The proceedings are expected to come before the court this month and involve a row over sanctioning conditions for the game.

The Irish American FootballAssociation (IAFA) is the national governing body for American Football in Ireland and is recognised by the Irish Sports Council and the Federation of Irish Sports.

It is arguing that the navy team is refusing to comply with sanctioning conditions it agreed and signed with the IAFA in Mar 2011.

These conditions included providing for a flag football development programme for primary school children, as well as some other development agreements costed at about €75,000.

The IAFA has said that while it had sanctioned the game, the de-facto home team, Navy, is not in compliance with the terms of the sanctioning agreement it signed in March.

A spokesman for the IAFA said that, as a result, the arrival of the sellout game to Ireland would do nothing for the development of the sport here.

“The original sanctioning conditions would deliver a lasting legacy for the sport in Ireland. At present, it is looking like there will be no benefit to the sport here,” he said.

“The Irish American Football Association is the officially recognised National Governing Body for the sport in Ireland. Its authority to sanction all American football activities in Ireland is very clear.

“It should be noted that Navy did not avail of the option to appeal any aspect of the sanction conditions attached to the Emerald Isle Classic. Navy signed the sanction documentation on Mar 16, 2011 after having been in possession of the proposed conditions since Oct 21, 2010. Until recently, they have not communicated any difficulties in respect of these matters to the IAFA.”

The game between Navy and Notre Dame is due to take place at the Aviva Stadium on Sept 1.

About 40,000 Americans are expected to travel to Ireland for the weekend, with the event expected to rank alongside the Ryder Cup and the Special Olympics in terms of the numbers of tourists it will attract to Ireland.

Some reports have put the estimated boost the economy at close to €10m.

Many of Dublin’s hotels are booked out for the weekend due to the huge amount of interest in the game.

Tourism Ireland has been running a promotional campaign to lure as many fans from the US as possible, while an advert highlighting Ireland has been running on NBC during NFL games in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles.