Football director asked to apologise

The Irish American Football Association (IAFA) has asked the athletic director of Navy, Chet Gladchuk, to retract and apologise for allegations he made against the sanctioning body.

With the sell-out game between Navy and Notre Dame due to take place at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Mr Gladchuk made a serious allegation against the IAFA in the US-based Marine Corps Times.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner yesterday, IAFA secretary Cillian Smith said unless Mr Gladchuk retracted his comments and issued a full apology, it would take the matter further with his superiors at Navy.

Billed as the Emerald Isle Classic, the game between the US naval academy and Notre Dame has spawned an increasingly bitter dispute between the IAFA and Navy.

The 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 has accused Navy of 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 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. Navy has claimed it never agreed to make the contributions.

A separate tournament involving 12 American colleges and high schools will be held in Parnell Park, Donnybrook Stadium, and Pairc Tailteann in Navan from tomorrow to Saturday.