“La Francophonie, fertile ground”

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has announced a partnership with the French federation, in order to develop its practices in the Francophonie. Interview with Pierre Trochet, President of IFAF.

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and the French Federation of American Football (FFFA) hand in hand. Last week, the two entities announced a partnership for a joint development project. The “Flag, football and Francophonie” initiative aims to build on the work of the FFFA in countries where the French language is major. Pierre Trochet, President of IFAF answered our questions.

Why did you launch this common development project centered around the Francophonie?

French is one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the world, with a heritage present in several countries in Europe, Africa, Canada, Oceania and the Pacific. … La Francophonie is a movement that values ​​this heritage. Within the 72 nations of the IFAF, there are a dozen of which French is the first language of the country, or at least an official language. Several French-speaking countries are in full development around our disciplines. I am thinking of Cameroon, which is growing very quickly, or even Morocco and its many initiatives around flag football.

“The FFFA has real know-how”

How is the FFFA a suitable ally for developing American football and flag practices around the world?

It was natural to turn to France, to be the leader of this dynamic of sharing and development. France is the second largest European nation in our federation, and the FFFA has real know-how in terms of coaching, referee training, youth development and access to practice. It is a federation on which we can rely for this Francophonie project. We also make the link with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and the influence of France in terms of sport. There is therefore fertile ground for opportunities for exchange and development of our sports, in French.

So is it the FFFA that is taking the lead on this project?

Absolutely, even if we do not exclude a rotation of the organizations involved in the project. The FFFA takes the lead in initiating exchanges, coordinating and facilitating the sharing of information and methods with the countries concerned. We are in a truly collaborative logic. Over time, we could particularly highlight Côte d’Ivoire, Belgium, Haiti, Guyana…

« Dexceptional relationship with the NFL »

This partnership is called “Flag, football and Francophonie”, which proves that the flag has a central place in the global development of IFAF…

Exactly, for several reasons. First, because access to sport is more open and inclusive. A mixed discipline, without contact, which allows anyone to play with little necessary equipment. It is a sport that is played everywhere and for everyone. The flag has a fun and family side. If we look at the French-speaking countries, the majority are developing, apart from France and Canada. Above all, we need desire, know-how, equipment, projects and inclusion. The flag is the perfect gateway, the fastest and the most efficient. In terms of participation, there are more than 20 million players, in a hundred countries. The flag is one of the sports which develop the most in the world, with the efforts of the IFAF but also of the NFL.

The NFL (the major American football league in the United States) is also carrying out development projects in French-speaking countries, particularly in Africa. How does the IFAF come to pose in complementarity?

We are fortunate to have exceptional relations with the NFL. It’s not a competition, we really have a complementary relationship. The IFAF is a governance body, while the NFL is a commercial enterprise, but we manage to align ourselves on a number of projects, in particular the Olympic campaign for Los Angeles 2028. We have common interests on African territory, along with several talents from the continent who have made it into the NFL comes its international programs. The NFL brings its means and its visibility, and we, the IFAF, bring our support to training, the local structuring of clubs, championships, referees… it is extremely complementary.

“The 2028 Olympics are not an end”

This weekend of May 21 and 22, the flag is holding its French championships in Montpellier. Is it generalized internationally to have this kind of structured competitions?

Yes completely. The full competition component of IFAF members ranges from regional to national championships, with men’s, women’s and mixed. There are also European championships, while continental competitions are being set up in Asia (in Indonesia) and in Africa. This is very important to us, and it is the job of an international federation to push for the organization of these competitions on its own continent. This is one of the levels that can also bring us closer to entering the Olympic Games for 2028, even if it is not an end. It would obviously be a great pleasure to join the Olympic family, but we look further with a lot of multi-sport competitions. We follow our playbook, and we are focused on our next touchdown!