In 2026, the Flag Football State Team Tournament will take place, a competition organized by the Brazilian Confederation of American Football and Flag Football (CBFA). With the confirmed presence of the Amazonense team, in men’s and women’s modalities, the tournament is scheduled to be played between the 7th and 8th of March, in a location that has not yet been defined.
In a conversation with A Crítica, the president of the Amazonas Football and Flag Football Federation (Fefafam), Moises Bentes, spoke about the competition, which is still defining the final details, to be released at the beginning of next January. In any case, Amazonas’ participation in the tournament is confirmed, with the men’s and women’s teams already called up.
“We always choose the best athletes in the championship at the end of the season, but in conversation with the Brazilian Confederation, we were informed about the state selection tournament. Each state, which has a federation affiliated with the Brazilian Confederation, can form a state team in the men’s category and another for women, if they are interested, to participate in this tournament. Some information will only be defined from January 5th, but we are advancing our role here, which is to make the call”, he explains.
When asked about the difficulty of organizing for a tournament that does not yet have a defined location, Moisés points out that this is a key that has been hit since he took over as president, in November 2022. Despite the progress regarding information obtained more easily from the Brazilian Confederation, logistics are still a challenge.
“Since I took over the Federation, this has been my biggest question with the Brazilian Confederation, which is the anticipation of decisions, mainly so that the North, not just Amazonas, is not so affected by logistics, due to the lack of information. They have improved little by little, but this delay in making decisions has a huge impact on us due to purchasing tickets, accommodation, even because people work, so they have to rearrange vacations, negotiate with employers so that they can take a day off. So all this has to be adjusted”, he explains.
2025 Balance Sheet
Finally, the president of Fefafam took stock of the 2025 season, highlighting the positive points experienced by Flag Football, which motivated athletes and those passionate about the sport. Furthermore, he projected the year 2026, where there will be a certain additional difficulty due to the World Cup, which affects the national football calendar and, consequently, affects the Flag with regard to stadiums.
“2025 was a year of many challenges, but also a promising year, of harvest in general, where we could see the Flag receiving support in a very comprehensive way, due to the help from the COB, the Brazilian Championship having a Master sponsor. This encourages us, from state federations, to seek these same improvements for our athletes and teams. So, it was certainly a very challenging year, but a year that was a watershed, where we were able to harvest things that not even American football managed to harvest in Brazil”, begins Moses, which he completes.
“In 2026, it will be a year that tends to be very challenging as well, as we have the World Cup, so this compromises the agenda of stadiums throughout Brazil a little, due to the change in the calendar of state football championships. But we hope that it will certainly be a better year than 2025, especially in terms of supporting the growth and promotion of Flag Football in the state of Amazonas and in Brazil as a whole”, he concludes.
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