Six-Team European Championship Kicks Off In Germany

Host Germany welcomes Austria, Finland, France, Great Britain and Sweden; Tournament will determine European entries for 2011 IFAF World Championship

Thursday, July 22 – PARIS, FRANCE – The top six senior national American football teams in Europe will compete in the region of Hessen, Germany, from July 24-31 for the 12th EFAF (European Federation of American Football) European Championship.

Host Germany, reigning champion Sweden, Austria, Finland, France and Great Britain will compete at three venues in the cities of Frankfurt, Wetzlar and Wiesbaden in two groups for the right to contest the Championship Game on Saturday, July 31.

In addition to crowning one country as the prestigious champions of Europe, the tournament will also determine which nations represent the continent at next summer’s eight-team 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship to be held in Austria. The two top-placed teams, in addition to qualified host Austria, will join the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and either Japan or Korea at the IFAF tournament.

Rivals Germany and Austria kick off the European Championship at 7.30pm local time (1.30pm EST) on Saturday, July 24 at the impressive Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, which has hosted the FIFA World Cup, NFL Europe World Bowl and German Bowl championships. The following day, Sweden begins the defense of its crown won in 2005 against France at the Stadium Wetzlar at 4pm (10am EST).

All games will be featured on a live game ticker that provides play-by-play updates and statistics at the official event website www.football-em.de.

Group matches will continue on Tuesday, July 27 and Thursday, July 29 to determine which top two teams will advance to the July 31 Championship Game at the Commerzbank-Arena. Second placed teams will meet for third place and those finishing third in their respective groups for fifth place.

Paris-based Eurosport, Europe’s leading TV sports channel, will air the championships final on Eurosport 2, at 7.30pm CET. Eurosport 2 is broadcast in up to ten languages and available through most major TV cable systems. In Germany and Austria the program may be received via Astra satellite, live streaming via IP-TV may be accessed worldwide at [URL]http://video.eurosport.de/eurosport-player.

Group A
Austria
Finland
Germany

Group B
France
Great Britain
Sweden

Date	Game	Venue	City	Time
Saturday, 24.07	Germany – Austria	Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	19:30
Sunday, 25.07	Sweden – France	Stadium Wetzlar	Wetzlar	16:00
Tuesday, 27.07	France – Great Britain	Stadium Wetzlar	Wetzlar	16:00
Tuesday, 27.07	Austria – Finland	Stadium Wetzlar	Wetzlar	19:30
Thursday, 29.07	Sweden – Great Britain	Brita Arena	Wiesbaden	16:00
Thursday, 29.07	Finland – Germany	Brita Arena	Wiesbaden	19:30
Saturday, 31.07	Game for 5th place	Prefield Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	10:00
Saturday, 31.07	Game for 3rd place	Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	16:00
Saturday, 31.07	Finale	Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	19:30

In its 11-year history, the European Championship has been won five times by Finland (1985, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000), which included four consecutive titles won between 1993 and 2000. Italy hosted and won the inaugural championship in 1983 and triumphed again in 1987 and is a two-time winner alongside Great Britain, who won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1991. Germany won its first crown in 2001 and Sweden also won for the first time in 2005.