Sep 1 | Navy

BGIF

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Apparently Much Ado About Nothing

Apparently Much Ado About Nothing

According to this story in The Journal, an Irish media outlet based in Dublin on 8/9/12, the ND/Navy game is in jeopardy due to Navy not funding some promotional activities with the IAFA. Turns out the IAFA is not a sanctioned sports governing body so apparently Navy feels they don't have to comply.

I've found no other articles on this topic except later pickups by other services which simply link this article. The consensus of Irish (nationals) fans posting followup comments concur the IAFA has no authority (for what's that worth). The Game is popular with the locals although at least one fan doesn't care for our "mythical" leprechaun. Should be a hell of a pre game party at Temple Bar!


Contract dispute threatens sold-out American football game in Dublin


THEJOURNAL.IE HAS LEARNED the Emerald Isle Classic, estimated to be worth €100 million to the Irish economy, is under threat of cancellation.

The high-profile event, sponsored by The Gathering, is the first game of the American College Football season and will see the US Naval Academy take on Notre Dame, known as ‘The Fighting Irish’, in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on 1 September.

The game is sold out and is expected to have a massive TV audience as it is to be screened on CBS in the United States and worldwide via ESPN America.

However, a source has informed TheJournal.ie that the Irish American Football Association (IAFA) is threatening to initiate High Court proceedings this month to prevent the game taking place if the US Naval Academy (Navy) does not agree to honour the terms of a sanctioning agreement entered into with the IAFA and signed in March 2011.

As the National Governing Body (NGB) the IAFA claims it is responsible for allowing the event take place in Ireland.

Following six months of negotiations, Navy signed a sanctioning agreement with the IAFA in Dublin in March 2011. This document, seen by TheJournal.ie, was signed by Navy’s Associate Athletic Director, Robb Dunn.

The conditions attached to the sanctioning agreement were designed to facilitate the grassroots development of American football in Ireland, the most prominent of which was to be a ‘flag-football’ programme for 1,500 Irish schoolchildren.

To initiate this programme, Navy was due to open an Irish bank account from which Navy and an independent panel, not the IAFA, would distribute funds to support this programme. However, the IAFA claims that no progress has been made on this issue.

The IAFA also claims that Navy has failed to provide them with evidence the event is fully insured or with mandatory documentation relating to various health and safety matters surrounding the game, as per the sanctioning agreement.

When contacted by TheJournal.ie to respond to these claims, Navy failed to reply directly, instead issuing a brief statement through their PR company, Fleishman Hillard.

It reads:

It has been determined by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) that the Irish American Football Association has no jurisdiction over this particular game and therefore no sanction is required.
TheJournal.ie contacted IFAF to confirm this was the case as Article 4B of their 2009 statutes, under which the contested sanctioning agreement was signed, states: “[The Irish American Football Association] shall be recognized [sic] by IFAF as the only national governing body for all amateur American football in such a country.”

Furthermore, in July this year, the President of IFAF wrote to the IAFA to confirm that IFAF’s “international sanctioning rules cannot be applied” in this case and that the Emerald Isle Classic comes under the remit of the IAFA.

However, despite repeated attempts to contact the French-based organisation, IFAF have not clarified their position to TheJournal.ie.

The news of a possible cancellation of the game will be of concern to the estimated 33,000 fans travelling from the US for the game, as well as local supporters. Indeed, such is the demand for tickets, sets for four are selling for over €1,000 online.

TheJournal.ie understands the IAFA has attempted to initiate mediation with Navy but have been “frustrated” by the intervention of third parties who had little or no involvement before Navy signed the sanctioning agreement.

In a statement issued to TheJournal.ie an IAFA spokesperson 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 16 March 2011 after having been in possession of the proposed conditions since 21 October 2010. Until recently, they have not communicated any difficulties in respect of these matters to the IAFA.

A resolution looks unlikely any time soon with a source close to the dispute telling TheJournal.ie: “Navy’s apparent failure to respect the IAFA’s status as the National Governing Body could have a major impact on other sports in Ireland due to the undesirable precedent it would set for major events staged in this country.”

However, the IAFA has indicated a willingness to return to mediation with Navy in an effort to resolve this matter.
 

IrishMoore1

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Turns out it's a non-factor.

Eric Hansen ‏@hansensouthbend
@kocheronya Here is the response I got from Navy: "It has been determined by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF)

@kocheronya "... that the Irish American Football Association (IAFA) has no jurisdiction over this particular game

@kocheronya "and therefore no sanction is required." .... Thanks Blake for the head's up.
 

NDhoosier

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still, I hope Navy honors their agreement, kind of makes them look bad if they do not.
 

obi wan mahoney

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Navy Football Sights and Sounds Camp Week One - YouTube

I don't know much about them, but here is a short clip of their fall practices with links to a few recent interviews with coaches. Interesting stuff, it reminds me of my high school practices. Anyway, expect the usual gritty and under-sized option attack. Also, I think they'll try to surprise ND with a 20-30 yard pass at some point. On defense, it looks like Trav'es Bush (the senior who knows this defense well) will be the guy to watch
 
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dublinirish

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Emerald Isle Classic Press Release

Saturday, August 11th, 2012
Press release in response to recent media articles concerning the game.

Irish American Football Association Press Release – 10th August 2012
Emerald Isle Classic – Legal Situation

The Irish American Football Association (‘IAFA’)¹ is disappointed at the approach taken by the United States Naval Academy (‘Navy’) to the issues surrounding the upcoming Emerald Isle Classic game to take place in Aviva Stadium on 1st September. In Ireland, it is expected that large scale sporting events with significant commercial income should contribute to the sport at grassroots level and cooperate with the National Governing Body (‘NGB’)² on regulatory matters.
What happens from this point forward will have a major impact on all of sport in Ireland. There is a danger that if sanction contracts are not enforced, an undesirable precedent may be set whereby anyone can run a major sporting event in Ireland outside the control of the domestic NGB.
When this game was first proposed, the IAFA consulted with a variety of organisations including the Irish Sports Council in advance of putting together an appropriate set of development and promotional conditions for the event.
Due to the historic links between Ireland and visiting colleges, the IAFA decided not to seek a simple monetary contribution. It believed that both colleges might prefer to leave a tangible ‘lasting legacy’ in Ireland directly linked to the event. The principal grassroots development initiative is a flag football program to cater for up to 1,500 school children. There is also a provision to donate equipment to Irish Universities with football programs. It is the opinion of the IAFA that the two ‘pressure points’ in terms of the interest being generated by this event are the schools and universities sectors.
The proposals were communicated to Navy Athletic Director, Mr. Chet Gladchuk on 21st October 2010. Following some discussions over the winter of 2010/11, the IAFA met with Navy representatives in Dublin on 16th March 2011. At that meeting, Navy Associate Athletic Director, Mr. Robb Dunn, who is also the designated ‘Event Manager’, signed the relevant documentation in the presence of the IAFA and of Navy.
Since then the IAFA has been disappointed with the lack of communication from Navy concerning the implementation of the development initiatives and on the game in general. There have also some activities which are of concern to the IAFA during this period. In May of this year, the IAFA contacted Mr. Gladchuk highlighting the communications difficulties and drawing his attention to some regulatory issues which the IAFA considered needed to be addressed. The IAFA received no response to this correspondence. In June, the IAFA, on foot of legal advice, contacted Mr. Dunn highlighting those aspects of the contract that had not been complied with and again received no response. At that stage, the IAFA’s legal representatives started communicating with Navy.
The IAFA has made continual efforts to resolve the issues amicably including keeping communication channels open, hosting formal settlement talks, seeking to have the matter referred to mediation and attempting to have the matter resolved by both sides’ legal representatives. Unfortunately Navy has refused to engage constructively. Navy walked out of the settlement talks. Navy refused mediation.
The IAFA has received advice from Senior Counsel on these matters and is confident of its legal position. The IAFA Board has been advised that, due to Navy’s lack of engagement, the only option open to it is to seek the assistance of the High Court to enforce the sanction contract.
The IAFA has welcomed many visiting teams to its shores over the years including several NCAA teams. As a general rule, these teams have embraced the opportunity to forge links with the sport in Ireland. It is very disappointing that Navy has not adopted the same approach.
Press Officer
Irish American Football Association
10th August 2012
1. The IAFA is the officially recognised National Governing Body for the sport of American football in Ireland. It is a voluntary body funded mainly via membership subscriptions and Government grants. Its principal activities include the regulation and promotion of the sport in Ireland, running the IAFL (Irelands kitted football league), a schools flag football programme and the training and certification of coaches and officials.
2. In Ireland, National sporting Federations can apply for official recognition as a ‘National Governing Body’ of sport. This status is conferred on them via a Government agency. NGBs receive some development funding from central Government in return for regulating their sport.

a bit of do about nothing but perhaps its a bit of bad form on navy's part not to make a small gesture just for good PR.
 

Irishbounty28

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By halftime.
Really though, Navy has had an outstanding program for the last few years and will always come to play. I do not believe that we will see the thrashing that we saw last year. I think that we will struggle to score at some points within this game, but will debilitate their option offense. This will lead to a low scoring contest, somewhere around 28 to 7. Win goes to ND.
 
G

GBdomer

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ND 45
Navy 3

Leggo

Hahahahahahaahahahha we are starting a qb who has neve played a down of college football and we have zero proven play makers on the outside and were dropping 45. I'll have whatever your drinking.
 

cam2ham

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Hahahahahahaahahahha we are starting a qb who has neve played a down of college football and we have zero proven play makers on the outside and were dropping 45. I'll have whatever your drinking.

Our O - Line will still dominate Navy's D line, probably rush for at least 250. Just because we lost Michael Floyd doesn't mean we're totally retarded offensively now. We have a lot more weapons and a mobile QB. If we don't put up at least 35+ on them it's going to be a long year.
 

NDinFL

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Hahahahahahaahahahha we are starting a qb who has neve played a down of college football and we have zero proven play makers on the outside and were dropping 45. I'll have whatever your drinking.

Easy there,

Perhaps I should of used italics?
 

Who'saWildManNow

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I think we could def put 45 up.. Our running game is setup to be more successful than last years when we rushed for 7 TDs against them.

Also, Diaco & co. are a lot more comfortable planning for Navy's option (which they have weeks to do).

I don't think the idea of dropping 45 on the midshipmen this year is laughable but I can also see reasons for a closer game happening.
 

arrowryan

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We are more than capable of putting 45 points on the board. Navy has almost no chance of stopping or running game and our quarterback will obviously be extremely mobile so he can make plays with his feet.

For wide receivers, Michael Floyd was the best receiver in Irish history but my goodness, can we give the other guys some respect? We have the best tight end in college football, 3 very electric freshmen, also Tj Jones and Toma are prety good themselves.

We will be just fine without Floyd. Some of you guys haven't realized that yet
 

notredomer23

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Guys are drinking to much kool aid.

not really. its a navy team that lost almost anything good they had.

And I would rather have a QB who has never played a down of football in Golson than one who has with Rees, who by the way beat them by 45
 
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B

Buster Bluth

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not really. its a navy team that lost almost anything good they had.

And I would rather have a QB who has never played a down of football in Golson than one who has with Rees, who by the way beat them by 45

So what.

You only score 45 on Navy if you have the ball long enough to do so. That is not an easy thing to do. The offense will probably work, but will the Irish mentally show up?

We've watched this squad lose to a lot of teams that they should have destroyed. Predicting 45 points and blowouts is just ignorant of history at this point.
 

Who'saWildManNow

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Guys are drinking to much kool aid.

I understand where you're coming from with our issues and could see a close game but I would not be surprised if we throttle this team.

- Trey Miller is not Dobbs, hell, he's not even Proctor.. The kid just doesn't have it.

- Diaco has weeks to prepare.

- Navy is young and replacing 3 OL.

- They play right into our defensive strength.

Like I said, they always give 110% and fight hard but this isn't the same disorganized, unathletic ND they were able to take advantage of.
 

arrowryan

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I have a feeling GB will have a lot of crow to eat for lunch on September 1st
 

arrowryan

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If there is one thing you guys should know about me, I am extremely supertstitious. For some reason whenever I dream about Notre Dame playing their next oppnonent(Navy) they lose in real life. Well, I had that dream last night so now I am extremely nervous about this game. Call me crazy, call me whatever you want but when 9:00 comes around on September 1st I am going to be sweating bullets.
 

greyhammer90

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I'm predicting we win by 100. I mean when was the last time this team lost to inferior talent?

notre-dame-usf-p11.jpg


Or didn't show up for a big game?

65597143.jpg


And I can't even remember the last time we lost to a service academy.

Navy-22.jpg


You take that history and add a tendency to always play well with the lead...

notre-dame-michigan-f_hasc-1_s640x433.jpg


...and I don't see anyway we lose.
 

arrowryan

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I'm predicting we win by 100. I mean when was the last time this team lost to inferior talent?

notre-dame-usf-p11.jpg


Or didn't show up for a big game?

65597143.jpg


And I can't even remember the last time we lost to a service academy.

Navy-22.jpg


You take that history and add a tendency to always play well with the lead...

notre-dame-michigan-f_hasc-1_s640x433.jpg


...and I don't see anyway we lose.

NEGATIVE NANCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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