The International Football Federation (IFAF) has confirmed that Lahti, Finland, located 90 minutes north of Helsinki, will host the 2024 Flag Football World Championships.
In a statement IFAF President Pierre Trochet said, “We are delighted to entrust Finland and SAJL with the hosting rights to the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships, which will be the most important edition of the tournament to-date as we focus on leveraging the significant momentum and growth opportunities of this youthful, global, highly accessible and inclusive discipline of our sport.”
The Championships will be held at the Pajulahti Training Center and will feature the world’s top 10 male and female flag football teams. It will be held August 25-30, 2024.
IFAF made the announcement on the sidelines of the 2022 IFAF Women’s World Championship in tackle football, which took place in the city of Vantaa, Finland. The Championship was a co-partnership with the American Football Association of Finland (SAJL).
In the final the U.S. women’s national team defeated surprise finalist Great Britain in the gold medal game.
“Finland has consistently proven an outstanding partner for IFAF events. The country’s innovative vision, youthful spirit and passion for sport – especially women’s sport – are a great match for everything we are trying to achieve with flag football,” said Trochet.
Flag football was recently in the spotlight as it made it debut at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. Competition was fierce and entertaining as the Mexican women’s team pulled out an historic victory over the USA. Italy and Panama also medaled in a competitive international field.
All games in the 2024 World Championship will take place at Pajulahti, the only official Olympic and Paralympic training center in Finland.
“We offer our thanks to Roope Nornen, President of SAJL, and all his local stakeholders, especially at Pajulahti, for sharing our ambition and commitment to deliver a groundbreaking event befitting the extraordinary trajectory of flag football worldwide.”
The 2024 Lahti tournament will serve as the climax of the biggest-ever international cycle of flag football competition, including full continental representation for the first time.
“We are proud of all our work and investment to develop a sustainable global competition structure for flag football, of which this tournament will be the pinnacle,” concluded Trochet.