Canadian men granted win at IFAF Flag Football World Championships after Nigeria withdraws

Montreal Alouettes

The Canadian men’s team has already won a game at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Flag Football World Championships — and they haven’t even stepped on the field.

On Monday, it was announced that Nigeria has been forced to withdraw from competition in women’s and men’s play. According a joint statement from IFAF, the National Sports Commission of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Federation of American Football, the withdrawal was caused by the inability to secure the necessary travel visas.

“Over the past 10 days, IFAF, together with its event partners and the relevant authorities, has made significant efforts behind the scenes to explore every possible avenue to enable the teams to travel to Germany. Regrettably, all parties were informed this morning that the visas would not be issued in time for the Championships,” read the statement.

“Our thoughts are first and foremost with the athletes and team staff, who have worked hard to earn their place at these Championships as the inaugural IFAF African Flag Football Champions. They were looking forward to proudly representing Nigeria and making their debut appearance on the world stage.”

As there wasn’t enough time to select an alternate team for competition, Nigeria’s three group stage opponents, including Canada, have been awarded an automatic victory.

The Canadian men (1-0) will now play only two group games in Düsseldorf, Germany, where the tournament is being held at a temporary venue. The first will take place on Thursday, August 13 at 5:45 a.m. EDT against Austria, followed by a 2:00 a.m. EDT game against Japan on Friday, August 14.

The Canadian women will still play three group games. The first two are set for Thursday, August 13 against Panama (2:00 a.m. EDT) and Brazil (8:15 a.m. EDT). The team will then face Japan on Friday, August 14 at 4:30 a.m. EDT.

All group games will be broadcast on IFAF’s official YouTube page.

The Canadian women’s team is coached by World Champion player and coach Rachel Lessard, while the Canadian men’s team is coached by longtime CFL coach and TSN analyst Paul LaPolice.

The rosters for the respective teams are as follows:

# | Player | Position | Hometown
22 Mikaëlle Azar, DB/DD, Montreal, QC
55 Laurence Caron, DB/DD, Montreal, QC
17 Léa Duval, RUSH, Saint-Lazare, QC
18 Alexane Fournier, SNAP/REC, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC
12 Sabrina Gervais (C), DB/DD, Maskinongé, QC
30 Samantha Hopkins, DB/DD, Calgary, AB
4 Rosalie Landry, DB/DD, Repentigny, QC
81 Laura Molimard, SNAP/REC, Vaudreuil, QC
15 Caroline Moquin-Joubert (C), WR/RE, Saint-Lambert, QC
1 Frédérique Morneau, WR/RE, Quebec City, QC
11 Sara Parker, QB/QA, Greenfield Park, QC
10 Marianne Quirion, WR/RE, Sherbrooke, QC

#| Player | Position | Hometown
8 Antony Auclair (C), WR/RE, Quebec City, QC
2 Guillaume Beland (C), CB/DC, Montreal, QC
21 Anthony Brisebois, HB/DD, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC
5 Émile Chênevert, HB/DD, Quebec City, QC
24 Marc-Antoine Dequoy, RUSH/CB, Île Bizard, QC
3 James Drysdale, WR/RE, Terrebonne, QC
22 Maxym Lavallée (C), HB/DD, Quebec City, QC
15 Michael O’Connor, QB/QA, Ottawa, ON
23 Daniel Petermann, WR/RE, Stoney Creek, ON
4 Jackson Tachinski, WR/RE, Winnipeg, MB
11 François Rocheleau, WR/RE, Montreal, QC
13 Philippe Pharand, RUSH, Montreal, QC