NFL workforce house owners have formally accepted a decision permitting gamers to compete in flag soccer on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the league introduced Tuesday.
The NFL had lengthy supported the concept, and a number of other star athletes – together with two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes – had expressed curiosity in representing their nation.
The initiative took a significant step ahead as house owners gave their unanimous approval throughout a league assembly in Minnesota.
“It’s an incredible honor for any athlete to represent their country in the Olympics, which is the pinnacle of global sport,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated in a press release.
“I do know firsthand that the inclusion of flag soccer within the Olympics has sparked an amazing quantity of pleasure amongst NFL gamers within the probability to compete for his or her nation on the world stage.
“We are thrilled that they will now have that chance.”
The league, NFL Players Association, Olympic entities, and the game’s international governing physique, the International Federation of American Football, will now work out the fantastic particulars, together with harm safety measures, requirements for discipline surfaces, and participant workload and schedule administration.
NFL gamers are anticipated to undergo a tryout or qualification course of to compete for his or her nationwide groups, similar to some other Olympic hopeful, the league stated.
NFL workforce house owners voted unanimously in favor of the decision, in response to NFL Network.
The announcement raises the tantalizing risk of a brand new “Dream Team,” 36 years after the gold medal-winning U.S. basketball workforce loaded with NBA stars.
“Reverting back to being a kid and watching the track and field meets, watching basketball win the gold medal – that’s something that, as a kid, I always wanted to be a part of, but football wasn’t global,” Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson stated at a news convention. “So now we’re expanding the game. It’s pretty cool.”
“Dream Team” or not, the transfer is anticipated to inject main star energy into the flag soccer competitors, with the potential to convey a few of U.S. sports activities’ largest names to their house Games in a rustic the place the NFL reigns supreme.
“It really takes us a step closer to fulfilling our promise to have these be the greatest Games that America is capable of hosting,” LA28 chair and president Casey Wasserman instructed Reuters.
A lifelong Cleveland Browns fan who served as a ball boy for the workforce as a child, Wasserman stated he was keenly conscious of the highlight NFL gamers might convey to the Olympic stage.
“These athletes – yes, they will bring an immense amount of attention to the flag football tournament – but they will bring an immense amount of attention to the entire Olympic program, because this will be truly life-altering for them as well,” he stated.
The NFL has ramped up promotion of the game – a non-contact format of American soccer – for the reason that IOC accepted it for the LA28 program in 2023, with a watch towards drawing extra girls right into a sport lengthy dominated by males.
The Olympics may also assist advance the NFL’s longstanding worldwide ambitions, because the league continues to globalize the sport.
Six males’s groups and 6 girls’s groups are anticipated to compete in flag soccer on the 2028 Los Angeles Games, with 10 gamers per workforce competing in a five-on-five format.
Source: www.dailysabah.com