One of the newest members of IFAF is Jordan, a nation whose associate membership was approved at the 2024 IFAF Congress in Lausanne in December.

Formed in 2023, the Jordan American Football Federation is led by President Mohammad Amer, who explains how the organization formed and how the sport is growing in the Asian nation.

“In 2012, we were a group of track athletes who were interested in other sports as well, and one of our teammates discovered flag football and brought a ball and flags to practice and we tried it,” Mohammad explains. “We discovered just how much fun and competitive this sport can be when we started playing against local expats.

“Since then, we made it our mission to spread and teach this sport in Jordan to the local population and have a legitimate federation under the Jordan Olympic Committee, which happened in 2023.”

American football traditionally attracts expats living in a nation where the sport is beginning to develop, but Jordan is eager to teach flag football and the appeal of tackle football to a homegrown generation. They aim to have a national team competing at this summer’s IFAF continental championships and qualify for the world championships and potentially the Olympic Games.

“We have some American players and some coaches, and we also have experienced Jordanian athletes and coaches who played abroad and are now working to pass on this knowledge to more locals,” said Mohammad. “We expect the next generation of coaches to be almost fully local.

“In the short term our goal is to continue what we started; to spread the sport of American football across Jordan and share the joys of this sport with everyone. So, this will naturally include adding more players, more teams and leagues, having more tournaments and much more.

“In the long term our goal is similar to the Jordan Olympic Committee, which is to represent Jordan in these prestigious international competitions, and no goal is bigger than the LA 2028 Olympics.”

Television and streaming services provide access to a growing fan and participation base through the NFL, which is growing in popularity among Jordanians. As all IFAF federations and new teams that have experienced growing pains can appreciate, there are challenges in developing the sport.

“The biggest challenges we face include the fact that fields and resources are finite, and it is difficult to go up against the needs and the will of bigger sports in such an environment,” explains Mohammad. “This is especially so when you are working directly with the authorities that are mandated to support youth and sports.

“Olympic inclusion for flag football and IOC membership of IFAF aids our cause considerably. It was those two things that gave us the last push needed to become a recognized federation in Jordan.”

Away from his role with JAFF, Mohammad is enrolled in a DTM (Dream Together Master) Global Sport Management Graduate Program at Seoul National University in Korea. He outlined the program’s appeal and availability to IFAF members at the IFAF Congress in Switzerland and hopes that some individuals will themselves enroll when the application process starts at the end of February.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for IFAF members to take advantage of a resource that is aimed at promoting global sport development by educating international sports administrators,” said Mohammad.

More details of the scholarship program, which provides an integrated and concentrated approach to the study of sport management are available at https://dtm.snu.ac.kr