World Footy News

The Danish Australian Football League (DAFL), Australian Football League Sweden (AFL Sweden) and the European Australian Football Association (EAFA) today announced the official schedule for the inaugural 16-a-side 2010 European Championships of Australian Football.

The schedule outlines the sixteen matches that will ultimately determine the European Champion until the next European Championships in 2013.

The participants are Europe’s best locally developed (non-Australian) international teams representing 8 different nations. As favorites, Ireland will be looking to continue its dominance in Australian Football in Europe, but will have strong competition from Great Britain and Germany, as well as host nations Denmark and Sweden.

As for Finland, Croatia and Iceland, they will be looking to make an impact, test themselves against the experienced teams, and use the tournament to continue preparations towards the 2011 International Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

The best European developed talent from all corners of the continent will converge at Stefan BK in Copenhagen for the opening round of matches at 12:00 pm, Sunday August 1st, 2010.

On Tuesday 3rd and Thursday 5th August split rounds, matches will be played simultaneously at Stenvadsskole in Farum, Denmark and Limhamnsfältet in Malmö Sweden.

For the Finals round, all nations will come together at 11am, Saturday 7th August at Limhamnsfältet in Malmö, Sweden where the European Championships Grand Final will be played.

“The release of the pool divisions and match schedule is really the moment where we enter the final stages of the organization of the tournament” said AFL Sweden President Jörg Pareigis. “The local organizing teams in Denmark and Sweden can start to get excited, and get ready to support their national teams."

DAFL President Daniel McClaer said "It is always exciting to see the schedule announced, it allows for a greater sense of anticipation as teams start to think about matchup’s and strategy."

The tournament will commence with the first ball up at Stefan Boldklubb in Copenhagen, Denmark on Sunday, August 1st, 2010 at 12:00 noon (GMT+1) in a game between Croatia and co-hosts Sweden. The gold medal game will take place on Saturday, August 7th, at 5:00 p.m. (GMT+1), with the Awards ceremony taking place thereafter.

For more information on the event, visit ec2010.info.

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