With a two-third majority vote, the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) officially placed the Iroquois Nationals in the top Blue Division of the 2014 World Championships, which will be played this upcoming July in Denver, Colorado.
The Iroquois’ promotion means that someone is going to be left out. Typically, the Blue Division is comprised of top six teams from the previous World Championship. However, in 2014 that will not be the case. Let the controversy begin: despite finishing 6th overall in 2010, the FIL voted to relegate the German squad to the lower division.
Originally, when the FIL released the initial 2014 brackets in April, Germany was in and Iroquois was out which understandably sparked outrage considering lacrosse’s Native American origins. As reported by laxmagazine.com: According to the existing FIL bylaw (11.1), the Iroquois Nationals’ absence from the 2010 world championship in Manchester, England, due to a dispute over their Haudenosaunee-issued passports — and the resultant forfeiture of their games — would have placed them 30th and left them out of the top flight for the US Lacrosse-hosted 2014 world championship in Denver.
Despite the teams’ absence in 2010, the Iroquois quickly appealed the April decision and eventually garnered enough support from the FIL General Assembly to have the member nations reject the original decision thus opening the door for Iroquois’ inclusion.
In an effort to resolve the predicament, the FIL considered all options including a play-in game between Iroquois and Germany (which Germany denied) as well as expanding the Blue Division to seven or eight teams (which was ultimately turned down due to financial constraints).
Ultimately, as evident through their vote, the 28 full member nations felt the Iroquois were deserving of the sixth and final spot for 2014. As July approaches, storylines will undoubtedly continue to stem from the verdict. The FIL General Assembly will meet in Denver to discuss future alterations to the tournament’s structure for 2018 and beyond.
The 28 full member nations are: Australia, Austria, Bermuda, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Haudenosaunee, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States and Wales.
For the latest news on Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse, visit them on their website at: http://iroquoisnationals.org/1.7/
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