The World Championship, held once every four years, was due to be held in Stockholm from July 4 until 18 but the IFAF have confirmed that economic reasons have led to the tournament being moved from Sweden.

"It is with great sadness that we have to accept the fact that the Local Organising Committee despite hard work the last three years have no succeeded in raising the sponsor structure to run an event this size," said Roope Noronen, acting President of the IFAF.

"Stockholm would have been a great city to run the World Championship in 2015.

"It had the best possible arenas, great hotels and was supported by the local communities.

"It is unfortunately a matter of fact that the international economic climate is not at its best and the IFAF have to save the tournament by moving it to another host country."

The IFAF are hopeful that the World Championships will still take place this year and have stated that a final decision will be made after they receive responses from the participants of the tournament to the proposed new location of Cantion, Ohio.

The 2015 World Championships would see the US team bidding for a third consecutive title ©Getty Images



The decision to move the tournament also means that Sweden will not be qualified to play in the fifth World Championship, with the US seeking to claim a third consecutive title.

"We have to focus on the European Championship instead," said Minette Rogner, acting President of the Swedish American football Federation.

"It would have been a great step in our growth, hosting the 2015 World Championships in Stockholm.

"We have during the past few months become aware that the company in charge of organising the tournament have had difficulties in reporting the progress of the preparations and this has ended with the IFAF taking this decision, which we fully support".

The 2015 World Championships would have seen Sweden host the expanded tournament, with 12 participating teams taking part, increasing from eight teams that competed in the 2011 edition in Vienna.

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