Mexico will be one of the NFL test venues where the talents of 50 players from 15 countries will be assessed in October. The search for talent abroad is similar to what the Association usually does in Indianapolis in order to discover young people with potential. The central test will be in London, at Tottenham Hotspur on October 12, while Mexico will receive those who cannot travel to the UK due to pandemic restrictions.
Players from Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, France, Nigeria, Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Finland, Sweden and Hungary will attend the training sessions.
“Through these experiences, we hope to discover new talent, promote the sport globally, and provide participants with the opportunity to compete at the highest level,” said Damiani Leech, NFL International Program Director.
The athletes will be judged based on the NFL’s International Player Track Program, which has featured such figures as Jacob Johnson (New England), Evie Ubadah (Buffalo) and Samis Reyes (Washington) of Chile.
Players who meet certain requirements and demonstrate playability in the NFL will be invited to train in the United States for a period of three months, and those selected will be assigned to NFL teams in 2022. Similar tests have already been conducted by the NFL in Australia in 2018 and in Germany. in 2019.
Mexico City ensured the return of the NFL’s regular season matches for 2022 and 2023. The league had planned trips south of its borders to play matches on its regular schedule last year and this year, but the pandemic did not allow it to happen.
“We are sure that we have a match next year, and we are already thinking about having a match in 2022, in the hope that the conditions of the pandemic will allow it, as was not the case in 2020 and 2021. We are confident that we will be able to do so,” Arturo said. Oliva, Mexico’s NFL general manager, “back to Mexico with a game in November.”
The Mexican capital hosted matches in the 2016, 2017 and 2019 seasons. A match scheduled for 2018 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams was canceled due to poor turf conditions at Azteca Stadium. The NFL and Televisa, which owns the property, have signed an agreement to hold matches in Mexico through 2021.
“It’s not compensation, it’s a transfer of commitments that can’t be implemented, so what we’ve done is move those two dates to 2022 and 2023. I don’t want to create uncertainty, everything is in place and working, now we’re at the start of the season, but then we’re back to The internal issues of the game planning process,” Olivier explained.
Mexico is the country outside the United States with the largest number of NFL fans. According to the latest study by the association, released by Olivé, about 48 million fans follow this sport in the country.
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