IQA Accused of Being Eurocentric While Announcing the Dates of IQA World Cup in USA
US Quidditch (USQ) and Quidditch Canada decided not to participate in the IQA Pan-American Games this year. Although they both participated in an event that was aired live on national TV after Muggle quidditch changed its name to quadball, they didn’t explain their absence from the IQA Pan-American Games. One op-ed did.
An anonymous author wrote an op-ed titled “The State of the IQA” that was shared on the Muggle quidditch website Fastbreak News. The IQA Continental Games were part of the main complaint from the author about the International Quidditch Association’s (IQA) being Eurocentric.
First, the author of the op-ed mentioned what led the IQA and USQ to split into two organizations: It was because the prior organization was too Americentric. Seven years later, it’s different. The IQA has hosted six tournaments in Europe since the split: the IQA Europeans Games in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 and the IQA World Cup in both 2016 and 2018. Meanwhile, the IQA has held only one tournament in North America, the IQA Pan-American Games in 2019, and only one in South America, the IQA Pan-American Games in 2022.
Another IQA event in America will be IQA World Cup 2023. It should have been held this year, but the IQA decided to postpone it and organize the IQA Continental Games sooner due to the dangers of COVID-19.
You would expect the IQA to have to pare its events down in 2022. But the European Games this weekend are anything but that. Instead, the Games are a 20-team, three-continent event that for almost all intents and purposes could be called the 2022 World Cup. It has one [fewer] team competing than the 2016 IQA World Cup, and only nine [fewer] than the 2018 World Cup. And once again, that veritable World Cup is in Europe.
I say [‘]veritably[‘] [sic] because five total NGBs [national governing bodies] were not welcome at the 2022 European Games: Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Peru and the United States, all of whom were required to play at the 2022 Pan-American Games in Peru or not at all.
The anonymous author also explained why the United States and Canada decided not to go to the IQA Pan-American Games. It is because it is more expensive and longer to travel to Ireland, where they could play against 20 teams instead of three in Peru.
Despite the op-ed accusing the IQA of being Eurocentric, the next IQA World Cup will be organized in Richmond, Virginia, and the IQA has already announced the dates. The tournament will be held on July 15–16, 2023.
While this debate is happening, the United States of America has had a larger influence on the sport. It was USQ and Major League Quidditch (MLQ) that started the process of changing the name of the sport, and the IQA wasn’t involved at first. Months later, Muggle quidditch changed its name to quadball because of the decision made in the United States.
The same things are happening with rule books. Rules that have been standard for USQ and MLQ, such as beginning the seeker floor at the 20th minute or tackling with both arms, have been adopted into the new IQA rule book. It looks like whatever USQ and MLQ change, the IQA will use it sooner or later, and it will become standard for everyone.
