American Football Association of Finland – SAJL was founded in 1979 when high school students returning from their exchange student year in United States in late 1970´s wanted to start organized sport in Finland.

Currently Finnish association has 33 member clubs and over 3000 license players playing in men’s (4 levels) and women’s (3 levels) leagues as well as in six different youth age categories U9-U20. In addition to tackle football, SAJL is also responsible for flag football activities in Finland. SAJL`s men’s and women’s national teams are the most successful national teams in Europe and Finland is the only country to have participated in all European championships in the sport since 1983.

SAJL is a member of International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and member of Finnish Olympic Committee. In 2019, American Football Association of Finland celebrated its 40th anniversary.