The International Korfball Federation (IKF) is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

korfball Korfball ( nl, korfbal) is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless baske ...

. IKF is responsible for the organisation of

's major international tournaments, notably the IKF World Korfball Championship. The IKF was founded on 11 June 1933 in Antwerp,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

as a continuation of the International Korfball Bureau established in 1924 by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Associations. The headquarters is in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, since December 2020, moving from

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 8 ...

. The IKF is officially recognized by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) in 1993 and is affiliated to

SportAccord Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) is the umbrella organisation for all (Olympic and non-Olympic) international sports federations as well as organisers of multi-sports games and sport-related international association ...

, the Association of the IOC Recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF) and the

International World Games Association The International World Games Association, abbreviated as IWGA, is an international association, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that organises every four years, beginning in 1981, the multi-sport event called The World Ga ...

(IWGA). The IKF aims to spread

around the globe and increase the level of play in the affiliated countries. The IKF has 69 member countries. It provides the affiliated countries via five Continental Confederations (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania) with financial, material and structural support to achieve the goals. It has established a network of contacts in many countries and is constantly expanding this network. IKF actively promotes the game by transferring knowledge internationally by exchange programs and inviting selected korfball players, coaches and administrators to its training courses in order to assist in the creation of a stable local organization and structure in all the affiliated countries. In response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, on March 1, 2022, the International Korfball Federation announced that the Russian Korfball Federation would not be invited until further notice to any international korfball competition. This implied effectively that no Russian athletes shall take part in any international korfball event. Furthermore, the Russian Korfball Federation shall not be eligible to bid for the hosting of any IKF event until further notice, and no IKF events were planned in Russia.

Structure

The IKF has 69 members at the moment. They are divided over five continental confederations for Europe, Asia, Americas, Africa and Oceanian. In 2018 the latest member to join was Thailand.

Members by Regions

69 Members:

Presidents

The IKF has had six presidents until now. All six have been from the Netherlands.

Council

The Council of the IKF consists of a President, a Secretary General, a Senior Vice-President, three other members of the Executive Committee and up to five Continental Vice-Presidents.

IKF structured tournaments

National team tournaments

* IKF World Korfball Championship * IKF European Korfball Championship * IKF Pan American Korfball Championship * IKF Asian Oceanian Korfball Championship * IKF African Korfball Championship *

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

Club tournaments

* IKF Europa Korfball Cup * IKF Europa Korfball Shield * IKF Europa Korfball Bowl

National youth team tournaments

* IKF U23 World Korfball Championship * IKF U23 Pan American Korfball Championship * IKF U23 Asian Oceanian Korfball Championship * IKF U21 World Korfball Championship * IKF U21 European Korfball Championship * IKF U19 Korfball World Cup * IKF U17 Korfball World Cup

University tournaments

* IKF University World Korfball Cup * IKF University Asian Korfball Championship

Beach Korfball tournaments

* IKF World Beach Korfball Championship

References

External links

* {{International Sports Federations

Korfball Korfball ( nl, korfbal) is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless baske ...

International sports organizations Korfball governing bodies Korfball in the Netherlands Sports governing bodies in the Netherlands Organisations based in Utrecht (city)