IHF — International Handball Federation

What is the IHF?

The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the international federation for handball. Its statutes open: “The International Handball Federation (IHF) founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Basel, is a non-profit federation as described in art. 60 ff of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB)”.^[1] The same statutes state that “The IHF shall lead, develop and promote handball around the world”, and they refer elsewhere to beach handball and wheelchair handball as well as indoor handball.^[1] Olympedia, an independent Olympic-history database, lists beach handball as an IHF discipline.^[15]

The statutes name English, French and German as the official languages.^[1] The IHF’s members page describes the federation in one sentence: “IHF was founded in 1946 to oversee international competitions. Headquartered in Basel, its membership now comprises 211 national federations.”^[2]

Olympedia’s list of presidents runs from Gösta Björk of Sweden (1946–1950) to Hassan Moustafa, in office since 2000.^[15] The IHF’s council page gives Moustafa’s current term as 2025–2029, and states that all council members serve four-year terms.^[5]

What does the IHF govern?

Rules and regulations. The IHF’s regulations index groups its rule-making into the statutes, legal provisions, transfer and player-eligibility regulations, competition regulations, the Rules of the Game, referees’ and technical regulations, anti-doping regulations, an ethics code, regulations on penalties and fines, and coaching-education regulations.^[6] See transfer systems and officials and referees.

Wheelchair handball. The IHF describes itself “as the governing body for international wheelchair handball competitions” and says it set up a working group to write rules for two variants, four-a-side and six-a-side, before deciding “to focus on the four-a-side variant for future IHF wheelchair handball events.” It states its goal “to bring wheelchair handball to the Paralympic Games.”^[7]

Anti-doping. The statutes provide that “The WADA Code and standards in force shall be an integral part of the Anti-Doping Rules.”^[1] The IHF’s Anti-Doping Regulations state that they “shall apply to the IHF and to each of its National and Continental Federations, Players, Player Support Personnel and other Persons”, each of whom is deemed, as a condition of membership, accreditation or participation, to have agreed to be bound by them.^[10] The International Testing Agency states that it has supported the IHF in delivering its anti-doping programme “since January 2019”, covering testing, therapeutic use exemptions and results management.^[11]

Disputes. The statutes refer Olympic and anti-doping disputes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.^[1]

When was the IHF founded and where is it based?

The IHF’s statutes and members page both give 1946 as the founding year without a day or place.^[1][2] Olympedia gives the full date and place, on both its handball and its federation pages: the IHF “was founded on 11 July 1946, in København, Denmark”.^[3][15]

Predecessor. Olympedia records that the IHF succeeded an earlier body, the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF), “founded on 4 August 1928”.^[3] The IAHF’s founding (1928) and the IHF’s (1946) are two dates for two bodies, and neither is a date of IOC recognition. No renaming of the IHF itself appears in the statutes or Olympedia’s record.^[1][15]

Seat. The statutes fix the headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.^[1] The IHF gives its head-office postal address as Steinengraben 25/39, P.O. Box, 4002 Basel, Switzerland.^[4] The founding city, Copenhagen, and the statutory seat, Basel, are separate facts.

How is the IHF recognised?

IOC. The IHF statutes state: “The International Olympic Committee recognises the IHF as the sole representative of international handball.”^[1] Neither the statutes nor Olympedia’s handball and federation pages give a date for that recognition, so the recognition year could not be established from a retrieved source.^[3][15] The sport’s Olympic history is dated separately. Olympedia records that at Berlin 1936 handball “was contested outdoors, on a large field, with 11 men to a side, often termed field handball”; that it “was not again on the Olympic Programme until 1972, when it was added to the Olympics at München”, indoors with seven a side; and that “In Montréal 1976, women’s handball became an Olympic sport.”^[3] See Olympic Games.

ASOIF. The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations lists the International Handball Federation among its 30 full members.^[8]

WADA. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of Code signatories carries the International Handball Federation (IHF) under the heading for ASOIF members.^[9]

Paralympic. Wheelchair handball is not on the Paralympic programme; the IHF states that bringing it there is a goal.^[7]

What does the IHF organise?

World Championships. The IHF numbers the 2027 men’s championship as the 30th and the 2025 women’s as the 27th.^[12][13] The 29th men’s championship was co-hosted in 2025 by Croatia, Denmark and Norway with 32 teams; Denmark beat Croatia 32–26 in the final, which the IHF describes as Denmark “securing their fourth consecutive title”.^[14] The 27th women’s championship was played in Germany and the Netherlands from 26 November to 14 December 2025 with 32 teams; Norway beat Germany 23–20 in the final at the Ahoy in Rotterdam.^[13] The 30th men’s championship is scheduled in Germany from 13 to 31 January 2027 with 32 teams.^[12] See IHF World Handball Championships.

Beach and wheelchair handball. The 12th men’s and women’s Beach Handball World Championships were held in Croatia from 23 to 28 June 2026, and the 4th IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship in Spain from 16 to 20 September 2026.^[16] The IHF traces its wheelchair championships to the “1st IHF Four-a-Side Wheelchair Handball World Championship Egypt 2022”.^[7]

Clubs. The IHF Men’s Club World Championship 2026 is being played in Egypt from 24 September to 1 October 2026.^[16]

Who are its members?

The IHF gives its membership as 211 national federations.^[2] Olympedia independently gives the same figure — 211 affiliated national federations as of January 2026.^[3]

The statutes provide that “Only one federation per country shall be entitled to IHF membership”, and set out three membership categories: full members, which vote, and associated and regional members, which have observer status without a vote.^[1]

Members are grouped into six continental confederations, which the IHF lists as CAHB (African Handball Confederation), AHF (Asia), EHF (Europe), NACHC (North America and Caribbean), OCHF (Oceania) and SCAHC (South and Central America).^[2] The statutes recognise the same six regions — Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, North America and the Caribbean, and South and Central America.^[1] See international federations.