International Handball Federation facts for kids

Quick facts for kids International Handball Federation
Sport	Handball
Other Sports	Beach handball Wheelchair handball
History
Preceding organisations	International Amateur Athletic Federation (1926–1928) International Amateur Handball Federation (1928–1946)
Year of formation	12 July 1946; 79 years ago (1946-07-12)
Demographics
Membership size	209 members
Affiliations
Other affiliation(s)	International Olympic Committee Association of Summer Olympic International Federations
Governance
President	Hassan Moustafa
Honorary president	Erwin Lanc
Headquarters
Address	Peter Merian-Strasse 23, P.O. Box CH-4002, Basel
Country	Switzerland
General director	Amal Khalifa
Official language(s)	English, French and German
Main organ	IHF Congress IHF Council
Finance
Company status	Active
Operating income	CHF 7.24 million or US$ 7.84 million (in 2022) CHF 2.10 million or US$ 2.28 million (in 2023)
Sponsors	Gerflor Hummel International Sportfive Molten Corporation
Regions
Africa Asia Europe North America and Caribbean Oceania South and Central America

The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the main organization for handball and beach handball around the world. It is in charge of organizing the biggest international handball tournaments. These include the IHF World Men's Handball Championship, which started in 1938, and the IHF World Women's Handball Championship, which began in 1957.

The IHF was created in 1946 to manage international handball competitions. Its main office is in Basel, Switzerland. Today, 209 national handball groups are members. Each member country must also belong to one of the six regional groups. These regions are Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Caribbean, Oceania, and South and Central America. Hassan Moustafa from Egypt has been the President of the IHF since November 26, 2000.

History of Handball's Top Group

Before the IHF, there was a group called the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF). It was started in Amsterdam during the 1928 Olympic Games.

The IHF itself was founded on July 12, 1946. This happened at the Palace Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. Representatives from eight countries helped start it. These founding countries were Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The first president of the IHF was Gösta Björk from Sweden. In 1950, Hans Baumann from Switzerland took over as president. The first Men's World Championship was held in 1954 in Sweden. Six national teams played in it. In 1957, the first IHF World Women's Handball Championship took place in SFR Yugoslavia. Nine national teams competed there. Handball became an Olympic sport for men in Munich 1972. Women's handball joined the Olympics in Montreal 1976.

How the IHF Works

Rules and Leadership

The IHF is based in Basel, Switzerland. It follows the laws of Switzerland.

The most important group in the IHF is the IHF Congress. This is a meeting where representatives from every member country come together. Each country's handball group gets one vote, no matter how big or strong it is. The Congress meets every two years, usually after the IHF World Men's Handball Championship.

The Congress makes decisions about the IHF's rules and how they are used. Only the Congress can change the IHF's main rules. It also looks at reports, decides if new countries can join, and holds elections. The Congress chooses the IHF President, the General Secretary, and other members of the IHF Council.

The IHF Council is led by the President. It makes the main decisions when the Congress is not meeting. The Council has 18 people: the President, 5 Vice Presidents, and 12 other members. This group decides which country will host the World Championship.

The President and General Secretary are the main leaders of the IHF. They manage the daily work, which is done by the General Secretariat. Hassan Moustafa became the current president in 2000.

Six Regional Groups and 209 Countries

The IHF works with six continental groups. These groups organize championships for their regions every two years. They are:

• African Handball Confederation
• Asian Handball Federation
• European Handball Federation
• North America and the Caribbean Handball Confederation
• Oceania Continent Handball Federation
• South and Central America Handball Confederation

Besides competitions for national teams, these regional groups also arrange international tournaments for club teams.

Until 2017, there were five continental groups. On January 14, 2018, the IHF Council split the Pan-American group into two new ones. These are the North America and the Caribbean Handball Confederation and the South and Central America Handball Confederation.

IHF Presidents Over Time

Here is a list of the people who have been President of the IHF:

No.	Name	Country	Term
1.	Gösta Björk	Sweden	July 11, 1946 – September 9, 1950
2.	Hans Baumann†	Switzerland	September 9, 1950 – February 9, 1971
Interim	Paul Högberg	Sweden	February 9, 1971 – August 23, 1972
3.	Paul Högberg	Sweden	August 23, 1972 – July 25, 1984
4.	Erwin Lanc	Austria	July 25, 1984 – November 26, 2000
5.	Hassan Moustafa	Egypt	November 26, 2000 – present

† Hans Baumann passed away while in office on February 9, 1971.

IHF Executive Committee Members

This is the IHF Executive Committee for the years 2021 to 2025:

Role	Name
President	Hassan Moustafa
1st Vice-president	Joël Delplanque
Treasurer	Anna Rapp
Executive members	Narcisa Lecușanu
	František Táborský
Managing director	Amal Khalifa

IHF Council

The IHF Council is the main group that makes decisions for the IHF. It works between the big meetings of the IHF Congress. The current Council is serving from 2021 to 2025.

IHF Tournaments

The IHF organizes many exciting tournaments for different types of handball.

Handball

• IHF World Men's Handball Championship
• IHF World Women's Handball Championship
• IHF Men's Junior World Championship (for players under 21)
• IHF Women's Junior World Championship (for players under 20)
• IHF Men's Youth World Championship (for players under 19)
• IHF Women's Youth World Championship (for players under 18)
• IHF Emerging Nations Championship (for developing handball countries)
• IHF Inter-Continental Trophy

Beach Handball

• IHF Beach Handball World Championship
• IHF Youth Beach Handball World Championship (for younger players)
• IHF Beach Handball Global Tour

Wheelchair Handball

• IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship

Club Handball

• IHF Super Globe (for men's club teams)
• IHF Women's Super Globe (for women's club teams)

Multi-Sport Events

• Handball at the Summer Olympics
• Beach handball at the World Games
• Beach handball at the World Beach Games

Current Champions

International Champions

Here are the current champions of major international handball tournaments:

Competition	Men's Champion	Women's Champion
World Cup	DEN (2023) (3)	France (2023) (3)
Handball Olympic Tournament	DEN (2024) (2)	Norway (2024) (3*)
Emerging Nations Championship	GBR (2025) (1)	—
Junior World Championship	Germany (2023) (3)	France (2024) (1)
Youth World Championship	Spain (2023) (1)	Spain (2024) (1)
Club World Cup	SC Magdeburg (2023) (3)	—
Beach Handball World Championship	Croatia (2022) (3)	Germany (2022) (1)
Youth Beach Handball World Championship	Croatia (2022) (1*)	Spain (2022) (1*)

Continental Champions

Here are the current champions from the different handball regions:

	Africa	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Pan-America
Senior Men's	EGY (2024) (9)	QAT (2024) (6)	FRA (2024) (4)	AUS (2014) (8*)	ARG (2018) (7)
Senior Women's	Angola (2022) (15*)	South Korea (2022) (16*)	Norway (2022) (9*)	Australia (2016) (7*)	Brazil (2017) (10*)
Men's Continental Games	ANG (2019) (1)	QAT (2022) (3)	—	AUS (2006) (2*)	ARG (2023) (3*)
Women's Continental Games	Angola (2019) (7*)	Japan (2022) (1)	—	New Caledonia (2007) (1*)	Brazil (2023) (7*)
Junior Men's	Egypt (2022) (13*)	Japan (2022) (1)	Spain (2024) (4*)	Australia (2022) (5*)	Brazil (2017) (6*)
Junior Women's	Angola (2023) (11*)	South Korea (2023) (16*)	Hungary (2023) (3)	New Caledonia (2023) (2*)	Brazil (2018) (9*)
Youth Boys	Egypt (2022) (7*)	Japan (2024) (3*)	Sweden (2024) (3*)	French Polynesia (2022) (2*)	Argentina (2017) (8*)
Youth Girls	Egypt (2023) (5*)	Japan (2023) (1)	France (2023) (2)	New Caledonia (2023) (3*)	Brazil (2018) (12*)
Boys' Continental Youth Games	—	Qatar (2013) (1*)	Germany (2023) (3*)	—	—
Girls' Continental Youth Games	—	South Korea (2013) (1*)	France (2023) (2)	—	—
Men's Club	Al-Zamalek SC (2019) (12*)	Al-Kuwait SC (2022) (1)	SC Magdeburg (2022–23) (4)	Sydney University (2024) (10)	H. Taubaté (2018) (5*)
Women's Club	1º de Agosto (2019) (6)	Kaysar Club (2019) (2*)	Vipers Kristiansand (2022–23) (3)	University of Technology Sydney (2023) (1)	EC Pinheiros (2017) (1*)
Men's Beach Handball	—	Iran (2022) (1)	Hungary (2023) (1)	New Zealand (2022) (1)	Brazil (2018) (7*)
Women's Beach Handball	—	Vietnam (2022) (1)	Germany (2023) (3*)	Australia (2022) (5*)	Brazil (2018) (4*)
Men's Youth Beach Handball	—	Iran (2022) (1*)	Sweden (2021)	Australia (2017) (1*)	Brazil (2017) (1*)
Women's Youth Beach Handball	—	Thailand (2022) (1*)	Hungary (2021)	American Samoa (2017) (1*)	Argentina (2017) (1*)

• * = Record titles

Member Countries

The IHF has 209 member countries, divided into categories based on their handball activity.

Category A

Category B

Category C

Associated Members

These are members that are linked to the IHF but might not be full members:

Regional Members

These members represent specific regions:

IHF Awards

The IHF gives out awards to groups and people. These awards recognize their special efforts to help handball grow and support the IHF.

Some of these awards include:

• IHF Badge of Merit
• IHF Certificate of Merit
• IHF Cup of Honour and certificate
• IHF Hall of Fame
• IHF Honorary President and Honorary Members
• IHF Olympic Order
• IHF Plaque of Merit
• IHF President's Development Award
• IHF Referee's Badge of Honour
• IHF Referee's Diploma of Honour
• IHF Ring of Honour
• IHF World Coach of the Year
• IHF World Player of the Year

IHF Partners

The IHF works with different companies to help support the sport.

See also

In Spanish: Federación Internacional de Balonmano para niños