The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the international
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 ge ...
for the sport of
wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
. IWBF is recognized by the
International Paralympic Committee
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...
(IPC) as the sole competent authority in wheelchair basketball worldwide. International Basketball Federation (or
FIBA
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...
) has recognized IWBF under Article 53 of its General Statutes.
History
In 1973, the
International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF) established the first Sub-section for
wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
. At that time ISMGF was the world governing body for all
wheelchair sports. In 1989,
ISMGF accepted the name International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) for its former sub-section. With this step wheelchair basketball began its journey for full independence and in 1993 IWBF was established as the world body for wheelchair basketball with full responsibility for development of the sport. Over the next five years IWBF membership grew in size and the federation configured itself into 4 geographical zones.
Members
Zones
IWBF studied several
models
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
before creating its current zone structure. Based on the number of National Organizations for Wheelchair Basketball (NOWB) with active programs at the national and international level it was decided that IWBF Americas and IWBF Europe could be the same as
FIBA Americas
FIBA Americas ( es, Confederación Panamericana de Baloncesto, french: FIBA Amériques) is a zone within FIBA (International Basketball Federation). It is one of FIBA's five continental confederations. FIBA Americas is responsible for the organiz ...
and
FIBA Europe
FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all 50 national European basketball federations. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIBA Euro ...
. However, because of the limited number of countries with active programs in the rest of the world, IWBF chose to combine some regions to create better developmental and competitive opportunities within the zone. As a result, the last two zones of IWBF are IWBF Asia Oceania and IWBF Africa.
Members in May 2022:
# IWBF Americas -
Americas Wheelchair Basketball Championship - 20 Members
# IWBF Europe -
European Wheelchair Basketball Championship
The European Wheelchair Basketball Championship, is the main wheelchair basketball competition contested biennially by national teams governed by IWBF Europe, the European zone within the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. The Euro ...
- 35 Members
# IWBF Asia Oceania -
Asia Oceania Wheelchair Basketball Championships - 26 Members
# IWBF Africa -
Africa Wheelchair Basketball Championship
The IWBF Africa Wheelchair Basketball Championship is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men's and the women's national teams of the members of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (International Whee ...
- 17 Members
National Members
As of 2021, IWBF has 95 NOWB actively participating in
wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
throughout the world with this number increasing each year. 98 in May 2022.
IWBF Asia Oceania
# Afghanistan
# Australia
# Bahrain
# Cambodia
# China
# Chinese Taipei
# Hong Kong
# Indonesia
# India
# Iran
# Iraq
# Japan
# Jordan
# Korea
# Kuwait
# Lebanon
# Malaysia
# Nepal
# New Zealand
# Oman
# Palestine
# Philippines
# Saudi Arabia
# Singapore
# Thailand
# United Arab Emirates
Africa
Algeria
Angola
Burkina Faso
Central African Republic
Egypt
Ethiopia
Gambia
Kenya
Liberia
Morocco
Namibia
Nigeria
Rwanda
South Africa
Rwanda
Tanzania
Uganda
America
There are currently 20 NOWBs in the IWBF Americas these are:
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Peru
Puerto Rico
Uruguay
USA
Venezuela
Euro
Armenia
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Great Britain
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Executive Council
IWBF is governed by an Executive Council that is elected at the World Congress every four years.
Philip Craven
Sir Philip Lee Craven (born 4 July 1950) is an English sports administrator, former Paralympic wheelchair basketball player, swimmer and track and field athlete. Between 2001 and 2017 he was the second president of the International Paralymp ...
(Great Britain) who had served as Chairperson of the ISMGF wheelchair basketball Section since 1988 was elected in 1993 as the first President of IWBF.
In 2001, Brendan Hancock was elected to the position of President of the
International Paralympic Committee
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...
(IPC) and retired as president of IWBF at the World Congress in 2002.
Maureen Orchard (Canada) was elected as only the second president of IWBF at that same World Congress in
Kitakyushu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...
, Japan in 2002.
Classification
In order to make the competitions
fair
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
, each player receives a point in regard their
physical ability called class, from 1.0 which is the lowest class with the maximum physical disability to the 4.5 which is highest class with the lowest physical disability.
The person who performs classification called classifier. Classifiers have Bronze, Silver and Gold badges according to their knowledge and experience. Recently the classification rules made changes and have only two levels, namely the national classifier, the zone classifier and the International Classifier
Don Perriman (Australia) is the current President of Classification Commission
Kenneth McKay (Great Britain)
Gold Classifier
Gholamhossein Shahrabadi (Iran)
Gold Classier
Toufic Allouch (Lebanon)
Wheelchair basketball national organizations around the world
Wheelchair basketball national organizations have developed in a variety of ways. Most started out the same way as IWBF, as a sub-section of a national wheelchair sport organization. As IWBF matured so did many of its member organizations and now there are several models that IWBF embraces within its membership. In
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
the wheelchair basketball organizations are a part of their
National Paralympic Committee
A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...
(NPC). Australia is part of the
Australian Wheelchair Athletes Ltd., and others are under the umbrella of a National Disabled Federation such as
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
who are part of the
Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation. In the
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 ...
wheelchair basketball is fully integrated into the
Nederlandse Basketball Bond
Basketball Netherlands ( nl, Basketbal Nederland) is the governing body of basketball in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1947, and are headquartered in Nieuwegein.
Basketball Nederland operates the Netherlands men's national team and Netherl ...
and in Canada the
Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
is fully independent. In all cases where a member is part of a larger federation the IWBF only recognizes the part of that federation responsible for wheelchair basketball.
Member organizations
*
Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
*
US - National Wheelchair Basketball Association
*
Australian Wheelchair Athletes Ltd.
*
Mexican - National National Paralympic Committee
*
Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation
*
Holland - Nederlandse Basketball Bond
*
Malaysia men's national wheelchair basketball team
*
Events
*
Africa Wheelchair Basketball Championship
The IWBF Africa Wheelchair Basketball Championship is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men's and the women's national teams of the members of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (International Whee ...
*
European Wheelchair Basketball Championship
The European Wheelchair Basketball Championship, is the main wheelchair basketball competition contested biennially by national teams governed by IWBF Europe, the European zone within the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. The Euro ...
*
Wheelchair Basketball World Championship
The IWBF World Wheelchair Basketball Championship is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men's and the women's national teams of the members of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation ( IWBF), the sport' ...
*
IWBF U23 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship
The IWBF U23 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men's and women's under-23 national teams of the members of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (Internatio ...
*
Wheelchair Eurobasket
*
IWBF Champions Cup
The IWBF Champions League, formerly IWBF Champions Cup, is the top European competition in wheelchair basketball clubs in mens.
Events
Since 2009, the European club competitions work as this:
*Eurocup 1: IWBF Champions League
*Eurocup 2: André ...
*
André Vergauwen Cup
Results
Titles by club
Titles by country
Medals (1977-2022)
See also
*Wheelchair basketball
* IWBF Champions Cup
*Willi Brinkmann Cup
*IWBF Challenge Cup
*Kitakyushu Champions Cup
The Kitakyushu Champions Cup commemorates the 2002 Gold C ...
*
Willi Brinkmann Cup
Titles by club
Titles by country
Medals (1997-2022)
See also
* IWBF Champions Cup
* André Vergauwen Cup
*IWBF Challenge Cup
*Kitakyushu Champions Cup
The Kitakyushu Champions Cup commemorates the 2002 Gold Cup World Wheelchair Basketba ...
*
IWBF Challenge Cup
The EuroCup 3, formerly called the IWBF Challenge Cup, is the fourth level European wheelchair basketball competition of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation.
Winners
Medals
See also
* IWBF Champions League
* EuroCup ...
*
Kitakyushu Champions Cup
The Kitakyushu Champions Cup commemorates the 2002 Gold Cup World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Kitakyushu, which was the first to be held in Asia. 2011 tournament is the ninth to be held, demonstrating the vitality of our citizens and t ...
References
External links
International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF)Wheelchair Basketball Championship-A Division (Adana 2009/Turkey)Asia-Oceania Championship 2009
{{Authority control
Sports organizations established in 1989
Basketball organizations
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
Paralympic Games