The International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF) was the administrative and controlling body for handball and

field handball Field handball (also known as outdoor handball or grass handball) was a form of what is now handball and was played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The sport is played on a grass field (similar to an association football field) between l ...

. IAHF was responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the

World Men's Handball Championship The IHF Men's Handball World Championship has been organized indoor by the International Handball Federation since 1938. In the twenty-seven tournaments held, eleven nations have won the title. France is the most successful team with six titl ...

, which commenced in 1938, and the World Men's Outdoor Handball Championship, which commenced in 1938. The organization was dissolved after World War II.

History

On 13. September 1925 the first international field handball game between Germany and Austria happened. Because of this event, uniform rules and an international association were desired. In 1926, the

International Amateur Athletics Federation World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(IAAF, now known as World Athletics) created a commission to govern all ball games played with the hands, such as field-handball, court-handball, volleyball and basketball. In the same year the first international field handball rules were created in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. Two years later during the 1928 Summer Olympics the IAAF invited national representatives to create an independent federation. Representatives from 11 countries founded the International Amateur Handball Federation on 4th of August 1928 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. The later

IOC president The president of the International Olympic Committee is head of the executive board that assumes the general overall responsibility for the administration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the management of its affairs. The IOC E ...

Avery Brundage Avery Brundage (; September 28, 1887 – May 8, 1975) was an American sports administrator who served as the fifth president of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 to 1972. The only American and only non-European to attain that p ...

and

Lauri Pihkala Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala (born Gummerus, 5 January 1888 – 20 May 1981) was the inventor of pesäpallo, the Finnish variant of baseball. In 1969 he became one of the first persons to receive an honorary doctorate in Sport Sciences from the Univer ...

how invented

Pesäpallo Pesäpallo (; sv, boboll, both names literally meaning "nest ball", colloquially known in Finnish as pesis, also referred to as Finnish baseball) is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland a ...

were founding members. 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 ...

recognized handball as Olympic sport in 1933. Three years later during the 1936 Summer Olympics field handball had its first and last appearance at the Summer Olympics. At this point IAHF had 23 members. In 1938 the first Outdoor and

Indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

World Men's Handball Championship were organized by the IAHF. In 1946 the successor the

International Handball Federation The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball ...

was founded by Denmark and Sweden.

Basketball

In 1934, oversight of basketball was transferred to the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBB, now abbreviated FIBA).

Volleyball

The first (failed) attempt to create an independent volleyball federation at the 1934 IAHF congress in Stockholm. During a friendly match between the Czech and French national teams on 26 August 1946 the two nations and Poland created a document to create an international federation. The following year 14 nations founded the FIVB in Paris between 18 and 20 April.

Presidents

Members

Following counties were member of the IAHF as of the 4th IAHF-Congress:

References

{{International Sports Federations * * * International sports organizations IOC-recognised international federations International organisations based in Germany Organisations based in Munich Sports organizations established in 1928 1928 establishments in the Netherlands