 | |
| Abbreviation | IAHF |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | International Association of Athletics Federations |
| Successor | |
| Formation | 4 August 1928; 97 years ago (1928-08-04); during theSummer Olympics |
| Founded at | Amsterdam,Netherlands |
| Dissolved | 1946; 80 years ago (1946) |
| Type | International Sports Federation |
| Headquarters | Munich,Germany |
| Coordinates | 48°09′21″N11°30′41″E / 48.15597°N 11.5114813°E /48.15597; 11.5114813[1] |
Region | Worldwide |
| Fields | |
TheInternational Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF) was the administrative and controlling body forhandball andfield handball. IAHF was responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably theWorld Men's Handball Championship, which commenced in 1938, and theWorld Men's Outdoor Handball Championship, which commenced in 1938. The organization was dissolved after World War II.[2]
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, theInternational Amateur Athletics Federation (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.[3] In the same year the first international field handball rules were created inThe Hague.[4]
Two years later during the1928 Summer Olympics the IAAF invited national representatives to create an independent federation.[5] Representatives from 11 countries founded the International Amateur Handball Federation on 4 August 1928 inAmsterdam.[3][6] The laterIOC presidentAvery Brundage andLauri Pihkala how inventedPesäpallo were founding members.[4][7]
TheInternational Olympic Committee recognized handball as Olympic sport in 1933.[8] Three years later during the1936 Summer Olympics field handball had its first and last appearance at the Summer Olympics. At this point IAHF had 23 members.[4]
In 1938 the first Outdoor andIndoor World Men's Handball Championship were organized by the IAHF.
In 1946 the successor theInternational Handball Federation was founded by Denmark and Sweden.[4]
In 1934, oversight of basketball was transferred to theFédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBB, now abbreviated FIBA).
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 theFIVB in Paris between 18 and 20 April.[9]
| Name | Country | Start | End | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Franz-Paul Lang |  Germany | 1928 | 1931 | President of Deutschen Sportbehörde für Athletik |
| interim | Karl Ritter von Halt |  Germany | 1931 | 1934 | IOC member |
| 2. |  Germany | 1934 | 1938 | ||
| 3. | Richard Herrmann | Germany | 1938 | 1941 | Head of the Handball and Basketball department ofNSRL[10] |
| 4. | unknown | ||||
Following counties were member of the IAHF as of the 4th IAHF-Congress:[11][12]
Internationalhandball | ||
|---|---|---|
| International |  | |
| Africa |
| |
| North America and Caribbean |
| |
| South & Central America |
| |
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania |
| |
| Defunct | ||
