How is Handball organized world-wide?
Handball has a world-wide structure very similar to soccer’s FIFA and other international sports. The world-wide governing body is the International Handball Federation (IHF). The IHF is responsible for organizing the Olympic Handball tournament and World Championship competitions. Membership consists of 147 nations. The IHF’s administrative office is located in Basel, Switzerland. Regionally, Continental Federations have been established in Europe, Africa, Asia, Pan America and Oceania. These Continental Federations are independent of the IHF and are responsible for organizing regional competitions. Apart from National Team competitions, club leagues have been organized usually on a National Level. Many of these club leagues are professional/semi-professional, particularly in Europe. The IHF, Continental Federations, and club leagues are all independent of each other and this has resulted in conflicting interests from time to time over player availability and revenue streams for natio
