IHF Congress


The IHF Congress is the supreme legislative body of the International Handball Federation, commonly known by the acronym IHF. IHF is the international governing body of handball, beach handball and wheelchair handball.
The congress may be ordinary or extraordinary. Ordinary congress shall place every two years after the IHF World Men's Handball Championship. Each congress shall determine the date and place of the following ordinary congress. IHF bodies including the President, IHF Council and IHF Executive Committee shall be elected every four years at the congress taking place the year after the Summer Olympic Games.
Each of the 204 members of IHF has one vote in the congress. The members of IHF can propose candidates for the presidency of IHF and for IHF Council. The IHF Presidential election takes place at the congress in the year following the Summer Olympic Games.
The extraordinary congress shall be convened by the IHF Council upon the written request of a simple majority of the member federations or Council members. Extraordinary congress must be convened within three months of the receipt of the request.

History

The IHF congress has been held since 1946. Before 31st Ordinary Congress 2007 in Madrid, the congresses were held in even years.
IHF Presidential elections have taken place at the 1st, 3rd, 14th, 20th, 28th, 30th, 32nd and 34th ordinary congresses.

List of congresses

Congress NumberYearCityMember Federations AttendingTotal No. of Member Federations
1st1946 Copenhagen814
2nd1948 Paris618
1st Extraordinary Congress1948 Paris1418
3rd1950 Vienna1321
4th1952 Saarbrücken1622
5th1954 Opatija1525
6th1956 Stockholm1826
7th1958 Garmisch-Partenkirchen1727
8th1960 Liège2130
9th1962 Madrid2434
10th1964 Budapest2738
11th1966 Copenhagen2639
12th1968 Amsterdam2841
13th1970 Madrid3654
14th1972 Nuremberg4354
15th1974 Jesolo4365
16th1976 Estoril4168
17th1978 Reykjavik4374
18th1980 Moscow5280
19th1982 London5386
20th1984 San Diego4895
21st1986 Dakar4998
22nd1988 Seoul69101
23rd1990 Madeira47106
24th1992 Barcelona62123
25th1994 Noordwijk59133
26th1996 Hilton Head Island79138
27th1998 Yamoussoukro62143
28th2000 Estoril122146
29th2002 Saint Petersburg92147
2nd Extraordinary Congress2003 Basel67147
30th2004 El Gouna134150
31st2007 Madrid120159
32nd2009 Cairo139171
3rd Extraordinary Congress2010 RomeCancelled due to eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.171
33rd2011 Marrakech109181
34th2013 Doha163192
35th2015 Sochi141198
4th Extraordinary Congress2015 Sochi124198
36th2017 Antalya152201
5th Extraordinary Congress2019 Gothenburg146201
37th2019 Gothenburg151201
38th2021 AntalyaFuture event201

Presidential Elections

Following table shows the results of election of the President of International Handball Federation in recent decades.