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 the even years.
IHF Presidential elections have taken place at every congress until the 14th IHF Congress 1972 in Nuremberg, West Germany, where the delegates decided to vote the elections to be held every four years in the Olympic rhythm.

List of congresses

Congress NumberYearCityMember Federations AttendingTotal No. of Member Federations
1st1946Copenhagen814
2nd1948Paris618
1st Extraordinary Congress1948Paris1418
3rd1950Vienna1321
4th1952Saarbrücken1622
5th1954Opatija1525
6th1956Stockholm1826
7th1958Garmisch-Partenkirchen1727
8th1960Liège2130
9th1962Madrid2434
10th1964Budapest2738
11th1966Copenhagen2639
12th1968Amsterdam2841
13th1970Madrid3654
14th1972Nuremberg4354
15th1974Jesolo4365
16th1976Estoril4168
17th1978Reykjavik4374
18th1980Moscow5280
19th1982London5386
20th1984San Diego4895
21st1986Dakar4998
22nd1988Seoul69101
23rd1990Madeira47106
24th1992Barcelona62123
25th1994Noordwijk59133
26th1996Hilton Head Island79138
27th1998Yamoussoukro62143
28th2000Estoril122146
29th2002Saint Petersburg92147
2nd Extraordinary Congress2003Basel67147
30th2004El Gouna134150
31st2007Madrid120159
32nd2009Cairo139171
3rd Extraordinary Congress2010RomeCancelled due to eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.171
33rd2011Marrakech109181
34th2013Doha163192
35th2015Sochi141198
4th Extraordinary Congress2015Sochi124198
36th2017Antalya152201
5th Extraordinary Congress2019Gothenburg146201
37th2019Gothenburg151201
38th2021

Presidential elections

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