| International Amateur Handball Federation | |
| Abbreviation: | IAHF |
| Predecessor: | International Association of Athletics Federations |
| Successor: | |
| Formation: |
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| Founding Location: | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Type: | International Sports Federation |
| Vat Id: | (for European organizations) --> |
| Headquarters: | Munich, Germany |
| Coordinates: | 48.156°N 11.5115°W[1] |
| Region: | Worldwide |
| Fields: | |
| Owners: | --> |
The International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF) was the administrative and controlling body for handball and field handball. IAHF was responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the World Men's Handball Championship, which commenced in 1938, and the World 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, the International 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 in The Hague.[4]
Two years later during the 1928 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 in Amsterdam.[3] [6] The later IOC president Avery Brundage and Lauri Pihkala how invented Pesäpallo were founding members.[4] [7]
The International Olympic Committee recognized handball as Olympic sport in 1933.[8] 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.[4]
In 1938 the first Outdoor and Indoor World Men's Handball Championship were organized by the IAHF.
In 1946 the successor the International Handball Federation was founded by Denmark and Sweden.[4]
See main article: Protocol of Stockholm. In 1934, oversight of basketball was transferred to the Fédération 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 the FIVB in Paris between 18 and 20 April.[9]
| Name | Country | Start | End | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Franz-Paul Lang |  | 1928 | 1931 | President of Deutschen Sportbehörde für Athletik | |
| interim | Karl Ritter von Halt | | 1931 | 1934 | IOC Member | |
| 2. | Karl Ritter von Halt | | 1934 | 1938 | IOC Member | |
| 3. | Richard Herrmann | | 1938 | 1941 | Head of the Handball and Basketball department of NSRL[10] | |
| 4. | unknown | |||||
Following counties were member of the IAHF as of the 4th IAHF-Congress:[11] [12]
| Country | Since | Until | Federation |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Argentine Basketball Confederation | ||
| Austrian Handball Federation | |||
 | Between – | ||
 | Brazilian Sports Confederation | ||
 | Amateur Athletic Union of Canada | ||
| Ceskoslovensky Svaz Hazené | |||
 | Danish Athletics Federation | ||
 | Union Egyptienne des Sociétés Sportives | ||
| Estonia | Estonia Handball Association | ||
 | Between – | ||
| French Athletics Federation (1930) French Handball Federation of Metz (1936) | |||
| German Athletics Association (1930) NSRL (1936) | ||
 | Between – | Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association | |
 | Fédération Haïtienne de Ballon à la Main Amateur | ||
 | Hungarian Handball Federation | ||
 | Irish Amateur Handball Association | ||
 | Japan Association of Athletics Federations | ||
 | Luxembourg Athletics Federation | ||
 | Netherlands Handball Association | ||
 | Polski Zwiazek Gier Sportowych | ||
 | Associacao Lisbonense de Hand-Ball | ||
 | Romanian Athletics Federation (1930) Romanian Handball Federation (1936) | ||
 | Swedish Athletics Association (1930) Swedish Handball Federation (1936) | ||
 | Swiss Gymnastics Federation (1929-1939) Schweizerischer Handballausschuss (1939-1946) | ||
 | Amateur Athletic Union of the United States | ||
 | Centro Athletico «Gimnasia y Deportes» | ||
| Between – |