Laws and governance IHF is headquartered in
Basel, and is a federation established under the
Law of Switzerland. IHF's supreme body is the
IHF Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. Each national handball association has one vote, regardless of its size or handballing strength. The Congress assembles in ordinary session once in two years (odd years) after the
IHF World Men's Handball Championship. The congress makes decisions relating to IHF's governing statutes and their method of implementation and application. Only the Congress can pass changes to IHF's statutes. The congress approves the annual report, and decides on the acceptance of new national associations and holds elections. Congress elects the President of IHF, its General Secretary, and the other members of the
IHF Council. IHF's Council, chaired by the President, is the main decision-making body of the organisation in the intervals of Congress. The Council is composed of 18 people: the President, 5 Vice Presidents, and 12 members. The Council is the body that decides which country will host the World Championship. The President and General Secretary are the main officeholders of IHF, and are in charge of its daily administration, carried out by the General Secretariat.
Hassan Moustafa is the current president, appointed in the year 2000 at the 28th Ordinary
IHF Congress.
Six confederations and 209 national associations The IHF is composed of six continental federations which organize continental championships held every other second year: •
African Handball Confederation •
Asian Handball Federation •
European Handball Federation •
North America and the Caribbean Handball Confederation •
Oceania Continent Handball Federation •
South and Central America Handball Confederation In addition to continental competitions between national teams, the federations arrange international tournaments between club teams. Until 2017, there were five continental confederations. On 14 January 2018, the IHF Council divided the Pan-American Confederation into the North America and the Caribbean Handball Confederation and the South and Central America Handball Confederation. The authority to divide a continental confederation was assigned to the
IHF Congress, but the 36th
IHF Congress in 2017 authorized the IHF Council to divide the
Pan-American Team Handball Federation. ==IHF presidents==