Welcome to the IKF Korfball Champions League!

The Executive Committee of the IKF decided in 2022 to launch a new competition format for the club competitions in Europe. The format entails a series of events eventually culminating in a Final event for the six strongest European clubs, and Challenger and Satellite Finals for lower-ranked clubs.

The new competition was branded as the IKF Europe Korfball Champions League (KCL). It is the joint successor of the IKF Europa Cup and the IKF Europa Shield. The IKF Europa Cup existed for almost 60 years and was open to the champions of all European leagues. The IKF Europa Shield, that has existed for about 20 years was open to the vice-champions of a selected set of European leagues.

In the initial KCL 2022-23 setup, two clubs took part from the strongest 7 national leagues in Europe (Belgium, Catalonia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Netherlands, and Portugal), and 1 club from the other national leagues in Europe. Eventual quota for participation were determined based on a IKF’s coefficient system.

This competition format allows for more matches between clubs of similar strength, doing justice to the growing club competitions in Europe. The KCL consist of three successive qualification rounds, with stronger clubs entering in later phases of the competition, and three Final competitions: The Korfball Champions League Finals, the KCL Challenger Finals, and the KCL Satellite Finals.

The KCL aims to foster competitive matches between clubs of similar levels across Europe, and provides a platform for clubs to gain valuable international experience and pursue titles across multiple levels.

In 2023, the IKF launched a new refined set-up after the inaugural season 2022-23. The IKF EXCO evaluated the events, taking into consideration the feedback of the participating clubs, the national federations, the IKF Officials and the IKF Committees.

The new set-up honoured the main goals of the IKF KCL, while adjusting it in such a way that the main feedback points were incorporated. The main goals that form the fundament for the IKF KCL are:

• Have more competitive matches between clubs of similar level from different countries across the entire European club competitions;
• Improve quality at all levels;
• Have a feasible path to winning a title across multiple levels;
• Have competitive finals (KCL, Challenger, Satellite);
• Gradually increase the number of club teams from a country that can get European competition at their level.

These findings led to this year’s set-up of the IKF Korfball Champions League for the season 2024-25 (see picture on top).