Qualifying for the Olympics

I often get asked the question what it takes for a sport to be on the Olympic program. Many are interested to learn about criteria such as universality, TV and other commercial exposure, and youth appeal. Despite the long list of criteria that the IOC uses to make a well-informed decision, the key answer to this question is that it is a competition. Entering the Olympic program is a competition between sports. Therefore, we as korfball community need to answer the question what we need to do to outperform some of the sports that are currently on the program.

The answer is that much remains to be done, but it can be summarized in 3 words: stronger international participation, changing medal tables at our events, and a larger viewership among those that do not play korfball. Our targets towards 2023 are to have a sold out world championship for all matches, irrespective of the location, to have two countries in the final that are not among today’s three A countries, and to have 75 countries in the world championship qualification.

With our fantastic sport that is so close to Olympic values we have the best possible addition to the Olympic program. With your work as korfball volunteers in your country you can help us in making the world to realize this.

Jan Fransoo
President, International Korfball Federation
President, Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations
Vice-President, SportAccord