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IKF Expands, Welcoming New Associate Members

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The International Korfball Federation (IKF) is pleased to announce an important milestone in its global expansion following the IKF General Meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal, on Saturday, 18 October 2025.

During the meeting, members voted to accept three new federations as Associate Members. This reflects korfball’s continued growth and widening international reach.

The IKF warmly welcomes the following new Associate Members:

  • Fédération de Korfball de la République Démocratique du Congo (COD)
  • Fédération Guinéenne de Korfball (GUI)
  • Korfball Venezuela (VEN)

“This is a great day for korfball development, expanding our reach into new territories in Africa and the Americas,” said Jorge Alves, IKF Senior Vice President and Chair of the IKF Development and Education Committee.

“Official recognition is a huge milestone for these federations, giving them a strong platform to continue growing korfball in their regions.”

The General Meeting also addressed governance and compliance matters. In accordance with the IKF Statutes, the federations representing the Philippines and Ukraine were expelled.

Immediately after, the meeting voted to approve the readmission of new national organisations under fresh leadership and management:

  • Korfball Association of the Philippines (PHI)
  • Korfball Federation of Ukraine (UKR)

These renewed federations have demonstrated a clear commitment to rebuilding and promoting korfball locally. The IKF looks forward to working closely with both to strengthen the sport’s foundation in their countries.

With these changes, the total number of IKF members has now increased to 75.

“The decisions made at this General Meeting mark an important step for the future of korfball,” said IKF President Gabi Kool.

“While we must uphold the standards of active engagement and good governance within our federations, we are encouraged and incredibly happy to see dedicated, new groups stepping up to take the lead in the Philippines and in Ukraine.

“I want to acknowledge the tremendous effort not only from the individuals and teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, and Venezuela who worked diligently behind the scenes, but also from our internal IKF colleagues and committees who supported the application and validation process.

“The admission of all these nations underscores our commitment to connecting, growing, and inspiring the sport of korfball globally.”

The IKF remains dedicated to supporting all its members in promoting and developing korfball across every region of the world.

No Russian athletes in international korfball events

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Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces, on Friday the IKF condemned the attack and pledged support to the people of Ukraine, and in particular the korfball community in Ukraine.

Today, the Executive Committee of the International Korfball Federation, following the Recommendation issued by the International Olympic Committee, and in line with the decision announced today by the International World Games Association, has decided that the Russian Korfball Federation will not be invited until further notice to any international korfball competition. For any of this year’s events, the Russian Korfball Federation had not yet entered due to severe economic hardship of the Federation. This implies effectively that no Russian athletes shall take part in any international korfball event until further notice. Belarus is currently not a member country in the IKF, so Belarusian athletes are also not able to take part. Furthermore, the Russian Korfball Federation shall not be eligible to bid for the hosting of any IKF event until further notice. Currently, no IKF events have been planned in Russia.

The IKF continues to closely monitor the situation and is in close contact with the Ukrainian Korfball Federation, who has announced its intent to take part in the European Qualifiers for next year’s World Korfball Championship in Taipei. The European Qualifiers are held in October in the Czech Republic and in Turkey. The IKF will do whatever is in its power to enable a Ukrainian team to take part in this Qualifier, and to support the Ukrainian Korfball Federation.

Further, the IKF Executive Committee expresses explicit support to Russian athletes that are affected by the decisions of their government, especially those that have spoken up. Not being allowed to compete is the worst nightmare for any athlete, at any age. The IKF sincerely hopes that the war in Ukraine will evolve such that eventually no korfball athletes will need to be banned from events due to acts of war.

The IKF endorses activities by the national korfball federations of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland to support Ukrainian refugees.

IKF sends message of support to Ukranian Korfball Community

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The global korfball community is shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the International Korfball Federation strongly condemns this breaking of the Olympic Truce. IKF President Jan Fransoo sent a message of empathy to Oleg Byllik, President of the Ukranian Korfball Federation, to enquire about the status of the korfball community in Ukraine, which has been growing rapidly over the past few years.

While the korfball community is strongest in the Western Region of Ukraine around the city of Lviv, only recently an extensive expansion project has started with activities in Ukraine’s Central Region which includes the capital of Kyiv. We hope that everyone in Ukraine’s korfball community is safe in these horrific events.