Korfball is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four females and four males in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a bottomless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m high pole.
The 6th Korfball World Championship was held in Adelaide (Australia) on July 1999, with the participation of 12 national teams.
European Korfball Championship or European Korfball A-Championship is a korfball competition for European national teams organized by the International Korfball Federation. It was played every four years from 1998 until 2014 and then moved to a tournament every two years, starting from 2016. The number of participated teams has varied between 8 and 16. The Netherlands national korfball team has won each edition.
The 2002 European Korfball Championship was held Catalonia from March 31 to April 7, with 10 national teams in competition. The matches were played in Terrassa, Badalona, Sant Boi de Llobregat and Mataró.
The Netherlands national korfball team represents the Netherlands in international korfball. It is controlled by the Royal Dutch Korfball Association (KNKV), the governing body of korfball in the Netherlands.
The South Africa national korfball team is managed by the South African Korfball Federation (SAKF), representing South Africa in korfball international competitions.
The Russia national korfball team is managed by the Russian Korfball Federation (RKF), representing Russia in korfball international competitions.
The International Korfball Federation (IKF) was founded in Antwerp (Belgium) on 11 June 1933 as a continuation of the International Korfball Bureau established in 1924 by the Dutch and Belgian Associations.The IKF was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1993 and is affiliated to Sportaccord (Sportaccord), the Association of the IOC Recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF) and the International World Games Association (IWGA).The IKF aims to spread korfball around the globe. It provides close to sixty (60) affiliated member countries with financial, material, and structural support to achieve this goal. It has established a network of contacts in many countries and actively promotes the game by transferring knowledge internationally by exchange programmes and inviting selected korfball players, coaches, and administrators to its training courses to create a stable local structure in all the affiliated countries on which a flourishing korfball organisation can be built.The IKF is organised in five Continental Confederations – IKF Africa, IKF Americas, IKF Asia, IKF Europe and IKF Oceania – since 2011.The IKF General Meeting is the highest authority in the IKF. The IKF is managed on a daily base by the IKF Executive Committee – 8 members – and the IKF Council – 12 members.The IKF stimulates the global awareness that korfball is a spectator and media oriented mixed gender teamsport.
The United States national korfball team is managed by the United States Korfball Federation (USKF), representing the United States in korfball international competitions.
The Wales National Korfball Team often referred to as the Welsh Korfball Squad (WKS) is managed by the Welsh Korfball Association/Cymdeithas Pêl-Corff Cymru, and represents Wales in international korfball competition.
The Welsh Korfball Squad entered its first IKF ranking competition in 2007, after the Great Britain national korfball team was disbanded to produce three teams: England, Wales and Scotland. Wales is a fully recognised member of the International Korfball Federation and is currently ranked 23rd in the world.
The 5th Korfball World Championship was held in New Delhi (India) in November 1995, with the participation of 12 national teams.
The 1991 Korfball World Championship was the 4th edition of the major international korfball competition. It was held in Belgium on April 2–6, in the cities of Antwerp, Berchem, Brussels, Ghent and Turnhout. In a very close final, Belgium defeated Netherlands by 11–10.
The 1987 Korfball World Championship was the 3rd edition of the major international korfball competition. It was held in the Netherlands on April 20–25, in the cities of Amsterdam, Bennekom, Dordrecht, Papendrecht, Rotterdam and Wormer. In a close final, Netherlands defeated Belgium by 9–7.
IKF World Korfball Championship is an international korfball competition contested by the national teams of the members of International Korfball Federation (IKF), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded roughly every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1978. The current champions are the Netherlands, who won the 2015 IKF World Korfball Championship.
The 10th IKF World Korfball Championship were held in the Belgian cities of Ghent, Tielen and Antwerp in 2015. Ghent and Tielen hosted the first and second round matches, whilst the placing matches and finals were all held in the Lotto Arena in Antwerp.
The korfball event at the World Games 2017 took place in Wrocław, Poland.
The 11th IKF World Korfball Championship will be held in 2019 in Durban, South Africa. The International Korfball Federation awarded the hosting rights for the tournament to either South Africa on 7 November 2015, ahead of the bid by New Zealand.
European Korfball B-Championship is a second level korfball competition for European national teams organized by the International Korfball Federation and is placed below the European Korfball A-Championship. The tournament will feature the nations that have not qualified for the European Korfball A-Championship and a promotion/relegation system will be put into place between both championships, with the winner of the B-Championships promoting to the A-Championships, although the exact manner is yet to be defined. The tournament can be seen as the successor of the defunct Korfball European Bowl, although that tournament served as a qualifier for both European Korfball Championship and the Korfball World Championship. The B-Championships will be held every two years, always in the same year as the A-Championship. The first edition will be hosted by the Netherlands in 2018.
South African Korfball Federation (SAKF) is the governing body for the sport of Korfball in South Africa. The national body has 10 regional member associations in its organisation structure. It is affiliated with the world governing body International Korfball Federation. SAKF organises men's and women's competitions annually amongst its regional members across age groups. The men's national team have won three All-Africa Korfball Championship and participated at the IKF World Korfball Championship.
