This is a list of international sports federations, each of which serves as a non-governmentalgoverning body for a given sport and administers its sport at a world level, most often crafting rules, promoting the sport to prospective spectators and fans, developing prospective players, and organizing world or continental championships. Some international sports federations, such as World Aquatics and the International Skating Union, may oversee multiple activities referred to in common parlance as separate sports: World Aquatics, for example governs swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, and water polo as separate "disciplines" within the single "sport" of Aquatics.
International sports federations form an integral part of the Olympic and Paralympic movements. Each Olympic sport is represented by its respective international sports federation, which in turn helps administer the events in its respective sport during the Games. For a sport to become an Olympic sport, its international sports federation must be recognized by the International Olympic Committee.[1]
Likewise, an international sports federation must be recognized by the International Paralympic Committee for its sport to become a paralympic sport, though in the latter case, several Paralympic Sports are governed by a dedicated committee of the International Paralympic Committee itself, under the World Para branding, for example track and field athletics for disabled athletes is governed by the IPC itself, under the name "World Para Athletics". Other Paralympic sports are governed within the structure of the able-bodied equivalent: for example, the UCI governs both able-bodied and paralympic cycling.
Federations recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF)
However, on 22 June 2023, the IOC decided to withdraw recognition of the International Boxing Association (IBA), in accordance with Rule 3.7 of the Olympic Charter (OC),[3] although boxing will continue to be an olympic sport for the 2028 Summer Olympics.[4] This was the first-ever International Federation to be removed from the Olympic Movement by the IOC.[5]
The following is an Associate Member International Federation [citation needed] of AIOWF (representing a sport which is on the Olympic Programme of Milan-Cortina 2026[16]).
Federations recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
There are 17 international federations recognized by the IPC, while the IPC itself serves as the international federation for six sports.[24][25] IPC recognises also 4 International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled. And there are another 14 federations which are recognised by the IPC but are not eligible to be IPC members.[26]
Sports directly governed by IPC
On 30 November 2016, the IPC adopted the "World Para" brand for all 10 of the sports that it directly governed at that time.[27] At the 2021 IPC General Assembly, IPC members provided a strong mandate for the IPC to cease acting as the international federation for 10 sports by the end of 2026.[28]Para alpine skiing, Para cross-country, Para snowboard and Para biathlon have been already transferred to FIS and IBU.[28][29] Currently IPC acts as the international federation for six sports:[30]
International Federations are independent sport federations recognised by the IPC as the sole representative of a Paralympic Sport. As of 2024, the IPC recognises 17 International Federations representing 19 parasports:[26]
International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled
International Organisations of Sports for the Disabled (IOSDs) are independent organisations recognised by the IPC as the sole representatives of a specific impairment group.
IPC-recognised International sports federations non-eligible for membership
The IPC recognises a number of international sports federations which are not eligible to be IPC members, but contribute to the development of sport opportunities for athletes associated with the Paralympic Movement and have organisational goals that are compatible with the Vision and Mission of the IPC.
The following 14 are IPC-recognised international sport federations:[26]
Before the dissolution of GAISF in 2023, other than full members (composing ASOIF, AIOWF, ARISF and AIMS), there have been Associate members of GAISF.[44] After the dissolution of GAISF, the proposal has been for its former associate members to be granted observer status at the SportAccord General Assembly.[45]
Before the dissolution of GAISF in 2023, the GAISF Observer Status could be requested by the Applicants to GAISF Membership interested to obtain support and guidance in their path to fulfil the GAISF Membership Criteria.[46]
The International Olympic Committee is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC is the authority responsible for organizing the Summer, Winter, and Youth Olympics. The IOC also is the governing body of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and of the worldwide Olympic Movement, the IOC's term for all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games. As of 2020, 206 NOCs officially were recognized by the IOC. The IOC president has been Thomas Bach since 2013.
The International Paralympic Committee is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement.
The World Abilitysport Games are a parasports multi-sport event for athletes who use wheelchairs or are amputees. Organized by World Abilitysport, the Games are a successor to the original Stoke Mandeville Games founded in 1948 by Ludwig Guttmann, and specifically the International Stoke Mandeville Games—the first international sporting competition for athletes with disabilities which was held in 1952, itself an Olympic year, between British and Dutch athletes and which ultimately was the forerunner to the modern Paralympic Games.
The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), is the international governing body of dancesport and Para dancesport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports was the world governing body for roller sports, including skateboarding, rink hockey, inline hockey, inline speed skating, inline alpine, downhill, roller derby, roller freestyle, inline freestyle, aggressive inline skating, inline figure skating and artistic roller skating. It was established in April 1924 in Montreux, Switzerland by two Swiss sportsmen, Fred Renkewitz and Otto Myer, who had close connections to the International Olympic Committee.
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the world governing authority for surfing, SUP racing, SUP surfing, para surfing, bodyboarding and all other wave riding activities. The ISA is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
The International World Games Association, abbreviated as IWGA, is an international association, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that organises every four years, beginning in 1981, the multi-sport event called The World Games.
Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) was the umbrella organisation for all international sports federations as well as organisers of multi-sports games and sport-related international associations. It changed its name to SportAccord from March 2009 to April 2017, when it reverted to its GAISF. It was an international sport organisation with 95 full members and 20 associate members.
The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) is the international umbrella organization encompassing the major cue sports, including carom billiards, pool games of several varieties, and snooker.
The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) is a non-profit association of international sports federations that compete in the Summer Olympic Games. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the same city where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is also headquartered.
The Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) is an association of winter sports federations recognized by the International Olympic Committee that compete in the Olympic Winter Games.
The Maison du Sport International is an office complex opened in 2006 in Lausanne, Switzerland, via a joint venture between the City of Lausanne, the Canton of Vaud and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was created to entice all the World's sports governing bodies to bring their headquarters to Lausanne, in order to improve their proximity to the headquarters of the IOC, and thus improve communications between these bodies.
The Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation constituted through and recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The ARISF's members are international sports federations recognised by the IOC whose sport is currently not competed in either the Summer or Winter Olympics, though becoming a member of ARISF does not imply or guarantee that the sport will be included in future Olympic Games.
The World Confederation of Bowling Sports or Confédération Mondiale des Sports de Boules (CMSB) is the international organization, recognized by the International Olympic Committee, which governs the sport of the boules.
The International Federation of Muaythai Associations, or IFMA, called the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur until 27 July 2019, is a sport governing body of amateur and professional Muay Thai and Muay boran consisting of 140 member countries worldwide with 5 continental federations after unification of International Federation of Muaythai Amateur and World Muaythai Council. IFMA is officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF), the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) International World Games Association (IWGA), and Trim and Fitness International Sport for All Association (TAFISA). Muaythai has been included in many official sport programs such as the World Games, World Combat Games, Arafura Games, TAFISA Games, SEA Games, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Asian Beach Games, Demonstration Sport in the Asian Games.
The International Cheer Union (ICU) is the worldwide sports governing body of cheerleading and was founded in 2004. It is recognized by SportAccord / Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), and is a member of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF). Its membership includes 116 national cheer federations on all continents - reaching over 5 million athletes globally.
Ingmar De Vos is a Belgian professional sports manager serving as the thirteenth and current President of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). Educated in sports management, business administration and international law, he began his career in mainstream politics before working for the Belgian Equestrian Federation and supported that nation's equestrian teams at the Olympics and the FEI World Equestrian Games. He was one of the founders of the European Equestrian Federation and became secretary-general of the FEI in 2011 prior to being elected President of the organisation in 2014.
SportAccord is a global sports event organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, that is governed by stakeholders representing the Olympic and non-Olympic International Federations and has currently taken on some of the activities of the dissolved Global Association of International Sports Federations.
The International Pole Sports Federation (IPSF) is a not-for-profit global organization that has been recognized as an Observer Member by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) as the international governing body for pole sports. It is also a member of The Association for International Sport for All (TAFISA). The IPSF is the umbrella organization for national pole federations and hosts the annual World Pole Championships.
The International Teqball Federation is the governing body for the sport of teqball and para teqball. FITEQ is responsible for the organisation of teqball's major international tournaments, notably the Teqball World Championships.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
