<p class="reg-lead">The Statutes of the International Handball Federation, as amended at the Ordinary Congress in Cairo and in force from 21 March 2026.</p>
<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>Adoption</td><td><b>21 December 2025</b> at the Ordinary Congress in Cairo — in force from <b>21 March 2026</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td>Chapter I of the International Handball Federation's body of regulations</td></tr>
<tr><td>Status</td><td><strong>Current version</strong> — supersedes the edition of 3 October 2019</td></tr>
</table>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>What is the place of the Statutes?</h2>
<p>The regulations of the International Handball Federation (IHF) form a set of numbered chapters, and the Statutes stand at the head of that set as Chapter <strong>I</strong>. The structure of the organs, the membership of national federations, the jurisdiction of the adjudicatory bodies and the final avenue of appeal are all determined in this document; the other chapters are drafted within its framework and refer back to its articles.</p>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>Key changes in this edition<span class="reg-tag">compared with the edition of 3 October 2019</span></h2>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">Establishment of the Handball Court of Arbitration (IHCA)</b>Article 23 has changed the final avenue of appeal: once the federation's internal stages are exhausted, a final IHF decision may be challenged before the <strong>Handball Court of Arbitration (IHCA)</strong>, seated in <strong>Basel, Switzerland</strong>, rather than before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Two exceptions remain: doping cases are heard by the <strong>CAS Anti-Doping Division</strong>, and disputes relating to the Olympic Games are heard exclusively by <strong>CAS in Lausanne</strong>. Cases commenced before CAS prior to the establishment of the IHCA are concluded there.</li>
<li><b class="t">Age cap of 75</b>A candidate for an office that carries membership of the Executive Committee must not have reached the age of <strong>75</strong> at the time of election.</li>
<li><b class="t">Redefinition of the adjudicatory bodies</b>The term “legal bodies” replaces the previous arrangement: the Arbitration Commission, the Arbitration Tribunal and the Ethics Commission are designated “adjudicating bodies”, while the Disciplinary Commission and the Jury are designated “disciplinary bodies”, active only during events. The powers of these bodies do not limit the disciplinary powers of the Congress and the Council.</li>
<li><b class="t">Expanded scope of jurisdiction</b>The exclusive jurisdiction of the IHF bodies now extends beyond players, officials and national federations to <strong>clubs, players' agents and coaches</strong>.</li>
<li><b class="t">Oversight of national federation governance</b>Any amendment to a national federation's statutes must be submitted for approval to both the IHF and the relevant continental confederation before it is put to that federation's general assembly. An elective assembly must be notified to the IHF in advance, and its results must be reported together with the required documentation — including the minutes of the assembly, confirmation from the National Olympic Committee and the list of board members. The IHF may appoint an observer to report on the conduct of the assembly to the Head Office.</li>
<li><b class="t">Definition of “exceptional circumstances”</b>The IHF's power to install a provisional committee in a national federation remains in place, but this edition enumerates its instances for the first time: where the lawfulness of an election is contested and the National Olympic Committee refuses to recognise the results on grounds the IHF accepts; where a majority or all of the board members resign without timely replacement; where the elective assembly fails to reach a quorum in the absence of internal rules; and where a majority or all of the board members are sentenced to imprisonment or banned from handball activities by a court or arbitral body.</li>
<li><b class="t">Expulsion from membership and suspension</b>Expulsion from membership is now effected <strong>at the request of the Council</strong> and follows “serious and/or repeated” violations. The Council's power of immediate suspension is limited to national federations, and a suspension must be put to a vote at the next Congress; the Council may also refer a stakeholder's case to the Ethics Commission.</li>
<li><b class="t">Electronic meetings</b>Any IHF organ may hold meetings and take decisions remotely — by telephone, video or any other suitable electronic means.</li>
<li><b class="t">Manipulation of results and betting</b>All stakeholders are required to comply with the rules on the manipulation of results, collusion and betting as set out in the ethics regulations.</li>
<li><b class="t">Rules of the Game and wheelchair handball</b>The Rules of the Game for wheelchair handball, in both six-a-side and four-a-side formats, have been added to the list of regulations, and the Beach Handball and Wheelchair Handball Working Groups, alongside the Playing Rules and Referees Commission, may approve the trial application of amended rules. Changes published on 1 March may be applied in IHF competitions before their general entry into force on 1 July.</li>
<li><b class="t">Commercial rights</b>In the list of events in which the IHF is the original owner of the rights, <strong>electronic sports</strong> has taken the place of beach handball competitions.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who these changes matter to</h2>
<p>The most significant practical effect is the change of the final appellate forum. A dispute that previously went to CAS once the internal stages were exhausted is now heard — except in doping matters and Olympic events — by the Handball Court of Arbitration in Basel; the procedure, the time limits and the foreseeable costs of a case therefore change.</p><p>For national federations, the new obligations to give notice of elective assemblies and to submit statutory amendments for prior approval are duties whose breach can lead to IHF intervention; and the list of “exceptional circumstances” is the first clear criterion for assessing such intervention.</p>
</div>

IHF Statutes 2026

<p class="reg-lead">Redline edition of the FIBA General Statutes — differences between the 3 June 2021 and 16 May 2025 editions.</p>
<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>New edition</td><td><b>16 May 2025</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>Previous edition</td><td>3 June 2021</td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td>33 pages — marked-up text</td></tr>
</table>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>What is a redline edition?</h2>
<p>When the Statutes are revised, FIBA publishes, alongside the final text, a version in which <strong>deleted text and inserted text appear side by side</strong>. This document covers the transition from the 3 June 2021 edition to the current 16 May 2025 edition.</p>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>Practical use</h2>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">Rapid identification of changes</b>Instead of comparing two 33-page texts, the changes are visible directly — including the renumbering of articles, which matters for citation.</li>
<li><b class="t">Determining the governing edition</b>Where an event occurred on the boundary between the two editions, this document shows whether the provision relied upon existed in the earlier edition.</li>
<li><b class="t">No coverage of the 2017 edition</b>This comparison begins in 2021; no redline document has been published for the differences in the 5 May 2017 edition, a copy of which is also available on this site.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who this document matters to</h2>
<p>For any citation of an article of the Statutes in cases relating to the years 2021 to 2025. The full text of the current edition is also available on this site.</p>
</div>

FIBA General Statutes Redline — 2021 vs 2025

<p class="reg-lead">The General Statutes of the International Basketball Federation, edition of 16 May 2025.</p>
<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>In force</td><td><b>16 May 2025</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td>33 pages — the constitutive instrument of the world federation</td></tr>
<tr><td>Status</td><td><strong>Current edition</strong> — supersedes the edition of 5 May 2017</td></tr>
</table>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>What the Statutes determine</h2>
<p>The General Statutes stand at the head of the FIBA regulations, and the six Books of Internal Regulations are drafted within their framework. Their subject matter is the composition and purpose of the federation, the membership of national federations and their rights and obligations, the suspension and expulsion of members, and the structure of the organs: the Congress and the President, the Central Board, the Executive Committee and the Treasurer, the Secretariat, the Zones, the Regional Offices and the Commissions.</p>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>Structure of this edition<span class="reg-tag">Changes from the edition of 5 May 2017</span></h2>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">Specialised Commissions</b>Articles 21 to 27 define seven commissions: Technical, Competitions, <strong>Legal</strong>, Three-on-Three, Players, Finance and Medical.</li>
<li><b class="t">Zones</b>Articles 17 and 18 determine the FIBA Zones and their organisation — the same structure regulated in detail by Book Five of the Internal Regulations. FIBA Asia falls under this structure.</li>
<li><b class="t">Clubs and leagues</b>Article 12 clarifies the position of clubs, other bodies and leagues within the structure of the federation.</li>
<li><b class="t">Recognised organisations</b>Chapter Four enumerates the officially recognised organisations, including the <strong>International Wheelchair Basketball Federation</strong> and the <strong>International Basketball Federation for the Deaf</strong>.</li>
<li><b class="t">Suspension and expulsion</b>Article 10 regulates the conditions for the suspension and expulsion of members, and Article 11 the dissolution of a member national federation.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who this document matters to</h2>
<p>For national federations, Articles 8 and 9 (rights and obligations of members) and Article 10 (suspension and expulsion) determine the relationship with the world federation. A comparative version of these Statutes showing the differences from the edition of 3 June 2021 is also available on this site.</p>
</div>

FIBA General Statutes 2025

<p class="reg-lead">FIFA Statutes, May 2024 edition, adopted by the Congress of 17 May 2024 and in force 60 days after the close of the Congress; the number of articles reduced from 75 to 68 and the system of standing committees fully redesigned, with competitions separated by gender.</p>

<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>Adopted</td><td><b>17 May 2024</b> — FIFA Congress</td></tr>
<tr><td>In force from</td><td><b>60 days after the close of the Congress</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td><b>68 articles</b> of Statutes (in 14 titles) + Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes + Standing Orders of the Congress</td></tr>
<tr><td>Status</td><td>Current edition of this family on the site</td></tr>
</table>

<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>What are the FIFA Statutes?</h2>
<p>The FIFA Statutes are the constitutive document of the federation: they determine FIFA's legal nature and seat, its objectives, the conditions of membership of national federations and their rights and obligations, the position of the confederations, the structure of the bodies (Congress, Council, general secretary, standing committees and judicial bodies), and the dispute resolution mechanism, including referral to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes and the Standing Orders of the Congress are published in the same document.</p>
</div>

<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>About the May 2024 edition<span class="reg-tag">Changes from May 2022</span></h2>
<p>Under article 68 (Enforcement), these Statutes were adopted at the <strong>Congress of 17 May 2024</strong> and came into force <strong>sixty (60) days after the close of that Congress</strong>. The number of articles of the Statutes was reduced from <strong>75 to 68</strong> and the titles of the document from fifteen to fourteen.</p>
<h3>Principal changes from the previous edition</h3>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">Complete redesign of the system of standing committees — from 7 to 15 committees</b>The list of standing committees was entirely rewritten. The previous list comprised seven committees (Finance, Development, FIFA Competitions, Football Stakeholders, Member Associations, Referees, Medical). The new list has <strong>fifteen committees</strong>: Finance, Development, <strong>Men's National Team Competitions</strong>, <strong>Women's National Team Competitions</strong>, <strong>Men's Club Competitions</strong>, <strong>Women's Club Competitions</strong>, Olympic Football, Youth Boys' Competitions, Youth Girls' Competitions, Futsal, Beach Soccer, <strong>Men's Football Stakeholders</strong>, <strong>Women's Football Stakeholders</strong>, Member Associations, and Referees.</li>
<li><b class="t">Removal of the Medical Committee and the competitions organising committee from the list of standing committees</b>The "FIFA Competitions Committee" was replaced by a set of specialised competition committees, and the "Medical Committee" was removed from the list of standing committees.</li>
<li><b class="t">Separation of the committee structure by gender</b>For the first time, the competitions and stakeholders committees were constituted <strong>separately for men's and women's football</strong> — a structural change in the position of women's football in FIFA governance.</li>
<li><b class="t">Consolidation and renumbering of articles</b>With the merger of articles, the numbering of the whole document changed; for example, the "Football Tribunal" moved to article 48, the "Court of Arbitration for Sport" to article 49, and the enforcement article from 75 to <strong>68</strong>. When citing articles of the Statutes, attention to the year of the edition is essential.</li>
</ol>
<div class="reg-note"><strong>Note:</strong> the human rights article (article 3) is retained in this edition in the same wording as the 2019 to 2022 editions.</div>
</div>

<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who this document matters to</h2>
<p>The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran is bound to observe the principles of this document in drawing up its own statutes; independence from third-party interference, the holding of free and periodic elections, and the requirement to have recourse to the Court of Arbitration for Sport rather than to national courts all derive from it. For sports lawyers, the Statutes are also the basis for establishing the competence of FIFA's bodies and the legitimacy of their decisions.</p>
</div>

Notes related to the tag Statutes

IHF Statutes 2026

FIBA General Statutes Redline

FIBA General Statutes 2025

FIFA Statutes 2024

WKF Statutes 2019