International Judo Federation
About International Judo Federation
The International Judo Federation is the only organisation recognised to lead the worldwide development of judo. It is composed of National Judo Federations and Continental Unions. Judo was created in 1882 by Professor Jigoro Kano. As an educational method derived from the martial arts, judo became an official Olympic sport in 1964. Judo is a highly codified sport in which the mind controls the expression of the body and is a sport which contributes to educating individuals. As a discipline derived from ancestral traditions, judo was designed by its Master Founder as an eminently modern and progressive activity. The International Judo Federation is a non-profit association registered in Budapest, Hungary. The IJF develops competition at an international level leading to the qualification of athletes to the World Championships and the Olympic Games. It also develops programmes such as Judo for Peace, Judo for Refugees, Judo for Children.
What International Judo Federation is doing
For many years, the IJF has been developing programmes and activities to support refugees. In 2014, the first refugees camp programme was set up in Kilis (South Turkey). This programme is still running and is active both in Turkey and Syria. Several refugee camp programmes, offering the possibility to practice the sport and discover its values, are running in Zambia (2 camps), Malawi (1 camp), Jordan (1 camp). One programme helping refugees facing discrimination and xenophobia is running in South Africa. In parallel, the IJF has developed an extensive programme to support top athletes with a refugee status to participate in the World Judo Tour events. One refugee team participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Since March 2022, the IJF has set up the https://noborders.ijf.org platform to help Ukrainian judoka and their families. More than 150 clubs, located in the neighboring countries are already part of the initiative. The IJF supports the Ukrainian National Team.
