International Orienteering Federation

Infobox Non-profit
Non-profit_name = International Orienteering Federation
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Non-profit_type = International Federation
founded_date = 1961
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area_served = International
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footnotes = The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) is an international confederation of national orienteering organizations. Its primary activities are organized through standing Commissions that are each responsible for some aspect of the sport's development worldwide. The IOF sponsors a variety of international orienteering competitions, including the Orienteering World Championships. IOF head office is located in Finland.

IOF is the sport governing body for four orienteering sports: foot orienteering, mountain bike orienteering, ski orienteering, and trail orienteering. [cite web |url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/about_us |title= About us|accessdate=2008-05-26 |publisher=International Orienteering Federation |date= ] It is based in Finland [cite web |url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof|title=IOF|accessdate=2008-05-26|publisher=International Orienteering Federation ] and it claims on its website to aim to "spread the sport of orienteering, to promote its development and to create and maintain an attractive world event programme." [cite web |url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/vision_and_values |title=Vision and values |accessdate=2008-05-26 |publisher=International Orienteering Federation |date= ] Since 1977 the IOF has been recognised by the IOCcite web|url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/past_present|title=Past&Present |publisher=International Orienteering Federation|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-28]

IOF members

There are also governing bodies for many of the individual countries that are represented in the sport of orienteering. For example the British Orienteering Federation is the national governing body for the United Kingdom. The federation was founded in 1967 and it is made up of 13 constituent associations. [cite web |url=http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/about/index.php|title=About British Orienteering|accessdate=2008-05-25 |publisher=British Orienteering Federation ] The governing body for Finnish orienteering is the Finnish Orienteering Federation. [cite web |url=http://www.fin5.fi/SSL/sslweb.nsf/sp?open&cid=eng |title=The Finnish Orienteering Federation |accessdate=2008-05-25 |publisher=fin5.fi |date=May 25, 2008 ]

History

The IOF was formed on the 21 May 1961 in a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark by the national federations of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.cite web|url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/past_present|title=Past&Present |publisher=International Orienteering Federation|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-28] By 1969, the IOF represented 16 countries, including the first two non-European member societies representing Japan and Canada. [cite web
url=http://www.momentech.com.au/droc/HistoryOrienteering.asp
title=Orienteering History
last=Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club
publisher=Momentech Software Services
accessdate=2006-02-19] By the 1 July 2006, the IOF had grown to include 67 national orienteering federations, with 48 full members and 19 associate memberscite web|url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006|title=National Federations|publisher=International Orienteering Federation|language=English|accessdate=2006-02-19] cite web|url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/about_us|title=About Us|publisher=International Orienteering Federation|language=English|accessdate=2008-09-28] representing all six inhabited continents of the world.cite web |url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/member_federations/iof_member_federations |title= IOF Members |accessdate=2008-06-19 |work= |publisher= |date= ]

Membership

Governance structure

The IOF has an elected President, a Senior Vice-President, two Vice-Presidents, and other council members. Day-to-day operations of the IOF are the responsibility of the IOF Secretariat and Assistant to the Secretariat. Several standing commissions of the IOF are responsible for the development of the sport world-wide. These commissions include:
*Environment
*Foot-O
*IT
*Map
*Medical
*MTB-O
*Policy and Development
*Rules
* Ski-O
*Trail-O

Publications

The IOF publishes a wide variety of journals and reference works related to the sport. These include "Orienteering World", an annual magazine, "The Scientific Journal of Orienteering", the "IOF Newsletter", and official editions of the rules of IOF-sanctioned orienteering and specifications for orienteering maps.

Membership of Organisations

Since 1977 the IOF has been recognised by the IOC

The IOF is also a member of the following organisations.

*Association of IOC Recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF)
*International World Games Association (IWGA)
*International Masters Games Association (IMGA)
*General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF)
*European Masters Sports Association (EMSA)

References

*Hickok, Ralph (2005). [http://www.hickoksports.com/history/orienteering.shtml "Orienteering: History"] . Retrieved Dec. 14, 2005.
* [http://www.orienteering.org/ International Orienteering Federation] web site. Retrieved Dec. 14, 2005.