International Judo Federation

The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe plus Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 40 million people around the globe who practice judo, according to the IJF.

Since 2009, IJF has organized yearly World Championships and the World Judo Tour consisting of five Grand Prix, four Grand Slams, a master tournament and a Continental open tournament.

Controversies

The IJF has faced a number of controversies.

After his defeat at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby refused to shake the hand of his opponent Israeli Or Sasson, in a significant breach of judo etiquette. IJF spokesman Nicolas Messner said "This is already a big improvement that Arabic countries accept to (fight) Israel, but he said that even though El Shehaby ultimately bowed after being compelled to by the referee, "his attitude will be reviewed after the games to see if any further action should be taken."

Before the 2016 Olympic Games, following a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation that uncovered state-sponsored cheating in Russia, the IJF cleared all 11 Russian judokas to compete, after the International Olympic Committee asked international sports federations to decide which Russian athletes should be allowed to compete after a review of their doping records.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaili was slated to fight Israeli judoka Ehud Vaks in the first round. Miresmaili was disqualified from competing because he was more than two kilos - four pounds - over the 66-kilogram weight limit. It was claimed that Miresmaili deliberately set out to be disqualified, rather than compete against an Israeli, which was understood from Miresmaili's own comments: "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathise with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all." Initially, IJF officials questioned how such an experienced two-time world champion competitor could have made such a basic error. This followed similar incidents such as at the 2001 World Judo Championships, at which Iranian Mahed Malekmohammdi refused to face Israeli judoka Yoel Razvozov, and a bout in which Iranian judoka Masoud Haji Akhoundzade pulled out against Israeli lightweight Zvi Shafran.

The IJF set up a commission to investigate whether Miresmaeili deliberately missed weight so he would not have to face Vaks, but concluded he had no intention to avoid competing against an Israeli. After a hearing which included the president of Iran's judo federation, the commission concluded that Miresmaeili said he had no pre-planned intentions for not competing and that "he made no statement of any sort to any press," according to an IJF statement. The only issue that remained was that Miresmaeili was overweight on the weigh-in day, the IJF said, and as it has no rule for penalizing overweight athletes, it decided not to take any action against him. On September 8, 2004, Iran's official press agency announced the government had given Miresmaili $125,000, the same amount awarded to Iran's two Athens gold medalists.

Israeli Tal Flicker won a gold medal at the Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi in October 2017. Despite the win, and against the explicit instructions of the International Judo Federation, tournament organizers in Abu Dhabi refused to fly the Israeli flag or play the Israeli national anthem.

Events

• https://www.judoinside.com/
• http://www.eju.net/results

World Judo Championships

• Main Article : World Judo Championships

World Junior Judo Championships (1974 to 2011 U20 / 2012 to now U21)

• Main Article : World Junior Judo Championships

The World Junior Judo Championships are the international judo competition. The championships are held once every year by the International Judo Federation.

Year	Games	Host City	NOC	Events
1974	1	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	5
1976	2	Madrid	Spain	5
1983	3	Mayaguez	Puerto Rico	7
1986	4	Rome	Italy
1990	5	Dijon	France
1992	6	Buenos Aires	Argentina
1994	7	Cairo	Egypt
1996	8	Porto	Portugal
1998	9	Cali	Colombia
2000	10	Nabeul	Tunisia
2002	11	Jeju	South Korea
2004	12	Budapest	Hungary
2006	13	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic
2008	14	Bangkok	Thailand
2009	15	Paris	France
2010	16	Agadir	Morocco
2011	17	Cape Town	South Africa
2013	18	Ljubljana	Slovenia
2014	19	Miami	United States
2015	20	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
2017	21	Zagreb	Croatia

• http://www.the-sports.org/judo-world-junior-championships-results-2017-men-epm74796.html
• https://www.judoinside.com/event/search?EventSearch%5Btype%5D=202&EventSearch%5Bname%5D=&EventSearch%5Byear%5D=&EventSearch%5Bcity%5D=&EventSearch%5Bcountry%5D=&yt0=Hajime&EventSearch%5Btype%5D=12&EventSearch%5Bname%5D=&EventSearch%5Byear%5D=&EventSearch%5Bcity%5D=&EventSearch%5Bcountry%5D=&yt0=Hajime

World Cadet Judo Championships (U18)

• Main Article : World Cadet Judo Championships

Year	Games	Host City	NOC	Events
2009	1	Budapest	Hungary	16
2011	2	Kiev	Ukraine	16
2013	3	Miami	United States	16
2015	4	Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	18
2017	5	Santiago	Chile	17

• http://www.the-sports.org/judo-world-cadet-championships-results-2017-women-epf74793.html

World Veterans Judo Championships (30 to +80 in 11 Age Group)

• Main Article : World Veterans Judo Championships

The World Veteran Judo Championships are the international judo competition. The championships are held once every year by the International Judo Federation. 11 * 14 = 154 Events potentially.

Year	Games	Host City	NOC	Events
2009	1	Sindelfingen	Germany	154
2010	2	Budapest	Hungary	154
2011	3	Frankfurt	Germany	154
2012	4	Miami	United States	154
2013	5	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	154
2014	6	Malaga	Spain	154
2015	7	Amsterdam	Netherlands	154
2016	8	Fort Lauderdale	United States	154
2017	9	Olbia	Italy	154

• http://www.ijfveterans.com/results/

World Kata Judo Championships

• Main Article : World Kata Judo Championships

The World Judo Kata Championships are the international judo competition. The championships are held once every year by the International Judo Federation.

Year	Games	Host City	NOC	Events
2009	1	Valletta	Malta	5
2010	2	Budapest	Hungary	5
2011	3	Frankfurt	Germany	5
2012	4	Pordenone	Italy	5
2013	5	Kyoto	Japan	5
2014	6	Malaga	Spain	5
2015	7	Amsterdam	Netherlands	5
2016	8	Gzira	Malta	5
2017	9	Olbia	Italy	5

• http://www.ijfveterans.com/

Presidents of the IJF

• Aldo Torti, Italy, 1951
• Risei Kano, son of Professor Kanō Jigorō, Japan, 1952–1965
• Charles Palmer Great Britain, 1965–1979
• Shigeyoshi Matsumae, Japan, 1979–1987
• Sarkis Kaloghlian, Argentina, 1987–1989
• Lawrie Hargrave, New Zealand, 1989–1991
• Luis Baguena Spain, 1991–1995
• Yong Sung Park, South Korea, 1995–2007
• Marius Vizer, Austria, 2007–

External links

• Official website