As basketball has been increasing popular among elite deaf athletes around the world. Several international and national basketball competitions have already been held for several years under an international organisation of sports for the Deaf – ICSD which also governs and manage several other sports, World Championships and Deaflympic Games.

On Saturday 2nd May 1998 in Turku, Finland, the first provisional board consisted of President Jussi Raiso (Finland), Vice President Aleksas Jasiunas (Lithuania), Secretary General Christian Boklund (Sweden) and Board Member Riina Kuusk (Estonia).

In this meeting, they have recommended that we need a world governing body for international deaf basketball, so this can be focused entirely on the core and to improve the standards and the well beings of deaf basketballers around the world.

From left: Jussi Raiso, Riina Kuusk, Christian Boklund and Aleksas Jasiunas

With this special establishment meeting, they have founded ‘International Deaf Basketball Association’ (IDBA) and constructed the first IDBA Constitution with Statutes and Regulations, and finally started informing other deaf people interested in basketball around the world.

The Deaf International Basketball Federation (DIBF) officially founded by the first congress with two-third majority votes achieved of officials from the National Deaf Sports Federations practising deaf basketball countries and elected new board from different corners of the globe. This congress was taken place in Athens, Greece, on Saturday 20th July 2002.

The name IDBA was changed to DIBF for more corporate visibility and comprehensiveness.


16 signed Countries for the official founding of the Deaf International Basketball Federation (DIBF):
Australia, Chinese Taipei, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and United States of America

Download this document DIBF Official Foundation with 16 signed countries.