The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the international governing body for the sport of wheelchair basketball. IWBF is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the sole competent authority in wheelchair basketball worldwide. International Basketball Federation (or FIBA) has recognized IWBF under Article 53 of its General Statutes. History In 1973, the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF) established the first Sub-section for wheelchair basketball. At that time ISMGF was the world governing body for all wheelchair sports. In 1989, ISMGF accepted the name International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) for its former sub-section. With this step wheelchair basketball began its journey for full independence and in 1993 IWBF was established as the world body for wheelchair basketball with full responsibility for development of the sport. Over the next five years IWBF membership grew in size and the federation configured itself into 4 geographical zones. Members Zones IWBF studied several models before creating its current zone structure. Based on the number of National Organizations for Wheelchair Basketball (NOWB) with active programs at the national and international level it was decided that IWBF Americas and IWBF Europe could be the same as FIBA Americas and FIBA Europe. However, because of the limited number of countries with active programs in the rest of the world, IWBF chose to combine some regions to create better developmental and competitive opportunities within the zone. As a result, the last two zones of IWBF are IWBF Asia Oceania and IWBF Africa. Members in May 2022: IWBF Americas - Americas Wheelchair Basketball Championship - 20 Members IWBF Europe - European Wheelchair Basketball Championship - 35 Members IWBF Asia Oceania - Asia Oceania Wheelchair Basketball Championships - 26 Members IWBF Africa - Africa Wheelchair Basketball Championship - 17 Members National Members As of 2021, IWBF has 95 NOWB actively participating in wheelchair basketball throughout the world with this number increasing each year. 98 in May 2022. IWBF Asia Oceania Afghanistan Australia Bahrain Cambodia China Chinese Taipei Hong Kong Indonesia India Iran Iraq Japan Jordan Korea Kuwait Lebanon Malaysia Nepal New Zealand Oman Palestine Philippines Saudi Arabia Singapore Thailand United Arab Emirates Africa Algeria Angola Burkina Faso Central African Republic Egypt Ethiopia Gambia Kenya Liberia Morocco Namibia Nigeria Rwanda South Africa Rwanda Tanzania Uganda America There are currently 20 NOWBs in the IWBF Americas these are: Argentina Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El