Section 1: Introduction
Korfball (Dutch: korfbal) is governed internationally by the International Korfball Federation (IKF), headquartered at Orteliuslaan 1041, Utrecht, The Netherlands. The rules in this section are drawn from the IKF's official document "The Rules of Korfball", published June 2026 and valid as of 1 September 2026 (the current edition at time of writing), which corrected and re-confirmed the prior July 2025 edition on all core playing rules cited below.
Per the Definition and Introduction section of the official rules, korfball "is a sport played by hand within a rectangular field of play whereby two mixed teams try to shoot a ball into the korf (basket) of the opposite team." The document states that the sport's "main characteristics encompass all-round skills, cooperative play, controlled physical contact, gender equality, players' right to protected ball possession and scoring from 360° around the korf."
The Rules of Korfball must "be used in full, without making use of any 'exceptions', in all senior national top leagues and national championships or cups, in Friendly International Matches and in IKF Official, patronaged, and recognised events." Any deviation from the rules must be officially reported to the IKF before the start of the relevant season, match, or event; an unreported deviation is a breach of IKF Regulations. Lower-level and youth competitions may adapt certain rules per the companion document "The Rules of Korfball – Exceptions and Recommendations for Competition Regulations."
Korfball is unique among major team sports in requiring strict gender parity: every team fields four men and four women, and defense is restricted to same-gender matchups (Rule 6.6, discussed in Section 5). The sport is non-contact in the sense that deliberate physical impeding is prohibited, though "controlled" incidental contact is permitted under the rules' glossary definitions.
Section 2: Equipment
Ball (Rule 2.3): Korfball is played with a round, number 5 ball approved by the IKF. Its circumference must be 68.0–70.5 cm and its weight must fall between 445 g and 475 g inclusive. The ball must be inflated to the pressure printed on it such that, when dropped from a height of approximately 1.80 m (measured from the bottom of the ball), it rebounds to a height of between 1.10 m and 1.30 m, measured to the top of the ball. The ball must carry a printed pattern of at least two colours, symmetrical enough that the ball does not lose its visual roundness while spinning. Full specifications are set out in the separate IKF Ball Regulations.
Posts (Rule 2.1): Each zone has one post, fixed perpendicularly into the ground at a point midway between the sidelines, one-sixth of the length of the field of play from the endline. Posts must have an external diameter of 4.5–8.0 cm, be round (squared ends are permitted only to facilitate connection to the korf or a base), and, if made of synthetic material, must behave like metal tubing. Where a post cannot be fixed into the floor, a base-plate mount is permitted only if it is completely flat, has a maximum thickness of 1.0 cm, presents no tripping/injury hazard, has no cross-connections, and is stabilized against movement.
Korf / basket (Rule 2.2): An IKF-approved synthetic korf (the Dutch word for "basket") is fitted to each post. The korf must be cylindrical with no bottom, have its top edge exactly 3.50 m above the ground and parallel to it, be a strongly contrasting yellow colour, and face the centre of the field. Its official dimensions are 23.5–25.0 cm high, 39.0–41.0 cm inner diameter at the top edge, 40.0–42.0 cm inner diameter at the bottom, and a 2.0–3.0 cm top-edge rim width. The korf must be fixed so that it cannot move relative to the post, and the post must not protrude above the korf. Full specifications are set out in the separate IKF Korf Regulations.
Players' uniform and footwear (Rule 4.1): Players of each team must be dressed in a numbered, matching sports outfit sufficiently different in appearance from the opposing team's, and must wear appropriate sports footwear. The rules explicitly permit slight differences between men's and women's kit on the same team, provided the outfits look similar and share the same colours, in recognition of korfball's mixed-gender format.
Prohibited items (Rule 4.1): Players may not wear any object that could be considered dangerous unless it is taped or fixed so that it is no longer dangerous, and must keep fingernails closely cut and smooth. The rules cite rimless glasses, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, wristwatches, and rings as examples of dangerous objects. The referee duo is charged with checking players for such items before the match (Rule 4.6.h).
Section 3: Playing Area
Field of play (Rule 1.2): The field of play measures 40 m by 20 m, divided into two equal zones by a centre line parallel to the endlines. The free height above the playing surface must be at least 7 m, and the floor must be even, dust-free, and non-slippery — conditions the referee duo must verify before the match under Rule 4.6.a, which also empowers them to cancel a game over dangerous obstacles or a slippery floor.
Boundary lines (Rule 1.3): The field is bounded by clearly visible endlines, sidelines, and a centre line, each 3.0–5.0 cm wide. These may also be formed with tape of the same width fixed to the floor.
Penalty spot (Rule 1.4): A line approximately 15.0 cm by 5.0 cm is marked in front of each post; the edge of the spot furthest from the post must be 2.50 m from the front of the post.
Penalty area (Rule 1.5): An area extending 2.50 m in every direction from the penalty spot, the post, and the imaginary line between them, marked around each post either by a contrasting solid colour or by boundary lines fixed to the ground.
Free pass area (Rule 1.6): A circle of 2.50 m radius, measured from the centre of the penalty spot and from the edge of the penalty spot furthest from the post.
Border area, bench area, and substitution spots (Rules 1.7–1.9): A border area at least 1 m wide, kept free of obstacles, surrounds the field of play. Two benches are placed outside the border area near one sideline, one on each side of the jury table. Substitution spots — a 90 cm × 60 cm rectangle or a 90 cm-diameter circle — are marked outside the border area between each bench and the jury table.
Equipment at the jury table (Section 3): The jury table sits outside the border area, near the sideline, in front of the centre line, and holds the control panels for the time clock, shot clock, and scoreboard. The time clock and scoreboard must be visible from the jury table, bench area, and spectators; shot clocks are mounted at a height of at least 0.90 m near the centre of each endline. Under Rule 4.9, the shot-clock operator is responsible for enforcing the 25-second attack-zone time limit described in Section 5 below.
Section 4: Players & Officials
Team composition (Rule 5.1): Each team declares four men and four women as its starting line-up, with two players of each gender placed in each of the two zones (defence and attack). Remaining players are listed as substitutes. If a team's line-up becomes incomplete, play may continue only if each zone retains at least three players from each team, matched by gender — for example, one woman and two men cannot be opposed by only one man and two women.
Substitutes (Rule 4.2): A team may name a maximum of six substitute players — three men and three women — who must remain seated on the bench except when warming up prior to entering. Rule 5.9 caps the number of substitutions at eight per team, and a substitution may only occur during a stoppage in play, following a specific coach-to-jury request procedure.
Captain (Rule 4.3): One starting player on each team serves as captain for the entire match, identified by a visible arm band or shoulder tape in a contrasting colour. The captain represents the team, is responsible for players' conduct, and may raise concerns with the referees in a reasonable, correct, and infrequent manner; misuse of this privilege is treated as misbehaviour under Rule 7.6.
Coach and assistant coach (Rule 4.4): Each team is accompanied by one coach, who must sit on the team's allocated bench and may leave that position — without disturbing others, and remaining along the sideline — to instruct players, request or use a time-out (Rule 5.8), or request and execute a substitution (Rule 5.9). A team may also name one assistant coach, who assumes the coach's duties only when the coach is absent; only one of the two coaches may be off the bench at any given time.
Referee duo (Rule 4.6): Control of the game is the exclusive responsibility of a duo of two equally empowered referees, whose duties include verifying that the field, material, and equipment comply with Sections 1–3; starting, stopping, and restarting play by whistle; enforcing the rules (including the discretion to "play on" per Rule 7.2); using standardized signals to communicate decisions; correcting unfair advantages arising from outside interference; and taking disciplinary action against misbehaviour under Rule 7.6.
Jury, timekeeper, shot-clock operator, and scorekeeper (Rules 4.7–4.10): The jury assists the referee duo with match protocol and instructs and supervises the timekeeper, shot-clock operator, and scorekeeper. The timekeeper manages the real playing time (Rule 5.2); the shot-clock operator manages the 25-second attack-zone limit (Rule 6.16); and the scorekeeper operates the scoreboard (Rule 5.5).
Section 5: Rules of Play
Playing time (Rule 5.2): A match is played in two halves of 25 minutes of real (running) playing time, each half divided into two equal periods by a one-minute technical time-out. The time clock stops whenever the referees blow their whistle for any reason and whenever a goal is scored, and restarts on the throw-off or restart whistle, keeping the "real playing time" concept central to the sport.
Zone changes (Rule 5.6): Each time two goals have been scored in total, all players change zones, and with that change the roles reverse — attackers become defenders and defenders become attackers. There is no role change at half-time, only a change of ends (Rule 5.4): both teams keep the same line-up but switch which korf they attack.
Throw-off (Rule 5.7): A throw-off is taken by an attacker from a point inside their own zone, no more than 2 m from the centre of the field, at the start of each period and after every goal conceded, following the same conditions as a re-start (Rule 7.3).
Running with the ball (Rule 6.1): A player who has caught the ball while stationary may pivot on one foot but may not move that pivot foot and subsequently lift the other before releasing the ball. A player who receives the ball while running or jumping must come to a stop "within the least possible distance" before throwing or shooting; the referees judge this against the field conditions and the player's speed and technical ability.
Solo play (Rule 6.2): Players are prohibited from "solo play" — repeatedly bouncing, or throwing and catching the ball to themselves — without genuinely involving teammates, reflecting the sport's cooperative-play ethos.
Defended shot (Rule 6.3): A shot is deemed to be taken from a defended position, and therefore infringes the rules, when four conditions are simultaneously met by a same-gender defender: the defender is within "arm's length" of the attacker (defined by the glossary as the measured reach of the defender's arm to the attacker's torso, whether standing, jumped, or bent); the defender is positioned between the attacker and the korf; the defender faces the attacker; and the defender is "actually trying to block the ball" — the glossary defines this as the conscious, admissible use of the arms/hands to prevent the throw or shot.
Gender-restricted defence (Rule 6.6): Players may not hinder an opponent of the opposite gender while that opponent is in the act of throwing the ball — defence is restricted to same-gender match-ups, a defining structural feature of korfball's mixed-team format.
Passive play (Rule 6.9): Teams may not deliberately withhold a genuine attempt to score. If both teams intentionally play passively in turn, the referee duo must stop the game under Rule 4.6.b.
Shot clock (Rule 6.16): The attacking team has 25 seconds of possession in the attack zone in which to attempt a shot; failing to do so results in loss of possession, as tracked and signalled by the shot-clock operator under Rule 4.9.
Golden goal and shoot-out (Rule 5.3): If the score is level at the end of regulation, a 10-minute golden-goal period follows a one-minute break, restarting with a throw-off for the team that held possession at the end of regulation; both teams keep attacking the same korf and the same zone line-up as at full time. The match ends immediately when either team scores. If the golden-goal period ends level, a "sudden death" penalty shoot-out decides the match, taken in a pre-announced player sequence after which no further substitutions are allowed.
Section 6: Scoring
Definition of a goal (Rule 5.5): A goal is scored when the ball has, from above, completely passed through the korf, provided it was not thrown from underneath the korf. It is also a goal if the referees judge that the ball would certainly have fallen completely through the korf but a defender illegally prevented this by tapping it back from underneath. Every goal is worth one point and is credited to the team attacking the zone into which the korf the ball entered belongs — a distinctive feature of korfball, in which both teams' korfs sit on the same physical field and possession/attacking assignment (not a fixed "home" basket) determines whose goal it is.
Disallowed goals (Rule 5.5): A goal is not allowed if an infringement was committed by the attacking team before the ball passed through the korf; if the ball fell through the korf directly from a throw-off, free pass, or re-start, or from a shot taken from the attacking team's own defence zone; or if the ball left a shooting attacker's hands only after the whistle or signal ending a period of the match.
Winning the match (Rules 5.2, 5.5): The team scoring the most goals over the two 25-minute halves wins the match. If the score is level, the golden-goal procedure described in Section 5 (Rule 5.3) determines the winner.
Time-clock behaviour around scoring (Rule 5.2): The time clock stops the instant a goal is scored and restarts with the whistle for the resulting throw-off, taken by the team that just conceded the goal — reinforcing korfball's "real playing time" model, in which the clock only runs while the ball is genuinely in play.
Section 7: Violations & Penalties
Types of sanctions (Rule 7.1): The rules recognize three levels of restart sanction for an infringement: a re-start (play resumes on the spot for the non-offending team), a free pass (awarded from the free pass area described in Rule 1.6), and a penalty (a direct, undefended shot at the korf from the penalty spot described in Rule 1.4). Rule 7.2 also gives the referee duo discretion to "play on" — declining to stop the game for an infringement — when doing so would disadvantage the non-offending team.
Free pass (Rule 7.4): A free pass is signalled by the referee raising an arm with an open palm and indicating the direction of the non-offending team. The defending player must retreat to the required distance, and the attacking player taking the pass has a limited window (the official document specifies a short count, commonly cited as four seconds) to release the ball once the referee indicates play may restart.
Penalty (Rule 7.5): A penalty is awarded for more serious infringements — such as an illegally defended shot that denies a clear scoring chance, or a foul committed inside the penalty area — and is taken as an unimpeded shot at the korf from the penalty spot, 2.50 m from the front of the post. The referee signals a penalty by pointing first to the place where the infringement occurred and then to the korf.
Common on-court infringements (Section 6): Beyond running with the ball (6.1), solo play (6.2), and a defended shot (6.3), the rules prohibit shooting immediately after cutting past another attacker (6.4); handing the ball directly to a teammate rather than passing or shooting (6.5); hindering an opposite-gender opponent's throw (6.6); playing the ball with the leg or foot (6.7); touching or holding the post (6.8); passive play (6.9); scoring from the defence zone or directly from a throw-off, out-ball, re-start, or free pass (6.10); excessively hindering an opponent (6.11); pushing, clinging to, or holding off an opponent (6.12); playing in a dangerous manner (6.13); playing outside one's own zone (6.14); putting the ball out of play — an "out-ball" (6.15); and exceeding the 25-second attack-zone shot-clock limit (6.16).
Disciplinary sanctions (Rule 7.6): The referee duo may issue a yellow card as a formal warning for misbehaviour and a red card to eject a player, coach, or other team-attached person for serious or repeated misconduct. A player sent off must be replaced by a substitute, and that substitution counts toward the team's maximum of eight allowed under Rule 5.9; if the team has already used its full allowance of substitutions, a sent-off player may still be replaced only with the referees' permission.
Section 8: Safety Considerations
Pre-match hazard checks (Rule 4.6.a, 4.6.h): Before every match, the referee duo must confirm that the hall, field of play, material, and equipment satisfy the specifications in Sections 1–3, and must not tolerate non-compliance; dangerous obstacles in the hall or a very slippery floor are explicit grounds to cancel the game. Referees also check players for dangerous items per Rule 4.1.
Prohibited dangerous items (Rule 4.1): Players may not wear objects that could be considered dangerous — the rules specifically name rimless glasses, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, wristwatches, and rings — unless the item is taped or otherwise fixed so it no longer poses a hazard. Fingernails must be kept closely cut and smooth.
Dangerous play and contact (Rules 6.12, 6.13, and Glossary): The rules separately prohibit pushing, clinging to, or holding off an opponent (6.12) and playing "in a dangerous manner" (6.13), defined in the glossary simply as "manner of playing which is dangerous to another player." The glossary further distinguishes "controlled" contact — where neither player gains an unfair advantage — from "uncontrolled" contact, where one player does; only controlled contact is admissible under the rules.
Stopping play for player welfare (Rule 4.6.b): The referee duo must stop the game whenever a player is bleeding, or when a player who falls or is injured without contact cannot stand up immediately and remains in a position that poses an injury risk to themselves or others.
Treatment of injured and bleeding players (Rule 5.10): An injured player may be assessed and treated for up to one minute, starting when the medical attendant reaches them. If, after that minute, the player is not fit to continue and it is safe to move them, they must be removed from the field immediately and substituted. A bleeding player must leave the field of play immediately and may not return until the bleeding has stopped, the wound has been covered, and any blood has been removed from the playing surface or equipment.
