World Curling

World Curling
Formation1966; 58 years ago (1966) (as International Curling Federation)
TypeSports federation
HeadquartersPerth, Scotland
Membership
73 member associations
Official language
English
Beau Welling
Staff
20[1]
Websiteworldcurling.org

World Curling, formerly the World Curling Federation (WCF) is the world governing body for curling accreditation, with offices in Perth, Scotland. It was formed out of the International Curling Federation (ICF), when the push for Olympic Winter Sport status was made. The name was changed in 1990 to the WCF and then to World Curling in 2024.[2]

The ICF was initially formed in 1966 as a committee of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club in Perth after the success of the Scotch Cup series of world championships held between Canada and Scotland. At the outset, it comprised the associations of Scotland, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States. In the wake of its formation, it sanctioned the World Curling Championships. World Curling currently sanctions 15 international curling events (see below). World Curling is managed by eight Board Directors, one president, three vice-presidents (one from each World Curling regional zone - Americas, Europe, Pacific-Asia) and six Board Directors. The six Board Directors must all come from different member associations. All positions on the Board of Directors are elected by World Curling member associations. The Board of Directors are supported by and a permanent staff of 20 employees.

There are 74 member associations, with the most recent addition being Pakistan, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in 2023, and Monaco in 2024.[3][4]

In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022 World Curling banned the Russian Curling Federation from competing.[5]

  1. ^ "Board". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ "About".
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PPP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Media, World Curling (2 August 2024). "Monaco joins World Curling as Conditional Member". World Curling. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Krushelnitckii to compete at Russian Championships after doping ban ends". www.insidethegames.biz. 29 March 2022.