International Sepaktakraw Federation

The International Sepaktakraw Federation, commonly known as ISTAF, is the international governing body for the sport of sepaktakraw. Its current President is Major General Dr. Charouck Arirachakaran and was formed in 1988.[1] Its main goal currently is to spread Sepaktakraw into 75 different countries and ultimately make it an Olympic sport.[2]

International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF)
TypeSports federation
Membership
31 national federations
President
MG Dr. Charouck Arirachakaran
Secretary General
Dato Abdul Halim Bin Kader
Websitewww.sepaktakraw.org

To secure the goal, the federation will have to work harder in order to fulfill the requirements of the International Olympic Council: Any featured sport must be popularly played in at least 75 countries around the globe.

Sepaktakraw is a sport which originated from Southeast Asia. It is played similarly to volleyball but players use their feet, knee, chest and head to carry a rattan ball over the net. It is a spectator sport that contains elements of volleyball, football, martial arts and gymnastics.

Key office-holders

President: MG Dr. Charouck Arirachakaran[3]

Secretary General: Dato Abdul Halim Bin Kader, BBM[4]

Competition
Main article: Sepak takraw at the Asian Games

ISTAF is responsible for Sepaktakraw's major international tournaments, notably the ISTAF SuperSeries (ISS) and ISTAF World Championship (IWC).[5] Sepaktakraw is also a medal sport since 1990 in the Asian Games and has been an ever-present in the SEA Games from 1967 onwards.[6]

ISTAF World Cup
Main article: ISTAF World Cup

The first ever ISTAF World Cup is held in Malaysia during July 2011.[7] The winner for the 1st ISTAF World Cup (Men) is Thailand and the runner-up is Malaysia. The winner for the 1st ISTAF World Cup (Women) is Thailand and the runner-up is Vietnam.

ISTAF SuperSeries (ISS)
Main article: ISTAF SuperSeries (ISS)

The ISTAF SuperSeries (ISS) is an elite international tournament for the sport of Sepaktakraw. Its inaugural tournament was held in Bangkok, Thailand[8] during 8–11 September 2011. The competition is held in a grand prix format whereby national teams compete in a series of events during a season. Their performance will then be cumulated to determine the overall winner for the season.

Each event will have preliminary group stages, before moving on to the knock out rounds.

ISS 2011/2012

The first ever season of ISTAF SuperSeries is held over 2011/2012. The first tournament was held in Bangkok, Thailand, followed by Palembang, Indonesia and then Singapore. The finals of ISS 2011/2012 sees Thailand being crowned the overall champion for both men and women in front of their home crowd in Bangkok.

National Association

The ISTAF currently has 31 national associations under its membership.

Asia

North America

South America

Europe

See also

References
  1. http://www.sepaktakraw.org/about-istaf/
  2. "Federation dreams of taking the Olympic stage". Jakarta Post.
  3. http://www.sepaktakraw.org/about-istaf/
  4. http://www.sepaktakraw.org/about-istaf/
  5. "Intentions to expand the ISTAF SuperSeries in Season Two". Sports Business Insider. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. "'Lanka can learn a lot from the ISTAF World Cup'". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  7. http://www.sepaktakraw.org/istaf-world-cup-kuala-lumpur-2011/
  8. http://www.sepaktakraw.org/iss-thailand-2011/
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