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The Greenlandic Sports Confederation (GIF), known in Greenlandic as Timersoqatigiit Kattuffiat, is Greenland’s national sports organization and the umbrella body for organized sport throughout the country.
The Confederation was founded on 3 September 1953 with the purpose of uniting and strengthening sport in Greenland and creating better opportunities for participation across towns and settlements.
Today, the Greenland Sports Confederation organizes sport through nine national sports federations and 20 sports clubs that are not affiliated with a federation, collectively representing clubs and associations across the country. GIF serves as the common voice of Greenlandic sport, supporting both grassroots and elite sport while representing Greenlandic athletes and organizations at national and international levels.
The Confederation works to promote health, community, and physical activity for all citizens. It plays a central role in developing volunteerism, educating sports leaders and coaches, and delivering sports projects as well as major national and international sporting events.
GIF also pursues a clear vision: that by 2030, Greenland will become the world’s most physically active society.
Sport in Greenland is governed by the Inatsisartut Act on Sport and Physical Activity, which aims to promote sport, including competitive sport, and physical activity in order to strengthen citizens’ health, well-being, and physical, mental, and social development.
Sport is understood as physical activities undertaken for exercise, recreation, and enjoyment, while competitive sport refers to activities conducted according to established rules and involving a competitive element. Sport in Greenland includes both organized sports within clubs and associations and self-organized physical activity in everyday life, and it is open to people of all ages and ability levels.
The Act emphasizes that sport and physical activity should take place in safe, secure, and healthy environments, with particular focus on children’s well-being, anti-doping measures, fair competition, and the prevention of the manipulation of sporting competitions.
Organized sport in Greenland is administered by the Greenland Sports Confederation (GIF), which serves as the national and official representative body for sport in Greenland. GIF plays a central role in the development of both grassroots and elite sport in cooperation with national sports federations, municipalities, and the Government of Greenland (Naalakkersuisut).
The Greenlandic Sports Confederation’s Statutes define the Confederation’s purpose, responsibilities, organizational structure, and the principles governing leadership, finance, and accountability.
The Confederation is governed by a Representative Assembly, which serves as its highest authority and elects a Board of Directors responsible for the overall strategic and political direction of the organization.
The day-to-day operations are managed by an administration, which operates under the authority of the Board and is responsible for implementing the decisions made by both the Representative Assembly and the Board.
The Greenland Sports Confederation supports its member federations through advisory services, education and training, development projects, financial administration, and by representing Greenlandic sport at both the national and international levels.
As the umbrella organization for Greenland’s national sports federations, the Greenland Sports Confederation works to create common frameworks that promote safe, secure, and responsible participation in sport.
The purpose is to advance sport across Greenland, both in towns and settlements, and to create better opportunities for participation in sport, physical activity, and community life for all target groups.
The Confederation increasingly works with time-limited and targeted projects designed to support national visions, political objectives, and local needs.
A central part of the Greenland Sports Confederation’s development work is its partnership agreements with municipalities. These agreements provide a framework for joint initiatives in which the Confederation and municipalities work together to strengthen local sport and physical activity through coordination, knowledge sharing, and collaborative projects.
The partnerships are based on local needs and priorities and aim to create a strong connection between national strategies and practical sports development at the community level. Municipalities therefore play an important role as key partners in building strong and sustainable sports communities throughout Greenland.
