National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark

Danish Sports Confederation

The confederation was founded on 14 February 1896 as Dansk Idræts-Forbund. At the time it was founded, it represented 18 associations across ten different sports with 2,180 individual members. After the Danish Gymnastics Federation (Dansk Gymnastik Forbund) and the Danish Football Association became members in 1904, the confederation began to expand dramatically. By 1918, it represented more than 400 associations with approximately 60,000 members. Initially the confederation was not recognized by the state. It first received state-funding in 1903, when it was awarded an annual grant of 3,000 DKK.

The confederation's headquarters were initially located on Ingemannsvej in Frederiksberg. Its location changed many times in the following years until it moved to Østerbro in 1925. In 1957 the confederation purchased its own building from a carpet wholesaler—a location which it occupied until 1973. In 1970, plans to construct a purpose-built headquarters for the confederation were drawn up. The building was designed by architects Tarquini Mårtensson and Mikael Tarp Jensen and completed in Brøndby in 1974. The building has become known as Idrættens Hus (lit. House of Sports) and remains the organization's headquarters to this day. A number of related organizations are housed within the building as well, including Team Danmark and Anti-Doping Denmark.

Denmark's Olympic Committee

Denmark's Olympic Committee was established in 1905. In 1912, it took over the confederation's organisational responsibilities for the Olympic games. In 1993 the two independent organizations were again merged. As a result of the merger, the combined organization became known as Danmarks Idrætsforbund.