A sport governing body comes in several forms.

* International Federation — responsible for one sport (or a group of similar sport disciplines, such as aquatics or skiing). They create a common set of rules and organise international competitions. Promotion of the sport is also a task of an international federation.
* National Federation — have the same objectives as an international federation, but within the scope of one country, or even part of a country. They support local clubs and are often responsible for national teams.
* National Olympic Committees — responsible for a country's participation in the Olympics Games.
* Multi-sport event organisers — responsible for the organisation of a certain event which contains more than one sport. The best known example is the International Olympic Committee (IOC), organiser of the modern Olympic Games.
* General sports organisations — responsible for a sports related topics, usually for a certain group, such as Catholic or Jewish sport, military or university sport.
* Professional leagues, which may or may not work extensively with national and/or international federations.
* Trusts — organizations or groups that have control over money that will be used to help someone else, such as the Youth Sport Trust.

The first international federations were formed at the end of the 19th century.

category:sports organisations