Twenty Two Nations in Reykjavik: Founding the World Othello Federation

This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.

When the World Othello Federation formed in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2005, its founders were not primarily national sport ministries or Olympic style committees but the game's own trademark holders, Othello Co. and its licensed resellers, working together with the tournament's own organizing committee and twenty two national Othello associations. That mix of commercial trademark owners and grassroots player associations at the founding table is unusual among sport federations, and it reflects how Othello's growth had actually happened: through a single company protecting and promoting a trademarked ruleset worldwide, with national player communities forming underneath that commercial umbrella rather than independently of it.

Since 2005 the WOF has grown from those twenty two founding countries to roughly sixty eight member federations, extending the same partnership model that founded it: continued involvement from the trademark side alongside an expanding base of national associations running their own domestic championships that feed into the World Othello Championship.