Quick answer: the International Cheer Union (ICU) is the world governing body for cheerleading, founded on 26 April 2004 to bring national cheer federations together under one umbrella. It was provisionally recognised by the International Olympic Committee in December 2016 and fully recognised in July 2021, and it runs the World Cheerleading Championships for national teams.
Why an International Governing Body Was Needed
As competitive cheer grew into a genuinely global sport - with national programs, All Star gyms and school teams developing across many countries - the need for a single international body to coordinate national federations, set shared standards, and represent the sport to bodies like the International Olympic Committee became increasingly clear. According to the ICU, it was established in 2004 when representatives of 11 national federations met at the first international club championship.
What the ICU Does
The ICU brings together national cheerleading federations from more than 100 countries, organises the World Cheerleading Championships - where national teams, such as Team USA, compete for their country - and works on behalf of the sport in pursuit of wider institutional recognition - most notably from the International Olympic Committee. See Cheerleading and Olympic Recognition for more on that process.
Relationship With National and Regional Bodies
Rather than replacing national governing bodies, the ICU works alongside them - national federations typically govern domestic competition and rules, while the ICU coordinates international representation and competition. See History of Cheerleading in Britain and History of Cheerleading in the United States for examples of how cheerleading developed within individual countries.
The ICU and the All Star "Worlds"
The ICU's national-team championships are separate from The Cheerleading Worlds, the club championship run by the U.S. All Star Federation and the International All Star Federation for All Star gyms. Both are often called "Worlds", which causes understandable confusion.
Why This Matters for Levels and Rules
Because levels, age grids and scoring can vary between national federations and competition providers, the ICU's ongoing standardisation work is part of why this site treats rules-sensitive content - like our levels and scoring sections - as something to check against current official sources rather than treating any single number as fixed.
A Note on Dates
Some early details vary slightly between sources. Where sources disagree, we give the most widely cited version and avoid false precision - the sources we used are listed below.
Sources: About the ICU (International Cheer Union); International Cheer Union (Wikipedia); IOC's Full Recognition Marks Another Milestone for Our Sport (ICU Europe)