International Bowling Federation

The first attempt to coordinate the sport of bowling at world level by organizing world championships and by bringing uniformity through universal playing rules, was undertaken in 1926 by Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the US with the formation of the International Bowling Association (IBA).

In December 1951 the officials of the old IBA took initiative to invite delegates from all interested countries to come to Hamburg, West Germany on 27 January 1952 to discuss the status of bowling and the possible re-activation of the IBA.

Representatives of the following countries attended the meeting in Hamburg, West Germany:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Finland
• France
• West Germany
• Yugoslavia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Luxembourg (represented by proxy given to Belgium)

The unanimous decision of all present was to form a new international bowling federation. The first proposal was to make it a European federation, but it was pointed out that the US being a strong ten-pin country, may also want to affiliate. The new federation would be a worldwide international organisation with 4 different sections: One for Tenpin bowling and 3 for Ninepin bowling: Asphalt (later: Classic), Bohle and Schere.

The new organisation would be named as proposed by René Weiss from France, Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ – International federation of Bowlers). Heinz Kropp from Germany was elected as its first President. Also Section Presidents were elected: for Tenpin Bowling – Hans Berger from Sweden; for the Asphalt Section – Leopold Hatzi from Austria; for the Bohle Section – Willi Stark from Germany; and for the Schere Section – Francois van Arkels from Belgium.

Country	Tenpin	Classic	Bohle	Schere
Belgium	X			X
Finland	X
West Germany	X	X	X	X
Sweden	X
Switzerland	X
Austria	X	X
France		X
Yugoslavia		X
Denmark		X	X
Netherlands			X	X
Luxembourg	X	X		X

Although Denmark was not present at the meeting, it had promised to attend and for this reason considered as a member and included among the countries practicing Bohle.

All federations were given the task to prepare for each respective section, playing rules as well as regulations for equipment and to circulate such information among the member federations for comments before the next ordinary meeting. Weiss and Hatzi were authorized to draft a proposal for a FIQ Constitution respecting the IOC regulations.

The first official IBF Championship was also decided upon:

• First European Championships of Asphalt were given to Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in May/June 1952.
• First European Championships of Schere were given to Brussels, Belgium, in July 1952.

The Ten-pin Section was planning to conduct its 1st World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, in July 1952 during the Olympic Games. But because of Germany's disagreement based on the fact that three championships in the first year would be financially a heavy burden for the federation, it was decided that the Ten-pin Championships should be postponed to 1954.

After the circulation of the minutes of that Conference, Austria wanted to add as a leading principle for the newly established FIQ, that the Chairmanship of the FIQ or of a Section is not given to a nation, but to a person who has been elected to the position. That person would also have the right to lead his/her own national federation. The FIQ received its first funds from the former IBA, which was eventually dissolved in March 1952.

One of the immediate tasks for the new leadership was to recruit more member federations. Either Ninepin or Tenpin could be found in:

• Argentina
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Czechoslovakia
• England
• Hungary
• Poland
• Romania
• Saarland
• Spain
• United States

It took some time, but in the first year Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Saarland and Spain accepted the invitation. Later, the German Democratic Republic (the former East Germany) and the Netherlands also accepted to be members.

In the first year (1952) there were also disappointments, because the 1st European Asphalt Championships had to be cancelled due to delayed preparations; they were moved to Zürich, Switzerland. The Championships for Schere, however, were held and were attended by participants from five countries.

The first FIQ Congress was hosted by the German federation in November 1952 in Munich; eight member federations attended. During that meeting the first FIQ Constitution was adopted and it became the guideline and law for almost 20 years. Also a scale and method for charging annual membership fees was adopted. Also this lasted almost 20 years until the first raise of annual fees and a new scale were found necessary. Another decision adopted, which would be impossible to follow today, was that the official language for all Congress meetings was German. Rules, however, were to be printed also in English and French.

The last congresses in the history of the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) and World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA) were held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, December 15, 2015, during which the merger of the two organizations into one entity, World Bowling.

World Bowling has officially changed its name to the International Bowling Federation (IBF) and has vowed to properly act as the sport's global governing body. The decision was made at the organization's Extraordinary Congress, which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on the 2nd of November 2020.

List of FIQ/World Bowling congresses:

1953 brought six more member federations and in 1954 FIQ had 15 member federations in total. It took five more years (1959) to register the first non-European member federations: Mexico and Venezuela. These two countries had participated in 1958 in the World Tenpin Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden, as provisional members. The Constitution provided the Presidium the authority to grant new member federations provisional membership status, to be confirmed (or rejected) at the next regular congress.

The development of the membership looks as follows:

IBF regulates two disciplines – tenpin and ninepin. The two organisations that administer these disciplines are the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA) and the World Ninepin Bowling Association (WNBA). Both organizations were founded by WB (then FIQ) in 1973.

World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA)

• Asian Bowling Federation (ABF)
• European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF)
• Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON)

World Ninepin Bowling Association (WNBA)

• Section Classic (NBC)
• Section Bohle (NBB)
• Section Schere (NBS)