An initial meeting was held in Buenos Aires, and by April 1982 a federation was created with the polo associations of twelve countries.

The federation was created by Uranga and Holden on November 25, 1982, in Buenos Aires with representatives of the national polo associations of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Spain and Zimbabwe.

When the FIP was founded, Uranga said that one of his primary objectives was to bring polo players together to enhance the sport.

The FIP is a non-profit organization registered in Uruguay at the Ministry of Education and Culture and governed by Uruguayan law.

It was introduced in 1993 based on an idea by Reto Gaudenzi, the Swiss founder ambassador of the FIP who created the St. Moritz Snow Polo Tournament.

France Germany Switzerland Spain England Italy Germany Switzerland Spain Sweden Finland France Netherlands England Belgium England Italy Spain Switzerland Netherlands Sweden Austria Germany France England Italy Switzerland Germany France Belgium Ireland Spain Netherlands Belgium England France Germany Italy Netherlands Spain Sweden Switzerland Italy England Germany Netherlands Spain Ireland Belgium France Belgium England France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands Spain France Spain Austria England Germany Hungary Italy Netherlands Slovakia Switzerland Spain Austria Italy Germany Ireland England Ireland France Italy Netherlands Germany Austria Spain Ireland France Italy Netherlands Germany Austria Poland Slovakia Ireland Italy Azerbaijan Switzerland Netherlands Austria Slovakia Germany France Spain Spain Switzerland Netherlands Austria Italy Germany 2023: 1-  Spain 2-  Azerbaijan 3-  Germany FIP European Championships European champions Final Runners-up Third place 1993, Jul 21-31 St. Moritz SUI ENG 11:3 ITA SUI 1995, Aug 17-27 Antwerpen BEL ENG 8:2 GER SUI 1997, Sep 05-14 Milano ITA ENG 9:3 ITA ESP 1999, Sep 18-26 Chantilly FRA ENG 6:4 IRL GER 2002, Sep 06-15 Roma ITA FRA 6:5,5 NED SWE 2005, Aug 26 - Sep 04 Vreeland NED ITA 9:6 ENG NED 2008, Sep 04-14 Hamburg GER ENG 7:3,5 BEL FRA 2010, Sep 03-12 Ebreichsdorf AUT FRA 10:8 ESP ENG 2012, Sep 07-16 Sotogrande ESP ESP 8:2 AUT IRL 2014, Sep 04-14 Chantilly FRA ENG 6:3 IRL FRA 2016, Aug 26 - Sep 04 Berlin GER IRL 7:4 FRA GER 2018, Sep 20-30 Villa a Sesta ITA ITA 8:4 AZE IRL 2021, Sep 12-19 Sotogrande ESP ITA 6:5 AUT ESP 2023, Sep 01-10 Düsseldorf GER ESP 9:6 AZE GER 2021: Originally planned on 2020, Sep 10-20 in Baku AZE first postponed to 2021, Sep 01-12, finally relocated on 2021, Jun 03 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

First conceived in 1959, snow polo did not get its official start until 1985, when the first match was played on the frozen surface of Lake St. Moritz in Switzerland.

[citation needed] Although the first match attracted only 1,000 spectators, snow polo has become more popular and is also played in Italy, Austria, France, the United States, Argentina, Russia, Spain and China.

The tournament, hosted by the Equestrian Association of China and the FIP, is organized by the Tianjin Sports Bureau, the Hong Kong Polo Development and Promotion Federation (HKPDPF) and the Tianjin Polo Association with sponsor support.

FIP ambassadors were created when the federation was founded to promote it in their own polo association and increase interest in the sport.

The tournaments originated as competition for FIP members and collaborators to engage them in the sport beyond the organizational realm and play polo in different parts of the world.