The first attempt to coordinate the sport of bowling at the 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 United States with the formation of the International Bowling Association (IBA).

Representatives of the following countries attended the meeting in Hamburg, West Germany: 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 United States, being a strong ten-pin country, may also want to affiliate.

The new organisation would be named as proposed by René Weiss from France, Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ – International federation of Bowlers).

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.

Either Ninepin or Tenpin could be found in: It took some time, but in the first year, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Saarland, and Spain accepted the invitation.

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 Constitution provided the Presidium the authority to grant new member federations provisional membership status, to be confirmed (or rejected) at the next regular congress.