the amateur IFBB may be a real sports federation, a federation of national amateur sports organizations. they formed in 1964 with their first international congress.
but the pro IFBB is clearly a for-profit corporation
other fun facts:
the IFBB claims that it was founded in 1946. but the
December 1947 Your Physique is where they first propose forming a federation of bodybuilders. In
June 1948 Your Physique they announce their first contest will be the Mr Eastern North America.
Dan Lurie used the name International Federation of Body Builders first for his January 1948 Mr New York show. The Weiders had nothing to do with that show. He claims he registered the name with the city of New York in Brooklyn in May 1947. But a recent record search was not able to find anything, as a large number of city records from that time were lost from water damage from a fire in a nearby building.
The
January 1950 Your Physique announces that the IFBB has reached an agreement with the AAU and will no longer hold amateur contests. All future IFBB contests will be professional only. However, they only hold one or two more contests (not sure of the timing), including the 1952 Mr California, then nothing until the 1959 IFBB Universe. The IFBB Universe was clearly a professional contest its first few years, but was probably a true amateur event by 63 or 64. It became the World Amateur Championships in 1978.
The IFBB is calling this year's World Amateur Championships the 60th. That implies that there have been 59 others. But at most it's the 47th, but even that includes the first few pro events.
