on september 4, 1970, the ifbb held its 1st international congress in belgrade, yugoslavia where a constitution was adopted and an executive council. in 1971 jim morris became the first openly gay ifbb professional bodybuilder. also in 1971, the ifbb became a member of the general association of international sports federations (gaisf), now sportaccord. upon receiving membership, the ifbb became the only official representative of bodybuilding to be recognized by world sport authorities. from the 1980s to his death in 2008, ifbb president ben weider petitioned the ioc for inclusion of bodybuilding in the olympic games. although bodybuilding had never been on the olympic program, in 1998, the ioc granted the ifbb provisional recognition, which lasted nearly four years, but was withdrawn in 2001.