THE British Physique Alliance have apologised to anyone affected by last-minute rules changes at Saturday's Super Show and IFBB Pro Night of Champions.
Changes at the 11th hour meant some athletes were prevented from competing at the BPA Super Show. And some did not step on stage at all as planned at the IFBB Pro Night of Champions.
Some competitors had planned to compete for the last time as amateurs at the BPA Super Show. The event was a double-header with the IFBB Pro federation, combining the Night of Champions event in the evening.
The IFBB Pro Night of Champions was advertised as a 'try before you buy' event. At the time of announcing the news in June, BPA President Helen O'Reilly had said: "It's a try before you buy sort of thing. You've won it [invitation to compete as a pro ], try it, continue as a pro or go back to amateur. Then within the year decide to be a pro or continue as an amateur."
Registration for the show was set for between 4pm and 7pm the day before at the venue in Heathrow. It left many competitors battling up to four-hour delays due to rush-hour traffic. Upon arrival, some were informed that anyone who had been offered an invitation to apply for an IFBB Pro Card at the BPA British Finals in September would now not be able to compete in the Super Show. This despite the fact some had not registered their pro card with the IFBB and so were still amateurs.
It is understood the late change came from sponsor Dr Vic. He did not want those who had already gained an invitation to turn professional preventing others from doing the same. However, this question had already been put to the BPA weeks in advance of the competition. Frontdouble.com was assured this would not be the case. In fact, frontdouble.com were told that IFBB Pro Cards could be awarded to those who were of that standard, regardless of their placing.
To add to the confusion, another competitor who won their invitation for an IFBB Pro Card at the UKBFF British Finals was allowed to compete in the Super Show.
The reason they were allowed to do this is because the UKBFF/IFBB had cancelled that invitation for an IFBB Pro Card after they chose to compete at the NABBA England.
Some confusion in the rules remains, however. The competitor won a NABBA Pro Card in that event and will compete in the Pro Mr Universe on Sunday, November 3.
Despite this, the competitor was still considered an amateur by the BPA and were allowed to compete at the BPA Super Show to have a chance of re-winning their IFBB Pro Card. They did this by winning the class and subsequently competed in the IFBB Pro Night of Champions on Saturday.
However, they will now cancel that IFBB Pro card in order to compete as a NABBA Pro on Sunday.
This is clearly within the rules, however confusing they might be.
The confusion did not end there. At registration, some were also told that the IFBB Pro federation had just informed the BPA that the "try before you buy" option to compete at the Night of Champions was no longer on the table. They said in order to compete in that show athletes must fork out €250 to register their pro cards.
Frontdouble.com has since been told, however, that some competitors were asked to pay €180 rather than €250. And some were told they did not have to pay anything at all. Some were later even offered the "try before you buy" option that others were told was no longer available.
One person, having been told they could not compete in the Super Show but must pay €250 for the pro show, decided not to compete at all. It is understood they did not have the funds to pay the €250, especially after being told it was "try before you buy". They later travelled home only to discover the following day that others had indeed been offered the "try before you buy" option.
O'Reilly sympathises with those caught up in the miscommunication. She believes the root cause was because of the BPA dealing with a new federation for the first time.
She said: "The IFBB Pro head judge wanted bodybuilders to compete [and not be offered try before you buy] because there were only three [originally] registered. He then offered everyone either an opportunity to compete in the show and return to amateur, or go full pro and pay the €250.
"With regard to the Super Show and the British, IFBB Pro Cards were given in order to allow competitors to compete in the Night of Champions. After putting on prize money, Dr Vic said he didn't want anyone who had been awarded the card to compete at the Super Show. He said this would stop others gaining that opportunity.
"The person who won his pro card with UKBFF had it taken from them by that federation. This is because he had then competed with NABBA. We [the BPA] gave him the chance to win it [IFBB Pro Card] back. But the provision was he couldn't win prize money in the amateur show. He agreed to compete under that provision.
"A female competitor was allowed to compete as an amateur [despite winning her Pro Card at the BPA British Finals]. This is because there wasn't a route to the pro in the evening for her.
"BPA can only apologise for the issues. But the IFBB Pro is a new federation we were dealing with and there was obviously miscommunication."
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