IBFA UK launches new WPC Pro League with prize money and expansion plans
Matthew Ali says the new organisation will provide athletes with a professional pathway while allowing the IBFA UK to retain its amateur identity.
By Gary Chappell
THE IBFA UK has announced the launch of a brand-new professional bodybuilding circuit – the World Pro Circuit (WPC) – with plans to award professional status, offer prize money and expand across Europe from 2027.
Speaking exclusively to Front Double, IBFA UK President Matthew Ali revealed that the WPC has been created to provide a genuine professional pathway for athletes, while allowing the IBFA to remain focused on its role as one of Britain's leading amateur federations.
Amateur focus remains
Ali stressed that the IBFA has no intention of moving away from its amateur roots and that the WPC is a sister organisation, with athletes qualifying through IBFA UK events.
He said: "We've always seen the IBFA as an amateur federation and that's something we want to protect. We don't want to pretend to be something we're not. Our aim is to remain one of the best amateur federations while continuing to improve every year.
"At the same time, we recognise that many athletes want to earn pro status. They want professional opportunities, to travel internationally and represent Team IBFA UK."
Why the WPC was created
Ali continued: "Originally, I was working with the ACP in France. The idea was that we'd support each other by sending athletes to each other's events. I'd already committed to bringing a large UK team to the ACP Universe.
"However, when I asked how many French athletes were coming to our event, I was told there weren't any. At that point I decided I'd still honour my promise and take a team to France, but I wasn't prepared to invest in something that had stopped being a two-way partnership.
"That was really the catalyst for creating our own professional circuit."
The decision to establish the WPC follows months of discussions and planning between Ali and IBFA UK Head Judge Keith Williams.
Ali explained that, although the IBFA recognises the IFBB Professional League as the pathway to the Olympia, many competitors still want opportunities to compete professionally elsewhere.
The WPC has therefore been created as a standalone professional circuit designed to complement rather than replace the amateur federation.
Ali said: "IBFA only recognises IFBB professional status in terms of restricting amateur eligibility because the IFBB remains the route to the Olympia.
"Athletes holding pro cards from other federations are still able to compete as amateurs with IBFA UK, which is the same approach taken by many other federations.
"We didn't want IBFA itself to become a professional federation. Instead, the WPC gives athletes a separate route into professional bodybuilding."
Professional cards will officially launch at the IBFA Mr & Miss Universe on July 12.
Three professional shows planned for 2027
Although still in its infancy, Ali confirmed ambitious plans for the circuit's first full competitive season.
Three professional events are currently planned for 2027:
WPC World Championships (Alicante, Spain)
WPC European Championships (Portugal)
A major UK professional event
He said: "We're already in discussions with other countries and planning our first international professional events.
"The biggest project is a World Championships in Alicante, Spain, next year. I'm currently looking at venues and working with Muscle Finesse, who have been very supportive.
"Everyone who wins their class at our qualifying shows this season will be considered for invitations, while outstanding runners-up may also receive invitations if the standard is high enough."
One of the biggest talking points surrounding the new circuit is prize money. Ali confirmed that professional events will offer financial rewards, with sponsorship already attracting significant interest.
He admitted much of the logistical work remains ongoing, including establishing the WPC's banking arrangements before sponsorship income can officially be accepted.
Learning from established pro leagues
Rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel, Ali said he has been studying established organisations including the PCA and 2 Bros Pro Events.
He said: "I'm looking to learn from top people like the PCA, 2 Bros, anyone who's got a good pro league going."
One area Ali appears particularly passionate about is disability bodybuilding. Having previously introduced disability classes into the IBFA UK programme, he confirmed those athletes will also have opportunities to earn professional status through the WPC.
Plans are also underway to introduce dedicated wheelchair bodybuilding competitions once suitable venues have been secured.
Beyond bodybuilding itself, Ali also revealed ambitions for the organisation to support charitable causes.
Future fundraising initiatives are expected to focus on:
Autism charities
Bereaved children
The causes are both personal to Ali. He said: "Disability bodybuilding is something that's particularly important to me.
"My daughter is non-verbal autistic, so autism awareness and support will become a major part of what we're doing.
"I was the person who originally introduced disability classes into IBFA UK. Since becoming President, those classes have expanded and now feature throughout the qualifying season and at the British Championships.
"The next step is introducing disability professional classes within the WPC. We're also planning a dedicated disability event, including wheelchair bodybuilding. We couldn't introduce wheelchair classes immediately because our existing venues weren't suitable, but we're sourcing venues that can accommodate every athlete properly.
"Nobody should be excluded from bodybuilding.
"Alongside competition, we also want to support charities. Autism is naturally close to my heart because of my daughter.
"I'd also like to support bereaved children. I lost my own father when I was 14, so helping young people access counselling is something I'd like the organisation to contribute towards."
Raising standards
Ali added: "One thing I'm passionate about is raising standards. Whether it's trophies, medals, venues or presentation, I want the WPC to stand out.
"For this year's Universe we've designed new trophies inspired by classic bodybuilding shows from the 1980s.
"The overall men's trophy has been named the Martyn Yates Brown Trophy as a tribute to [former President] Martyn and everything he has done for IBFA."
Front Double verdict
The announcement represents one of the biggest structural changes within the IBFA UK in recent years.
While the WPC remains in its early stages, the promise of professional cards, prize money and international competition offers athletes another route into the professional ranks outside the traditional IFBB system. It also offers athletes another professional option alongside organisations such as the PCA and NABBA, whose own professional league launched this year.
Much work remains before the first professional shows take place but, if Ali delivers on his ambitions, the WPC could become a significant addition to the UK's bodybuilding landscape from 2027 onward.
Bodybuilding judging criteria: Has the focus on shredded glutes gone too far?
As judging criteria shifts towards extreme conditioning, Strom owner Richard Foster questions whether shredded glutes now outweigh overall physique
BODYBUILDING is a funny old game. Once upon a time it was seemingly simple – the biggest guy wins, assuming he is lean enough. And in the 80’s lean enough was having a full set of abs, separation in your quads, a Christmas tree in your back and a juicy chest split.
The trunks were big and the ass was not a thing anyone gave a flying fuck about – it was about the most impressive and aesthetically pleasing physique. Then, as time went on and the sport progressed, things like feathered quads and striations in triceps became more normal.
At some point in the later 2000’s or early 2010’s, at a high level, it became entirely normal for everyone to be utterly peeled and the yardstick for who was the leanest became the arse, because the rest of the body was functionally at the limit of leanness.
This in itself I have no issue with; at a high level, when everyone is very excellent, it’s a normal progression for the margins separating athletes to become incredibly small.
So Rick – what are you moaning about?
My issue is the way this has translated to the amateur ranks. It’s becoming common for class winners to have shredded glutes and be outsized and out-conditioned in every other body part by their competitors in second and third. I don’t blame the athletes, that’s just the game, but I do question if shredded glutes is the best representation of the sport and if it’s what we, as fans and enthusiasts, should really value.
I also (shockingly) don’t fully blame the judges or federations. Any time someone is awarded a win who doesn’t have fully shredded glutes, despite clearly winning on every other measurable parameter, social media is aghast with cries of “but he has soggy glutes”, apparently overlooking all the parts of bodybuilding anyone outside of our particular niche gives any kind of crap about.
The general public are often the most confused by this state of affairs: “but that guy is massive, why didn’t he win?” The response of “oh, but look at the lines in his glutes” does little to reassure the casual observer that the correct decision has been made and risks pushing an already very odd space further into obscurity.
So what is the solution as a competitor? Well, the obvious and undeniable solution is to be both the biggest, most balanced and leanest physique and to ensure your glutes are peeled. However, this is 1) sometimes easier said than done, and 2) I think missing the wood for the trees. I would argue a good set of calves to be just as important, but they are apparently all but irrelevant (I suspect because some people just can’t grow them).
And where does that leave us as a ‘sport’? Probably stuck in a slightly stupid place where one very specific thing has quietly been allowed to outweigh almost everything else. Not because it’s actually the most important, but because it’s easy to point at, easy to circle in a screenshot and easy to scream about online.
If, at amateur level, the deciding factor has become whether someone’s arse is crispy, then we’re not really refining the sport, we’re just dumbing it down. We’re rewarding people for winning one very specific battle, while ignoring the bigger picture of what actually looks impressive.
And if the bloke in the crowd can’t work out why the biggest, best-looking body on stage didn’t win, that’s not because he’s an idiot who “doesn’t get bodybuilding”. It’s because we’ve drifted so far up our own arses that even we are struggling to explain it.
Richard Foster is the owner of Strom and long-time bodybuilding enthusiast. He owns Strom, is a shareholder in Beast Pharm and is a director of Combat Fuel. He has competed in powerlifting, bodybuilding and strongman and is a former promoter of Wales’ Strongest Man. He has previously judged bodybuilding shows as well as MC’ing more than 30 amateur bodybuilding shows. He can be reached on richard@stromsports.com
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