As IFBB Pro cards are awarded in the UK, confusion with the Pro League has sparked backlash across bodybuilding

COMMENT from the Editor

ONE aspect of competitive bodybuilding that always strikes me is the mutual respect competitors have for one another.

It makes bodybuilding stand alone from other sports. It flies in the face of what many perceive as the 'stereotypical' meat-head bodybuilder.

Sadly, however, one aspect of bodybuilding has become abundantly clear over the past 48 hours; an undercurrent of nastiness remains.

On Sunday, the British Physique Alliance awarded seven IFBB Pro cards to overall champions of different categories. The BPA did this following an agreement that was put in place between their federation and IFBB Pro president Rafael Santonja.

It is a similar agreement with which the UKBFF have been awarding IFBB Pro cards for years.

Only this time, there was uproar.

What is the difference between IFBB Pro and IFBB Pro League?

People were claiming that two pro cards being offered under the banner of 'IFBB' was confusing. This, despite the fact the same has been going on for the past seven years.

And this from the same people who purport to "loving this shit" whenever they refer to bodybuilding. I would suggest that if someone loved their sport so much, they would consume as much information as they could lay their hands on. Information, let's not forget, that has been in the public domain for seven years.

Still, let's go through it once more; a brief history for those who remain confused. We have reported this before, republishing an excellent piece from the website Evolution of Bodybuilding. In fact, we linked to this story in our preview of the BPA British Finals, which we published on Saturday evening.

'IFBB Pro' – as it is now called – is the original IFBB federation founded by Joe and Ben Weider in 1946. This is the federation that was, until recently, called IFBB Elite Pro.

The IFBB Pro League, on the other hand, was born in 2005. This is the 'federation' that still has rights to the Olympia.

Ben Weider empowered Jim Manion to run the Pro League under the banner of the IFBB. When Ben Weider retired, he handed over the overall IFBB presidency to Rafael Santonja (above).

In 2017, however, Manion informed Santonja that the NPC and the Pro League were leaving the IFBB and starting their own organisation. But Manion decided to keep the name 'IFBB', despite having no affiliation with that federation. If this is where the confusion reigns, then point the finger at Manion and no one else, for it is he who insists on using the IFBB name.

In response, Dr Santonja created a new pro division for the IFBB called the IFBB Elite Pro. This was, however, recently rebranded to the IFBB Pro.

Manion went on to expand the NPC and continued to run the IFBB Professional League. This includes the Mr Olympia and other pro events.

To reiterate, as it stands there is a federation called 'IFBB Pro' – the original IFBB created by Joe and Ben Weider.

Then there is what is still called – rightly or wrongly – the IFBB Pro League. One would imagine that, sooner or later, the Manions will rename this the 'NPC Pro League' or such like.

As mentioned, Manion's IFBB Pro League offers access to a number of pro shows and includes the biggest one of them all, the Mr Olympia.

Santonja's IFBB Pro remains the original bodybuilding federation set up by the Weider brothers and offers competitions such as the following:

IFBB Pro Arnold Classic, the IFBB Pro Night of Champions, IFBB Pro Mr Universe and the IFBB Pro World Championships.

This seems fairly clear. But still the vitriol on social media over the past few days has been baffling.

"Just to clarify, this [being an IFBB Pro after winning an IFBB Pro card] is not the same as being an IFBB Pro," cried one.

Read that again; 'being an IFBB Pro is not the same as being an IFBB Pro'...

"They [IFBB Pro cards] are pretend pro cards," bleated another, peppering this well-researched reply with as many crying-with-laughter emojis as they could. "They can’t get the Olympia therefore not real Pros."

What incredible logic. 'If you cannot try to qualify for the Olympia, you are not a real professional'.

Does this count for those other federations who offer pro status? NABBA, PCA, FitX, GBO?

Many bodybuilding purists would argue that being a pro with the federation started by Joe and Ben Weider – men who effectively created bodybuilding as a sport – is worth an order of magnitude more than those four mentioned above.

Not so, according to another, who claimed that competing as a professional with the federation started by the Weider brothers was "just the same as being a pro with the PCA or GBO".

When challenged on this point, this person then claimed they did not know where they were trying to devalue people's achievements. They signed off with one of those crying-with-laughter emojis. And in an instant, it was clear this was a deliberate attempt to belittle fellow bodybuilders. In a nutshell they were saying, 'you know what, you are really not as good as you think you are". Classy.

And as soon as that emoji dropped, this publication knew that its time was better spent doing anything else on the planet rather than engage further.

And even more tried to denigrate the IFBB Pro by labelling their pro cards as 'pretend', littering replies with those belittling crying-with-laughter emojis. This is a direct attempt to devalue the achievement. If everyone is entitled to their opinion, then those people, if they have competed before, should know better.

This week, frontdouble.com has also been accused of spreading "false advertising".

One person suggested we were "giving out false advertisement to con people to compete at this show [BPA British Finals] and leave athletes very disappointed when they soon realise they can’t compete at a Olympia qualifier!!!"

Is it a fact that they are disappointed? Or is this you projecting what your own feelings might be? Maybe they realise the tiny chance anyone has of actually qualifying for an Olympia. Maybe, just maybe, they knew the history of the sport they love and wanted to gain pro status with the federation founded by Joe and Ben Weider.

The accusation is also highly defamatory. The story regarding the BPA was published late on Saturday – three days after registration for their British Finals had closed. How we could possibly 'con' people from this point is beyond me. And that is not to mention the fact that we would never do such an absurd thing.

IFBB Pro card for a federation called IFBB Pro, not IFBB Pro League

We were quite explicit in our description of the pro card being offered too: tt was an IFBB Pro card. You know, to compete in the federation which is called 'IFBB Pro'.

We did not say there was a route into the IFBB Pro League. Nor did we say this particular card was a route to the Olympia. We did not mention the NPC's 'IFBB' Pro League because, if you know anything about the history of bodybuilding, you will already know that it is a separate federation. In fact, it is not a federation at all. It is a business. But that's another story. And is explained in the piece we linked to. As we now know how easily people are confused, you can read that story by clicking here.

We also explained how the IFBB Pro recently removed the word 'Elite' from its name.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this opinion piece, bodybuilding stands apart from other sports because of the widespread respect and camaraderie shown between rivals.

It is a shame that so many have shown this week that they all too keen to belittle, ridicule and laugh at those who they feel are beneath them. That's right, bodybuilders laughed at the achievements of their fellow bodybuilders. All because of the name IFBB.

What would Joe or Ben Weider think if you told them the pro card they were offering was 'pretend' or was 'not the same as being an IFBB Pro'?

Let's not 'pretend'. Those people do not share the true spirit of bodybuilding.

MORE FROM FRONTDOUBLE:

IFBB vs NPC: How Santonja and Manion shaped bodybuilding’s split

Should IFBB Masters Pro Card winners only compete in Masters?

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