Ben and Joe were outsiders way back when. Some bodybuilding contests were held in a few countries around the world but it was hardly a big enterprise. Eventually, the sport was divided into three competing organizations who either staged contests or sanctioned them. The IFBB, NABBA and the AAU in America. For many years the AAU Mr America was the biggest title you could win in the USA if you were an amateur. Winners would enter the NABBA Mr Universe in London and many won there, too. Around the mid sixties the IFBB started the Mr Olympia and that was the start of the Weider era. It took many years to dominate the sport. In the early years guys like Arnold could enter the NABBA Universe and the Mr Olympia. Around 1971 things changed when Serge Nubret was stopped from competing in a Mr Olympia. Talk about bullshit politics. Ben didn't want to lose an election as president so he made his position a lifetime one. Serge was never given a chance to run the IFBB.
Both Bob Hoffman and Oscar Heidenstamn died last century and both the AAU and NABBA lost importance in bodybuilding circles. Eventually the AAU stopped holding bodybuilding contests and thus an era ended that listed so many great champions. Ben and Joe made a business out of bodybuilding, magazines and supplements and have been the most successful in the sport. They didn't stage contests but charged promoters for the right to do that. Very clever business but this setup wasn't good for the sport. Ben recruited various agents who sold Weider supplements around the world. He then made these businessmen vice-presidents in their areas or countries. There were no elections so once appointed things remained the same for decades. In Australia Paul Graham won an election in 1972 to become IFBB president in Australia. That was the last open election Paul has been involved in that I am aware of. Some of his associates tried to get rid of him to no avail. He consulted with the IFBB headquarters and they advised Paul to merely change the name and nothing changed in Australia as it was business as usual.
That is how the IFBB operates. They take fees from contestants and promoters and sanction various contests. Naturally, the officials running the non-profit organization can pay themselves whatever wages they like, etc. They make the rules, select officials and keep a steady ship. Ben composed a detailed constitution for the IFBB but everyone on Getbig knows this is just lip-service to placade the other sports organizations. There will be no bodybuilding in the Olympic movement.
So, what is the bottom line for muscleheads? If you train your butt off for several years you might be ready for competition at various levels. What do you do? The typical musclehead looks at the top titles and dreams of being Mr Olympia one day. So just about everyone joins the IFBB and enters those contests. You pay your fee and enter the show. If you are successful you might win a pro card and be eligible to enter the top shows. Very few ever reach that standard.
What has happened is that the sport has been fractured into many organizations all trying to control various parts or individuals in bodybuilding. We have several natural organizations with different ideas, standards and rules. In the old days there was one Mr Australia. Today there might be 10 or more who win that title every year. The title has been diluted and when people don't know who THE Mr Australia is each year what can we say about the prestige of winning?
The sport isn't very big but some promoters do make money from staging contests or they use the contests as marketing do establish their name in the industry. I don't think the average bodybuilder knows how much promoters have to pay to stage various IFBB contests. It is a lot of money. Plus, for pro shows you have to pay for travel and accommodation expenses which is substantial. It is so expensive to stage a pro contest now that there are virtually no pro women's contests run by themselves. In a sport that should be growing we have seen the opposite in the professional league. Maybe the internet is partly to blame because we can all see hundreds of images from contests so we know what everyone looks like so more contests prove nothing. Without some interest spectators and fans won't show up.
What I have seen over the years is the same old, same old. The muscleheads quickly learn the system. The trick is not to upset the officials in any way. No sensible, aspiring bodybuilder speaks out against promoters or organizations. Thus, at the highest level no one wants the IFBB Pro League athletes rep job. No one! Thus, a somewhat thick musclehead got recruited with skills in sophistry and collecting debts. That is the sort of person the IFBB wants. A stooge, patsy and party man. A job for the boys. If the rep doesn't know the answer he merely gets advice from his boss. It all is very smooth and operates like a well oiled machine. Cooperation and loyalty are what is needed to succeed in the IFBB. Thinking and being an individual are not so valuable in the IFBB. Those qualities might even be a detriment to athletes. We all saw how Lee Priest got shafted for enterring a contest outside the IFBB. If other bodybuilders had joined him nothing would have happened. The muscleheads did the sums and worked out that they move up a place with Priest gone so they stayed loyal to the IFBB. Priest got the boot for a career damaging 2 years. Then we saw how Milos got the same kind of treatment. He blew the whistle on Paul Chua and the corruption he saw at the Asian Games. The IFBB were concerned so suspended Milos for a year for not providing sufficient proof for his allegations against Paul Chua. Of course, Bob the simpleton had never heard of Mr Chua so didn't know what the hell Milos was talking about. Chick hasn't read the official IFBB bulletins that are published yearly and in the muscle magazines. Shame, Bob Chick. What a circus. The guy who was corrupt remained while the honest bloke got punished for the fiasco. Typical IFBB justice. Speak out and you will be sorry!
Well, there you are. Paul Chua finally got suspended but the corrupt organization remains. Ben demanded total loyalty but since he has gone what good is that? The ship is slowly sinking after Ben's demise. No one can save it.
Chick is here yapping away like a mongrel dog at anyone who speaks out. Typical halfwit behaviour of those associated with the IFBB. They don't recruit the best people and look at what that organization has become. A total disgrace. Shame on Bob Chick for accepting his appointment as athletes rep. He is oblivious that his action is totally against the spirit of having an athletes rep. He is a sham and nothing but a stooge for Manion and his associates. He can argue all he wants on the internet but he can't remove the stain of injustice and just plain incompetence that is the trade mark of the IFBB.
