damn those guys must be pissed off
in many of the Asian countries, their governments pays them more to compete as an amateur than they would likely make as a pro
they deserve pro card and they still have to compete as amateurs
the IFBB rules about having to go through your national chapter are petty, just a way for the amateur international org to have power over the national orgs, and the national orgs to have power over the athletes. from a business perspective, it is in the best interest of the IFBB Pro League to have the best athletes in the world, even those who have never competed in an IFBB amateur contest, even those who have but who pissed off some third world bureaucrat . better bodies mean bigger audiences means more profit. if the IFBB were a publicly held company, rather than a privately held one, their stock holders would have voted out upper management for not making the most of their investment.