THE AAU vs. IFBB

(Controversy)

By Ed Jubinville

At the meeting after the Mr. America competition, some AAU members favored the affiliation with the IFBB (a one-man organization). At this particular meeting some startling facts were revealed by former IFBB officials which caused the motion to be voted down. Here are some of the reasons.

FOR SOME MONTHS prior to the Mr. America contest, the IFBB was proclaiming that the AAU wanted to affiliate with their organization so that physiquemen would get a better shake in contests.

Well, that was just so much hokum, for which the IFBB is noted. The fact is that the AAU didn't even know the IFBB existed until a few officials recently decided to try for the affiliation, although the real reasons why they encouraged such a move remained a mystery.

On several occasions the Physique Committee of the AAU met and discussed this issue. The most recent debate took place at a final meeting in Santa Monica after the Mr. A contest, and the motion to affiliate--requiring a two-thirds majority--was defeated by an official vote of 16 for, 13 against, and two abstentions.

The meeting lasted five hours and a number of IFBB associates and organizers were on hand to present their views. As many of you will recall, I was one of the early supporters of the IFBB when it came into existence in 1946. I thought that the organization might really help to give bodybuilding status, and might give each competitor the square deal to which he was entitled. So, I became one of its staunchest supporters and I promoted IFBB contests in the New England States for many years.

After a few years of diligent work, however, I began to see the light. The Weiders (in effect, the IFBB) were out to make themselves "The Head Honchoes." Ben Weider has been the Life President, the World President and the International President ever since the organization was formed. This is quite unlike the AAU, I might add, in which officials are voted upon each year, with two terms as the maximum possible service. Thus far Ben Weider has served for 31 consecutive years as President of the IFBB! And yet they say that the IFBB is a liberal organization and is going to help everyone affiliated with bodybuilding. That's nonsense--it is primarily a self-serving Weider organization!

Besides myself, Serge Nubret of Paris was also there with a wealth of information about the "mis-dealings" of the IFBB. Serge promoted IFBB shows and contests in Europe and he has been an IFBB winner several times, so why the change?

Well, while Nubret doesn't have much connection with the AAU, he was adamantly opposed to an alliance, and he spoke of some of the rules IFBB promoters must follow. He said he once was to make a tour of African countries and Weider sent him a letter--which he still has--telling him to enroll as many countries as possible in the IFBB. The stipulation, however, was that they would be required to sell Weider products exclusively.

Nubret also said that the organization makes lofty claims about having worldwide connections but he went on to state that there are only 30 countries involved and not the 95 they claim. Weider immediately answered by saying they have 60 paying members in the IFBB. Serge, a former vice president of the IFBB, remained adamant in his insistence that there are only 30 and he pointed out that a lot of them are merely Post Office Box Numbers in the various countries.

Serge, incidentally, was asked to be a guest poser at the Mr. A contest in keeping with his noble status as the 1976 Professional Mr. Universe. Shortly before the contest, however, he was told that he would be unable to go on. Some flimsy excuse was given for the slight but in reality he didn't appear because Ben Weider threatened to pull Robby Robinson off the program as guest poser if Nubret was allowed to go on.

So, Serge was given the axe... which was a pity because he has a lot of symmetry and shape. In addition, Nubret is an international figure in the bodybuilding world. He would have been a treat to observe...but that's just one of the points the IFBB so often demands - compliance with dictatorship!

Do physiquemen want that? They apparently didn't want it as of the last meeting but, as stated, the vote was close and the merger could pass in the future unless serious minded officials thoughtfully review the facts...and if they don't, then the physiquemen could have a few axe wielders on top giving orders and making demands...and the entire sport of bodybuilding will feel the oppression from the top.

Still another former IFBB associate present at the meeting was Ludwig Shusterich, who for years tried to gain a foothold in England and other countries for the Weider organization. He met with such strong opposition over the years, however, that he finally gave up.

Now, though, because of some IFBB tactics, he has severed all connections with Weider and the IFBB. He, too, told of some of the deals promoted by the IFBB, which he felt were unscrupulous.

Dan Lurie, publisher of Muscle Training Illustrated and a close associate of Weider's for years, also was on hand and he vociferously accused the Weider brothers of some downright lying in connection with a court case in which Ben testified that his brother Joe, at the age of 13, set a world record in his bedroom. This made the faces of these "trainers of champions" turn scarlet. It also got chairman Ralph Countryman to bellow out orders to subdue such tactics but Lurie wouldn't be stilled, although he did tone down his remarks.

When so many former close associates, none of whom had a particular axe to grind, tell of their treatment by the IFBB, it is difficult to understand why anyone would even consider an affiliation with such an organization.

And for the organization itself: It has been controlled by one man for these many years and it has claimed to have made great achievements in that time. Why then do they seek to be associated with the AAU, an organization they have continuously knocked and demeaned? Where is the logic in that? Unless it is just a stab at acquiring more power!

It appears that for all their boasting over the years, this organization now realizes that something has been missing...and that something is credibility. Hence, they are making every effort to get under the AAU banner. To outsiders, of course, they still try to give the impression that it is the AAU who is making overtures to align with the IFBB.

The fact remains though that former associates of the IFBB came out with the true story. The IFBB knows that it needs the AAU in order to gain better recognition.

Fortunately, those of us who know what the IFBB stands for, and the number is growing, are more concerned with the welfare of the competitors than with personal recognition of power, and this is the reason so many of us are adamantly opposed to the affiliation. It's really for the good of the game...and I've been on both sides--I know!