2006 Annual Meeting of the IFBB Professional Committee
September 27, 2006 at 4pm in Las Vegas, Nevada
October 12, 2006

  • September 27, 2006, 4:00pm: Annual Meeting of the IFBB Professional Committee Orleans Arena, Gold Room A & B, Las Vegas, Nevada.

    1. The meeting was called to order by Jim Manion, Chairman of the IFBB Professional League.

    2. The roll call was taken; the following individuals were present. Observers cannot vote.

      NameCountryPosition
      Jim Manion USAChairman
      Jim Rockell USA Men's Representative
      Rob Wilkins USA Athlete Liaison (the Americas)
      Pawel Filleborn Poland Athlete Liaison (Europe)
      Peter McGough USA Media Representative
      Steve Weinberger USA Promoter Representative
      Bob CicherilloUSA Athlete Representative
      Betty Pariso USA Athlete Representative
      Jen Hendershott USA Athlete Representative
      Jenny Lynn USA Athlete Representative
      Art Bedway USA Observer*
      Matt Crane USA Observer*
      Ty Felder USA Observer*
      Asher Frig Israel Observer*
      Shawn Ray USA Observer*
      Steve Stone USA Observer*
      Jon Tuman USA Observer*

    3. The previous minutes were entered into the record; no amendment was called for.

    4. Five proposals to amend the judging format were presented by Steve Stone, Bob Cicherillo and Jim Rockell. The following procedure was agreed upon, and adopted:

      Articles 19.5, 19.6, 19.7 and 19.8 of the IFBB Professional Rules shall be amended as follows:

      1. 1. In a preliminary assessment, each competitor shall be called onstage individually and in numerical order; shall be introduced by number, name and country; and shall have up to a maximum of 90 seconds to perform the eight (8) mandatory poses, the order of which shall be up to the competitor's discretion. During this procedure, the Promoter shall provide light background music. The Head Judge shall not be required to call the poses for each competitor.

      2. Immediately on completion of the individual mandatory poses, the entire lineup shall be called onstage in a single line and in numerical order. The Head Judge shall direct the lineup to perform the four (4) quarter turns. Where numbers warrant, the Head Judge may divide the lineup into smaller groups before proceeding with the quarter turns and callouts.

      3. RD1 (symmetry) and RD2 (muscularity) shall immediately follow the abovementioned quarter turns. The judges shall proceed directly to the callouts. For each callout, the Head Judge shall direct the competitors to perform first the four (4) quarter turns and then the eight (8) mandatory poses.

      4. On the completion of RD1 and RD2, the judges shall submit to the statisticians their placings of the competitors using the form Judge's Marks RD1+RD2.

      5. RD3 (posing routine) shall remain unchanged pending a survey of the athlete-members to determine: 1) if the round should continue to be scored, or 2) if the round should be non-scored entertainment with an attached monetary award.

      6. RD4 (posedown) shall remain unchanged.

        *Note: it was recommended and accepted that the Head Judge shall use as many comparisons as are necessary to provide for the best possible assessment of all competitors.

    5. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Eric Hillman to amend the Pro Rules to allow for two weight classes in Men's Bodybuilding. This was Rejected.

    6. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Betty Pariso to amend the Pro Rules to allow for two weight classes in Women's Bodybuilding. It was rejected, although with a caveat. The caveat is although the proposal as submitted was rejected, it was accepted that the decision to have one or two categories in Women's Bodybuilding could be left up to the discretion of the Promoter.

    7. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Betty Pariso to provide various incentives to Promoters to add Women's Bodybuilding to their events. It was rejected with caveat. The Caveat is that although the proposal as submitted was rejected, it was accepted that, if a Promoter who currently does not promote a women's bodybuilding event was willing to add Women's Bodybuilding to their event, the Promoter would not be required to pay an additional sanction fee.

    8. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Betty Pariso to amend the Pro Rules to increase the number of Ms. Olympia qualifying spots in Women's Bodybuilding. This was rejected. It was generally felt that the change implemented by IFBB Pro League Directive 2006-002 (February 13, 2006) sufficiently addressed this issue.

    9. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Bob Cicherillo to amend Article 1.7 of the IFBB Professional Rules to eliminate the word "event". This was adopted. It was agreed that Bob Cicherillo would submit the new text of Article 1.7 for consideration.

    10. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Bob Cicherillo to make all professional athlete-members salaried employees of the IFBB. This was Rejected.

    11. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Bob Cicherillo and Jenny Lynn to remove the "declaration" rule and to permit female athletes to compete in any of the three women's sport disciplines at any point in the year. This was adopted. This eliminates the requirement to "declare" one specific sport discipline (Bodybuilding, Fitness or Figure) on renewal of an individual's membership.

    12. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Bob Cicherillo to increase the per diem for athletes from $50.00 to $75.00. This was adopted.

    13. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Jen Hendershott to amend Article 20.5 of the IFBB Professional Rules by changing the mandatory movements in Fitness. This was rejected with caveat. The caveat is that the Committee did decide to eliminate 20.5.2.f., the full front split.

    14. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Jenny Lynn to increase the prize money each year. This was rejected. The Committee generally felt that it was up to each Promoter to determine, to the best of his or her ability, how much the prize money could be increased from year to year above a minimum base amount.

    15. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Jenny Lynn to improve communications between the Athlete Representatives and his or her "constituency". This was adopted. The Committee decided that each Athlete Representative would receive up-to-date contact information for his or her respective athlete members.

    16. The Pro Committee discussed an issue raised by Jenny Lynn related to health insurance for professional athletes. Bob Cicherillo advised that a health package does exist that athlete-members may participate in. He agreed to provide this information to all athlete-members.

    17. The Pro Committee discussed a proposal by Tony Blinn to implement a TABLED Judging Accuracy Scoring system, using the Deviation Method, similar to that used at the international amateur level. The Committee tabled this proposal due to the fact that the judging system is currently undergoing changes.

    18. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:00pm.

    Notes: Recorded by Jim Rockell, Men's Representative, on September 27, 2006. Prepared by Tony Blinn, Secretary on October 6, 2006. Approved by Jim Manion, Chairman, on October 10, 2006.