Ben delivers the news

Flex, Jan, 2004 by Dean Brierly

Each year, IFBB President Ben Weider delivers his President's Report on the state of the IFBB and bodybuilding. His 2003 address took place at the IFBB International Congress in Mumbai, India, on November 9.

The International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) is one of the largest international sports federations in the world, with 173 active national affiliates. The IFBB not only promotes the sport of bodybuilding and fitness, but also champions a healthy fit lifestyle coupled with proper training and nutrition. In addition, the IFBB is a staunch advocate of drug-free sport.

The IFBB motto, "Bodybuilding is important for nation building," is the foundation of the strong belief that our future lies in the hands of today's healthy and fit youth who will grow up to become tomorrow's healthy and fit citizens, contributing to the positive growth of not only their own countries, but the world at large.

There is no doubt that the IFBB is a great federation. However, people generally look at the federation without actually noticing the countless individuals whose dedication and commitment allow the word "great" to be synonymous with the IFBB.

Thousands of officials from all over the world contribute their time, energy, finances, resources and professionalism to make our sport a popular lifestyle. Here are but a few highlights that illustrate our continued growth over the past year.

After many years of persistent effort, the IFBB and the sport of bodybuilding were officially recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) as a member of the Association of Pan American Sports Confederations (APASC). PASO organizes the Pan American Games, which are the largest and most important sport games in North, Central and South America. These Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC); normally, only National Olympic Committees and IOC-recognized sports are invited to participate. Obtaining this recognition is a major accomplishment and brings much prestige to the IFBB.

The European Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (EBFF), formed on May 18, 2002, brings together our 47 European national federations under one strong and cohesive continental federation whose sole aim is to promote bodybuilding, fitness and the IFBB throughout Europe.

The person responsible for these two important events--which have been highly instrumental in raising the image and profile of the IFBB to new levels--is IFBB Executive Assistant to the President Rafael Santonja (of Spain). Rafael and I have been friends for more than 30 years. Our friendship has brought much personal satisfaction to both of us, in addition to creating great contributions for the IFBB.

Rafael has played a vital and invaluable role in strengthening the IFBB around the world.

Yet another important event was the IFBB's participation as a medal sport in the 2003 South Pacific Games in Suva, Fiji. These Games are recognized by the IOC. Warren Langman (Norfolk Island), former IFBB vice president South Pacific, created the South Pacific Bodybuilding Federation, which brought together athletes and officials throughout the region. Its current president, Philip Hope (New Zealand), has worked with diligence and dedication to ensure that our sport was part of the 2003 South Pacific Games.

Greece is where the Olympic Games were first organized and Greece will once again celebrate the Games in Athens in 2004. Ancient Greek art, which depicts athletes using small dumbbells in order to strengthen their bodies and to make them look athletic, healthy and strong, proves that the original bodybuilders came from Greece.

The Greek Ministry of Sport recognized the Greek Federation of Bodybuilding after numerous years of hard work and dedication by Jordan Leventelis and Penny Ioannidou-Leventelis. Both Jordan and Penny are highly dedicated and hard-working IFBB officials who never gave up hope in their quest for government recognition. Obtaining this recognition moves bodybuilding closer to the Olympic ideal and associates it with the original bodybuilders.

In Asia, bodybuilding is now recognized throughout the entire continent. Bodybuilding is part of the South East Asian Games and the Asian Games, culminating in our participation as a medal sport at the 14th Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. Paul Chua (Singapore) is mostly responsible for this success. Paul has worked diligently and with great professional ability to ensure the future success of the sport to the point where it is now recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia. This means that all National Olympic Committees in all countries within Asia recognize the IFBB and the sport of bodybuilding.

The IFBB official Web site, www.ifbb.com, now receives 3.5 to 6.5 million visitors (depending on the news activity of the month) from more than 140 countries worldwide. The success of IFBB.com is due to Tony Blinn (Canada), chairman of the IFBB Technical Committee and Webmaster of IFBB.com. Tony's experience, professionalism, dedication, hard work and passionate belief in bodybuilding and the IFBB have made IFBB.com the most important and largest Web site of its kind in the world. Added to IFBB.com within the past year are Web sites for the European (EBFF), Asian (ABBF), and Central American and Caribbean (CACBBFF) organizations. Also, the Olympia Weekend now has its own exclusive site at www.ifbb.com/olympia/, in addition to the IFBB Hall of Fame at www.ifbb.com/halloffame/.>