All Pro League Events have been cancelled for the foreseeable future.
As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues, it appears that IFBB Pro League President Jim Manion has made a decision regarding competitions going forward. In a recent official NPC/IFBB update, it has been announced that all Pro League competitions will be cancelled from now until May 10th, 2020.
Jim Manion has offered the statement on the official NPC News Online website as well as across their social media channels.
With the ever changing information regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the United States Government decisions being made in the USA, we will be CANCELING ALL scheduled NPC and IFBB Professional League contests in the United States beginning today, Monday, March 16, 2020 through Sunday, May 10, 2020. Some of these events will be postponed until a later date while some will just resume in 2021. Please look to the individual promoter’s pages for updated information about specific shows.
The sweeping announcement comes after the recent news of various Arnold Classic events being cancelled including the Arnold Classic Australia, South America, and Africa competitions.
While the announcement will come as a shock to many – Jim Manion wanted to make it clear this was a hard decision to make and a painful one for himself and all those passionate about the sport of bodybuilding.
We are very disappointed to have to cancel these events but as always, the health and safety of our athletes, officials and fans is our top priority. The NPC and IFBB Professional League are focused daily on updates from the World Health Organization as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concerning COVID-19. As a reminder, the CDC has encouraged traditional precautionary prevention measures and guidelines.
We will continue to monitor the Coronavirus information on a daily basis.
While the announcement can’t get into the specifics of every single competition that falls under this timeframe, the statement makes it clear that some competitions will simply be scheduled for a later date in 2020, while others will be fully cancelled and resume at the usual date in 2021.
While postponing to a later date is the best alternative the league can face during this hectic time, it does not bode well for the athletes, whose contest prep is maticulously timed out months in advance to be perfect on the specific day of the show. This kind of uncertainty for the future of these events in 2020 will make it much more challenging for pro bodybuilders to bring their best physique to the stage.
You can read the full statement from Jim Manion below:
Coronavirus is changing the landscape for everything across the globe. What do you make of these new developments?
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Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
