On December 10th of last year, Jarka Lorie put on the IFBB Masters Pro World Championship in Miami, Florida. With the 2012 season about to start, Jarka’s show is now in the distant past... It’s old news, and yet we are still hearing rumblings about the event. The reason it’s still newsworthy is because Jarka still owes some of the athlete’s money.
But before I get to Jarka, I want to set the record straight. While the IFBB is responsible for putting prize money in escrow prior to a competition, it’s only responsible for the top 5 placings. That rule was instituted in 2004 after Darrem Charles won the IFBB Florida Pro Xtreme Challenge and was not paid by the promoter. Following that travesty, one of the first things that Bob Cicherillo, the IFBB Athletes Rep, helped to pass was a rule that ensures that if a promoter wants to put on an IFBB Pro event; they need to put both the sanction fee and top 5 prize money into escrow. This was done for the IFBB World Masters Championship and those winnings were distributed by the IFBB to the top 5 athletes, as required.
Jarka’s story is a complicated one. According to her, she spent over $600,000 on this event. Everything ended up costing more than what was originally projected and sponsors failed to come through with promised money. In the end, she was unable to pay the 6th through 12th place athletes. Each of these 7 men is still owed $5,000 apiece. At the show she also awarded an additional $5,000 for the best poser award and $20,000 for the biggest comeback award. When we discussed this on the phone, I could hear Jarka’s deep regret over this shortage of funds. When I asked her what she planned to do about it she pointblank said, “I plan to pay every penny I owe these men, and I am going to pay 10% interest on top of it.” Well, I’m happy to inform you that all the athletes received at least $2,500 each as of me writing this column. And not only do I think Jarka will meet her obligations, I don’t think she’s done promoting shows either. I’m predicting that as soon as this money is paid off she’ll have her next announcement ready to go!
Here are some of the numbers Jarka provided with regard to contest expenses.
EDEN ROC HOTEL 83,245.61
FILLMORE 43,140.36
CARDOZO HOTEL 5,604.80
TRAVEL-AIRLINES 40,602.71
JUDGES 2,700.00
SANCTION MONEY 25,000.00
PRIZE MONEY (MEN) 200.000.00
PRIZE MONEY (BIKINI) 20,000,00
PRODUCTION 71,000.00
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TOTAL $ 450,731.37 PAID IN FULL
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