The 2022 Arnold Sports Festival UK (ASFUK) will happen on Sept. 23-25, 2022, in Birmingham, England. The Festival’s namesake, strength sports and Hollywood icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, won’t be in attendance. The 2022 Arnold Classic UK and the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic UK contests are a component of the general Festival.
In a proper statement released on Sept. 22, 2022, Executive Director of the Arnold Sports Festival, Brian Flowers, noted that Schwarzenegger wouldn’t be in attendance at this 12 months’s edition because of economic issues behind the scenes.
“While Gov. Schwarzenegger very much wished to attend, we were informed that financial obligations to quite a lot of people had not been met and requested assurances that the financial commitments to all competitors be satisfied by having monies put it in escrow for them,” Flowers wrote. “Because of this of the Promoter’s failure to accomplish that and the very fact we were never capable of reach an agreement with the Promoter regarding details of the looks, Gov. Schwarzenegger won’t appear in-person.”
The ASFUK Instagram page released its own statement. It clarified that fans who’ve special event tickets to the Festival could be contacted at an undisclosed time:
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With the hiccup between Schwarzenegger’s non-attendance and promoters, the opposite significant change to the ASFUK is that the Festival could have a recent name, “Experience With Sports Festival UK,” moving forward. Whether this alteration would happen immediately for the 2022 edition or go into effect in 2023 was not disclosed.
“We’re looking forward to growing the Experience With Sports Festival UK, and we’re wanting to bring you on this journey with us,” the ASFUK Instagram page wrote.
2022 will mark the second straight occasion that Schwarzenegger doesn’t attend the Festival. He missed the inaugural edition after concerns with COVID-19.
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The 2022 ASFUK features various tentpole contests involving sports like powerlifting, CrossFit, and bodybuilding. The status of the latter segment — the 2022 Arnold Classic UK — was addressed by the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League in an announcement released on Sept. 22, 2022.
The organization, led by President Jim Manion, guaranteed that “all IFBB Pro League athletes who place on the 2022 ASF might be paid.” The 2022 Arnold Classic UK features nine divisions from the Men’s Open and 212 to Women’s Physique and Bikini.
On the time of this writing, the 2022 ASFUK is proceeding as planned. Within the event of any recent developments or updates, Breaking Muscle will adjust this information accordingly.
Featured image: @arnoldsportsuk on Instagram