IAMTF Response to Stephan Fox interview

I'd like to begin by saying how happy I am with all the feedback we've had from the interview. It means that the interview has obviously achieved its purpose. I apologize for taking so long to answer, but I normally don't have much time to surf the net. In fact, I knew nothing about this discussion until a friend from China told me about it. There are so many questions that people have asked and I would really like to answer them all as much as possible, however time is short. I will try and deal with as much as I can on this one occasion, as I really don't have the time to go on with a debate.

WMC

The first topic I'd like to discuss is the World MUAYTHAI Council. I understand that some people are not happy with the World MUAYTHAI Council, but it seems that most of these people are those who tried to apply within the Council..... unsuccessfully. Or who haven't met the requirements of the WMC when screened. Obviously, this can be disappointing, but not all applications can be successful. And people, it's not my decision.

We have an executive board which includes Presidents of Federations from around the World (we are very much a democratic organisation). I am just one of many, an employee. I have to follow the strict rules and guidelines of the constitution, and sometimes I find myself standing in the middle between East and West.

I have no power to make decisions personally. On the contrary, every Friday I have to report to the General Secretary and present the opinions of all Executive members from around the World. That is how our decisions are made.

We just had our annual general meeting. Please check out our homepage www.wmtc.nu . All decisions have been made with the involvement of all our members. I might also point out I did not want to do this job again but I have been urged by many World federations to continue it for another short time. Believe me, it is a hard job with endless hours of work and many headaches.

The WMC is trying hard to unite MUAYTHAI not for power but for the good of the sport. Speaking personally, I am very much ready to go back to Australia to live a normal life again as other people will soon take over. The WMC has been established under the directive of the Thai government to move Muay Thai forward. The inauguration meeting was held at the UN Headquarters in Bangkok and since than a lot of work has been done at both the Thai and International level. Yes, people its easy to criticize people who are getting things done - its only those who aren't doing things that can't be criticised!

Visas
As for the Visa issue it seems like that there are some people not happy for some reason. Please let me outline one more time it is not our decision. It is the Embassy's decision. We help fighters and promoters to obtain Visas but before we put our name on the paper we need to make sure that we know who is going, who they are fighting and most importantly who the referee will be. If all this is clear then we sign the letter and help them to get Visas. But if we don't know these details we cannot and will not sign the letter as we don't want to take responsibility for bad matches or any problems occurring. Safety is our main concern, for everyone involved. This is perfectly fair, and the decisions are made by the embassy of each country.

We are under a lot of pressure - as everyone knows the well- known fighter Chatchai died three weeks ago after a match (which we all very very sorry about). This show was not organized by the WMC, but you have no idea how many emails, faxes and phone calls we are taking - the press want answers. For some countries something like this is just what they need in order to try to ban MUAYTHAI. It is our responsibility to make sure that the proper information comes through, that people know what really happened so walls won't go up and destroy all the hard work that's been done.
Boxers' Rights Bill
Another thing we are very proud of is fighting for boxers' rights. Does anyone really know what is going on in some camps in Thailand, how some young kids get used just for fight purposes? Let's be honest - take the gambling out of MUAYTHAI in Thailand and Lumpini or Rajadamnern Stadiums would be empty. The World MUAYTHAI Council have fought hard and supported the new boxing bill which has been approved by the government where the boxers have rights that they know and can take legal steps towards promoters and camps. That has been a very important task and we are proud to say it has been done. I will try to get the whole bill translated in the next 4 weeks and we will publish it on our homepage.

MUAYTHAI Kung Fu

People please wake up. We have worked on this very hard for years. We went to Beijing and we took 4 Thais over. Two won, two lost. This was a very diplomatic move in order to promote the sport in China and to let the Chinese keep some pride. People are getting a little confused. It was in fact ANOTHER organisation which took 5 Thais over who lost! Please get your facts straight. And by the way, the rematch, which we organized, was a different story - Thailand won five and China just two. Check out our homepage for the update.

AMAT/IFMA and IAMTF

The next topic we need to discuss is AMAT, the IFMA and the IAMTF. Yes there's a lot of talk around, but its just talk. The facts are very simple. The WMC can only work with the AMAT. Under Thai sport law only one organisation per sport can be recognised, and for our sport that organisation is the AMATEUR MUAYTHAI Association of Thailand. Case closed.

I was also once a member of the IAMTF, years ago. In fact I was the representative for Australia. But since seeing the papers of the Sports Authority of Thailand I can tell you this - there is only one way to move towards the Olympic Games, and that way is with the AMAT, and IFMA. We can argue forever but the simple fact is that the Olympic Committee of Thailand only recognises the AMAT and IFMA. Ever wondered why we have our headquarters at the Olympic Committee of Thailand compound?

To set the record straight, The Sports Authority of Thailand has made a clear statement that they do not recognise the IAMTF. Anyone who is interested in the truth, and would like these papers faxed to them, should contact me at wmtc@hotmail.com. Send me your post and fax details and I will personally take the time to send you statements of both the Olympic Authority and Sports Authority which set the record straight.

The Olympic Committee of Asia has recognised MUAYTHAI into the panel of sports under the IFMA. And of course, the IFMA and AMAT organised MUAYTHAI at the Asian games, not the IAMTF. The progress of our sport is occurring through IFMA and AMAT - not only because they are the people getting the job done, but also because Thai law dictates that it is their job, and no one else's. I will leave it there with that issue, as I understand that if you belong to the other group you see things differently.
But ignoring the facts will not help either organisation, or Muay Thai itself. We need to work together and not waste all the effort that has brought this far.

So many people have put in so much hard work, like the late Mister Bunyuen who had worked so hard for Amateur MUAYTHAI. He carried the flag for MUAYTHAI into the Asian games and then sadly passed away only 4 hours later. It is the dedication and example of people like Mister Bunyuen, that make every minute of the work we do worthwhile.

I am not here to be critical of anyone - I have many friends within the IAMTF and we will be friends forever because even though we may go different ways, we all love the same art. I just hope that soon all this nonsense will come to an end and we can all work together to push MUAYTHAI to where it belongs - into the Olympics.

The next thing I need to speak about is Mister Chinawut's response letter, which I have just seen. It certainly is a very interesting read. I like the part where he asks whether my opinion is also the opinion of the IFMA's Senior Officials? Woody, you know very well what the opinion of everyone at the IFMA is. Need I remind you that the IAMTF took General Chettha Thanajaro, General Mesommonta, and even the Governer of the Sports Authority to court for defamation? The IAMTF is always speaking about this court case, but the truth that the Sports Authority case has been thrown out of Court already! And let's see what will happen with the others!


This civil defamation case has nothing whatsoever to do with the status of the IAMTF. That status, or should I say lack of status, is quite clear.

The IAMFT are not recognised by the Sports Authority. Members of the IAMFT even have had to pay for Hotel and Food to come to their championships.(In the future, we will also be doing this, but the money collected will go directly into the future development of Amateur MUAYTHAI.) Secondly, Mister Chinawat states that the AMAT has been established since 1984 (long before the IAMTF) and is responsible for national work in Thailand. That is absolutely correct. And the AMAT established the IFMA as its international arm (the IFMA has recognition through the AMAT, of which it is a part). Establishing a second body like the IAMTF was not necessary, and would have been pointless.

He also comments on our International Executive. To work for the development of Muay Thai internationally, the executive committee has to have membership from around the globe. We have had an international executive within the IFMA since day one. Yet it seems Mister Chinawat has just realised this. It is fairly obvious that you cannot call yourself international if your whole executive board is Thai.

The question I really would like to ask him is who THE IAMFT actually bow down to? Mister Chinawat says the IAMTF doesn't need to be recognised under the Sports Authority of Thailand. And yet, they tried to sue the Sports Authority for not recognising them! That seems a bit strange doesn't it? The Olympic Committee of Thailand, the motherland of MUAYTHAI, is not the only Olympic Committee which does not recognise the status of the IAMTF. Neither does the Olympic Committee of Asia, or England, I have been told ..... in fact, I would appreciate it if Mister Chinawat could tell me if anyone does recognise them?

A supposed MUAYTHAI conference is being organised in Bangkok with the help of the IAMTF (we organise a similar thing yearly but for federations only). People are being told that they will get a government certificate. Certifying what? From whom? What government department will be handing out certificates to a body not recognised by the government's own Sporting Authority? Please, keep one for me! I have just seen the itinerary - some of the prices the people attending have to pay are frightening. I don't really want to get into this.

Mr Chinawat then falls short of telling the whole truth, when he says that the 1997 IAMTF World Championships were in fact organised with the co-operation of the WMC! Mr Chinawat, at that time I was both co-ordinator for the WMC and representative for your organisation in Australia. Was it not the fact that an arrangement was made? An arrangement whereby the WMC would help you with your championship and you would agree to unite amateur MUAYTHAI under a single banner - no IFMA, and no IAMTF? A new organisation, to enable us to move fast into the Asian games quickly?

Do you recall who broke this agreement? Perhaps I need to refresh your memory. After you changed your mind, I convinced General Vorayudh to travel to Germany and we had a combined meeting. But despite the earlier arrangement you refused to unite MUAYTHAI.

Shortly after that, IAMTF members received a letter from warning them not to attend the most respected tournament of all - the Kings Cup.
That really made some people angry, and that is how all this really started.
Regarding the letter written by one of the IFMA Lawyers. The letter was written by one of our lawyers, and it simply stated the facts under Thai law. Nevertheless, the letter upset many of our executive members, who had not authorised it. The IFMA executive board (including myself) worked against the law actually being enforced, as we did not feel it was the way we should deal with this problem. We fought against the system being enforced, and eventually we were successful - despite the law, no IAMTF fighters were prosecuted.

And as to Mr Chinawat's comments on Tournaments and so on ........ Woody you know how many tournaments we do, let's not play around on this one. The WMC stages an enormous amount of tournaments each year, all around the globe - in Australia alone we would have at least 20 per year, 5 on TV. Compare this to the IAMTF, which holds maybe 3 or 4. We organise Continental Championships, and in that regard have some very influential people in our executive board like the deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan. We do not concentrate on just one tournament every two years. To start with, we have all the Royals Cups (Queen's, Prince's and King's), the European Championships, the Asian Championships, the World Championships, plus all domestic events like the national games and so on.

And screening the quality of the events? Woody you cannot even put in the proper Thai National team as the AMAT will not allow them to enter! How could you claim to screen the quality and have the Thai team still managing to win year by year at the IAMTF championships ? At the last World Championships (IFMA that is) Thailand only came second as properly selected national teams attended. In Australia for example we have proper selection fights and we send the best (Amateur that is) and many countries are doing the same. France won the last championships. Thai fighters have been beaten by countries like Australia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Sweden, Finland just to name a few. This shows the Olympic committee that we are a truly international sport, not just a sport dominated by Thailand.

Screening of representatives? Did you ever screen me before you made me Australian representative?? I never had to take a test and received a certificate KHRU Yai - that is a very serious screening (certainly we had to pay). Anyway, enough's enough, but I hope people get the idea. I wouldn't normally bother to respond, but facts are facts. I assume there will be another letter coming back but I would appreciate it if it could stick to the facts this time, and not simply accuse me of lying.

The Senator's Sports Committee (Thai parliament) have conducted an inquiry regarding the IFMA and IAMTF's status.

The outcome of that inquiry was simple - it found the IAMTF have been wrongly registered without approval. And the Sports Committee has informed the Sports Authority of their decision, which is final. We will soon translate publish and the resolution of the Thai government on out home page.

My fight record

Next, I note there have been questions asked regarding my fight record. People, I never said I was a superstar (God help me). I made clear how easy it was and still is to become a champion at some levels. I still believe 100 ring fights is not that many. I never thought that it was a lot. In MUAYTHAI I had 44 fights, the rest was accumulated from Boxing fights and all the various kickboxing fights (in the old days, with low kicks, without low kicks, whatever we fought at the time.)

I have boys in my camp from Australia, England and many other countries who stay for 6 months and have between 20 and 30 fights. People who love MUAYTHAI and who are not going in there to kill each other can easily fight once every two weeks, (Rugby players play each weekend). We don't spar at the Gym - we fight. 100 fights is nothing. Our Amateur Championships go for a weeklong period. You have to fight at least 5 times in one week just to make it to the finals. At an amateur boxing tournament, state or golden gloves or whatever, you box 3-5 times on a single weekend.
Anyway I am not here to justify myself, but if someone thinks 100 fights is a lot, I'd have to wonder just how much fighting they've actually done. Some people say they never heard of me - that may even be true, but where have you asked? Which part of Thailand? I have had many top class boys like Chris Alen, Bruce Mc Fee and so on and they have fought at least 20 times in Thailand - but are they well known? I don't think so. They mostly fight at small events with not much Thai press.

But they get fights and experience. Does this mean the boys are somehow less than others? I don't think so. It would be easy for me in my position to get them front page in the Thai MUAYTHAI magazine, just pushing the proper buttons or paying a little money. I am not interested in that. It is much more important for me that they are seen by tourists at events in Pattaya, Phuket, Samui.

These tourists will go home and remember MUAYTHAI, as one of their countrymen fought, and maybe they will push back home to get MUAYTHAI recognized. That is what is important for me. There is no need to establish MUAYTHAI in Thailand.

I only own 3 belts, I am sorry for any confusion. The photo taken was the belts from all my students at our Australian Camp as a memory shoot for all of us. Belts are easy to get if you want one. Everyone knows that. It was easy in the old days and its easy today. It is what you do with them that earns your reputation. Any fool can wear the belt of a champion, but to act and lead like a champion in and out of the ring is what really matters. To be able to influence young people, and inspire them.

When you can lure them off the streets and get them into the Gyms, and are fortunate enough to be able change lives, to give young people achievable ambitions and point them in a positive direction. That is what really counts (for me anyway).

I have never called myself a superstar in MUAYTHAI or any other Martial Art but I am proud of how many people I have helped to reach the next level. That is what counts for me. I have met many people in my MUAYTHAI life, as a student, as a fighter and as a coach. I hope that I left the right impression with them. I don't call myself Master or Grandmaster or whatever. I may have to wear the tie and white shirt sometimes in order to open doors but my life is at the gym. That is where I feel at home and everyone who has met me knows I'm one of the boys. I celebrate with them when they win, I build them up again when they lose.

No one has ever had to call me Khru, Ajarn or whatever. I am just plain and simple Stephan, just one of millions of people who love the smell and sweat of a good workout. And even though age has caught up with me (for quite a time now -life sucks) I still sometimes try to hold up with the boys and girls. Just surviving a round can make me happy these days!

WMC camp on Samui

Yes, I need to make a living but believe me if I was getting paid for even 1/3 of the hours I put in I would drive a big expensive car, and not be taking the train. All the money I make is going back into the sport. Every month I sponsor 2-3 fighters from around the World to stay in Thailand in order for them to return home and become new ambassadors for the sport. We sponsor orphan kids and we also sponsor 3 girls every year to stay 6 months in Thailand. The Samui camp a big business? I wish… we are lucky enough some months to break even (there are more people than just me involved in this camp).

I am also not happy about the Samui camp being called a holiday camp in a not so nice way. Yes Samui is also a holiday camp for people who just want to train MUAYTHAI and also have a holiday. These people will never fight but they like MUAYTHAI for other reasons - maybe fitness or confidence - but these are no lesser reasons than others. Lets not forget that MUAYTHAI is over thousand years old, but competition MUAYTHAI only about 100. Many people just like to learn MUAYTHAI for self-defense aspects, and they are welcome at our camp.

But we also have many top fighters, World Class boys, K 1 Champions and so on which have all stayed from a month to a year and trained as hard or harder than at other camps. Samui is a beautiful camp and only people who have really trained there should comment. Thank you.

I have also mentioned all the other camps in Thailand where everyone can train because in no way do we want to monopolise this (in fact we work very close together with all the other camps). Believe me people, if I was in this for the money I could make it very easily by misusing my position. I'm not complaining - life is made up of choices and I'm happy with mine. I understand that not everyone likes me as I can be very difficult sometimes. But try and understand that I am under a lot of pressure - I am working an average of 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, and for over 70% of this work I do not get paid.

I dedicated my life to the development of the sport. I never had the opportunity to fight in properly organised Continental, World and hopefully soon Asian and Olympic games but it makes me happy to see all these young people out there being looked after. If only 10% of them after their retirement dedicate their life to MUAYTHAI than we will have a great family and will go all the way.

Quality of International bouts.

Some people have criticised the quality of the fighters we bring to Australia. This is just nonsense. We are trying to match the fighters up fairly and to their own abilities. Why should we bring Thais over which will demolish the Australians, or for that matter bring Thais who will get demolished? It's about friendship and sportsmanship and most of all about the promotion of the sport. We are always having good fights and none of these boys are bar fighters. That would not be fair to either the Australian boys or the Thais who are coming from respected camps all over Thailand.

People have to understand, years ago we brought C class Thais to fight the Australians, it was evenly matched, they were good fights, we won some and lost some. We improved and learned from them and after a couple of years we brought B class Thais and moved up from there. Now we can bring top class quality fighters and the entertainment stays the same. I do not agree with promoters bringing Thais over and getting their own fighters bashed or having weight difference.

The King's Cup

The Kings Cup question - I think some people have got a little confused with the Sanam Luang Professional Tournament held every year. This is a one day event and has seen some great fights where - Wayne made a big name for himself there and made Australia proud. But beside this we have also the Amateur Kings Cup, where about 50 countries fight and the boys have to fight 3-4 times in a week to make the final. Some of these boys are brilliant fighters and so many have moved on from that competition. We also have Kings Cup Birthday cups in December around the World where continental, intercontinental or World Title fights are held.

Respect for each other.

Last but not least I would like to speak to some of the IAMTF people on respect and tradition. If I see General Tienchai (the President of the IAMTF) I will Wai and bow down to him and show him my full respect. He has earned it as a 4 star General, and former Deputy Prime Minister. I never ever would publish or say anything which could offend him in person as he is a very nice person and highly intelligent man, who I respect from the bottom of my heart. The same goes for General Vorayudh and General Chetha the President of the WMC. General Chetha without doubt has also earned his respect as the former Commander in chief of the Thai Army and President of The Olympic Committee. Under his leadership Thailand won its only 2 Olympic Gold medals. He would not care about people writing letters accusing him of mafia like methods (country representatives from the IAMTF, I must say). But for us this is just deeply disrespectful. If anyone in the IFMA or WMC would write such letters against General Tienchai I can guarantee you that the executive board would call in a meeting in order to punish him.

I don't really care if people bad mouth me but please do not bad mouth the young fighters who train hard and give their absolute best. This letter is nothing personal, but the truth is important if MUAYTHAI is going to grow and if the up and these young fighters are going to get to the Olympics. I respect anyone in MUAYTHAI. Even Woody - he is a great guy, he lives for his course, and he has made many personal sacrifices, probably lost a lot of money and got many grey hairs like me. I am sure that one day when all is sorted Woody will be one of the people leading the sport. General Tienchai is without doubt a very respectful and great person.
This is just a little thought - let's keep the game fair, and whatever the outcome let's respect this people on top. They have truly earned their respect in my mind, and I hope in everyone else's too.


We all need to take a good look at ourselves in the mirror and work towards the future of MUAYTHAI instead of all this infighting. We need to put our egos aside for all the kids in the gyms around the world. Otherwise we will look back and be ashamed of ourselves. What are we really fighting for?… I hope and believe there is still time to turn this ship around and stop all this squabbling. To work together as a team in order to push MUAYTHAI to the front of the world stage, where it belongs… to the Olympics. If we can achieve this I think then we can be proud of ourselves. I think we owe it to the up and coming generation of the MUAYTHAI family to dedicate ourselves to this dream. We can learn from their dedication. They train hard and aim high. They deserve a chance at competing at the highest amateur level there is. I would give everything to make this dream come true, for all of us.

I hope this has answered the questions some people have raised. I hope I will not need to spend anymore time dealing with these issues. When you are in Thailand or Australia feel free to contact me or drop by at the Olympic Committee of Thailand office and say hello to the staff of the WMC and IFMA. About 15 people work in this office and the door is always open for everyone in the Muay Thai family.

One World-One MUAYTHAI

Stephan Fox
International Co-Ordinator
World MUAYTHAI Council