It's Showtime Breaks Silence on Badr Hari

Badr Hari has been pretty much the lone topic of conversation in the kickboxing world the past few weeks, first with his disqualification loss to Hesdy Gerges at It's Showtime ArenA, kicking Gerges in the face when he was clearly down, to his possible assault on a nightclub bouncer from back in February resurfacing last week and Badr being declared a wanted man. It is impossible not to talk about Badr Hari, really. Many fans feel like Badr is due some sort of punishment by It's Showtime and the European Fighting Network for his actions against Gerges. For some reason, It's Showtime/EFN have remained silent about the matter, with most fans simply thinking that they did not want to bring up the topic.

There were cries of conflict of interest as they also handle Badr Hari's fight bookings for him, and until now It's Showtime has not said a peep. Then a press release went up addressing the issue. Here is how they tackled the issue.

Considering this was the first time Badr Hari misbehaved at an IT'S SHOWTIME event (his other contravention was during a K-1 event), we, as IT'S SHOWTIME organization, leave it with this punishment. Badr has been told that a long suspension will follow after the next severe case of misbehavior.

The biggest concern our organization has, is that future kickboxers might think that this kind of behavior will be tolerated and/or valued. Kickboxing is a sport with tight regulations and anyone who does not live up to these rules does not belong in the ring.

We from European Fighting Network could easily have said that Badr would be suspended for the rest of the year, but that would have been a worthless punishment, since Badr probably wouldn't be fighting at an IT'S SHOWTIME event anyway this year. This is because he already indicated that he would temporarily quit kickboxing and that if he would start again, he would fight for K-1 at the end of this year.

This is very logical, as slapping a one year suspension on Badr Hari when there was zero percent chance of him competing for their organization before next year and they don't want to act like the fans are stupid. At the same time, a suspension, even if it wouldn't affect Badr would give a message to other fighters, although I'm sure some would doubt the validity of it due to Badr's participation in the K-1 World Grand Prix and not competing for It's Showtime.

Also, they tackle the fact that Badr Hari is a wanted man and not even they can get a hold of him right now.

The reason we have waited a week with our press release is that we first wanted to talk to Badr in private about this matter. However, up until now our only possibility to talk to him about what happened and about the penalties we will give him, was by telephone, 2 days after the event. We couldn't talk to him in private anymore than that because the police requested Badr to report himself at the police station. This request concerns Badr being a suspect of involvement in a case of the abuse of an Amsterdam doorman. This case was in the news a couple of weeks ago. However, Badr has not reported himself to the police and we also do not know where he is at the moment. We from European Fighting Network do also not know what the outcome of this case will be.

Oh Badr.

Press release:

Referring to Badr Hari’s contravention during his May 29 fight against Hesdy Gerges in the Amsterdam ArenA we would like to make the following statement:

We from European Fighting Network want to be clear about the fact that this kind of behavior will absolutely not be tolerated inside the ring. The decision to disqualify Badr was made within seconds. The referee made the decision to let Badr make this announcement to keep the feelings in the venue from running high. Badr couldn’t and didn’t do it because of a combination of booing from the audience and still having to process what just happened.

The most important matter of this case is that Badr himself knows very well that this action does not belong in a ring and that disqualification is a logical effect. Not only has Badr suffered huge damage in his reputation and did he lose his IT’S SHOWTIME world title, but we from European Fighting Network have also charged him with a fitting fine.

Considering this was the first time Badr Hari misbehaved at an IT’S SHOWTIME event (his other contravention was during a K-1 event), we, as IT’S SHOWTIME organization, leave it with this punishment. Badr has been told that a long suspension will follow after the next severe case of misbehavior.

The biggest concern our organization has, is that future kickboxers might think that this kind of behavior will be tolerated and/or valued. Kickboxing is a sport with tight regulations and anyone who does not live up to these rules does not belong in the ring.

We from European Fighting Network could easily have said that Badr would be suspended for the rest of the year, but that would have been a worthless punishment, since Badr probably wouldn’t be fighting at an IT’S SHOWTIME event anyway this year. This is because he already indicated that he would temporarily quit kickboxing and that if he would start again, he would fight for K-1 at the end of this year.

Since we do Badr Hari’s management as well, we will do anything we can to help him being an example for the sport, instead of having the image he has at the moment. Considering he is only 25 years old, we think that he deserves a second chance at IT’S SHOWTIME and we will try to guide him.

The reason we have waited a week with our press release is that we first wanted to talk to Badr in private about this matter. However, up until now our only possibility to talk to him about what happened and about the penalties we will give him, was by telephone, 2 days after the event. We couldn’t talk to him in private anymore than that because the police requested Badr to report himself at the police station. This request concerns Badr being a suspect of involvement in a case of the abuse of an Amsterdam doorman. This case was in the news a couple of weeks ago. However, Badr has not reported himself to the police and we also do not know where he is at the moment. We from European Fighting Network do also not know what the outcome of this case will be.

 

European Fighting Network