WBF - World Bridge Federation

Mr Virgil Anderson	Mr Dan Morse
Mr Jens Auken	Mrs Barbara Nudelman
Mr Jean-Claude Beineix	Mr Ernesto d'Orsi
Mr Jean-Louis Derivery	Mr William J. Pencharz
Mrs Joan Gerard	Mr George Retek
Mr Panos Gerontopoulos	Mrs Anna Maria Torlontano
Mr Mazhar Jafri	Mr John Wignall

Also in Attendance:

Mr Feijo Durksz, Observer from Zone 1
Mrs Carol von Linstow, Secretary to the President

The meeting was called to order at 10.00 a.m. by the President, Mr Damiani, and the meeting proceeded as follows:

1. Roll Call to Determine Quorum

Mr Jean-Louis Derivery, Secretary, called the roll. The following member NBOs were represented by the President or his accredited representative, or by that representative's proxy:

Argentina	Mrs Diana Budkin
Austria	Dr Franz Krifner
Belarus	Mrs Olga Chadyro
Belgium	Mr Herman de Wael
Bermuda	Mr John Burville
Brazil	Mr Ernesto d'Orsi
Canada	Mr George Holland
Chile	Mr José Robles
China	Mr Yi Hougao
Chinese Taipei	Mr Harry Lin
Colombia	Mr Marcos Wasserman
Croatia	Mr Emil Tedesci
Czech Republic	Mr Jan Volhejn
Denmark	Mr Jens Auken
Egypt	Mr Hossam Eldin A. Hamid
Estonia	Mr Uno Giigand
Finland	Mr Ulli A. Manni
France	Mr Michel Marmouget
French Polynesia	Mr Alain Cotti
Germany	Mr Georg Nippgen
Great Britain	Mr Patrick Jourdain
Greece	Mr George Karlaftis
Guadeloupe	Mr Jean-Louis Derivery
Hong Kong	Mr Ashley Lung
Hungary	Mr Attila Minarik
Iceland	Mr Bjorn Eysteinsson
India	Mr J.P. Goenka
Indonesia	Mr Frans Waleleng
Israel	Dr Nissan Rand
Italy	Mr Filippo Palma
Jamaica	Mrs Noelle Chutkan
Japan	Mr Tadayoshi Nakatani
Jordan	Mr Ghassan Ghanem
Kenya	Mr Bharat Bhardwag
Latvia	Mr V. Gouca
Lebanon	Mr N. Baroudi
Lithuania	Mr V. Gouca
Luxembourg	Mrs Maryse Jeitz
Malaysia	Mr David Law
Mauritius	Mr Pierre Philogene
Mexico	Mr Gonzales Herrera
Monaco	Mr J.C. Allavena
Morocco	Mr Cadi Tazi
Netherlands	Mr Laurens Hoedemaker
New Zealand	Mr Alan Turner
Norway	Mr Rune Anderssen
Pakistan	Mr Muhammad Ismail
Palestine	Dr Alfred Toubasi
Philippines	Mr Allen Tan
Poland	Mr A Orlow / Mr W.T. Stobiechi
Portugal	Mr Nuno Matos
Romania	Mr Marius Georgescu
Russia	Mr Michael Rosenblum
San Marino	Mr Silvano Innocentini
Saudi Arabia	Mr Al-Rachach Ghassan
Singapore	Mr C.S. Wu
Slovenia	Mr Titan Osojnik
South Africa	Mr Maurice Joffe
Spain	Mr Luis Francos
Sweden	Mr Micke Melander
Switzerland	Mr Abouchanab Bachar
Tunisia	Dr Hosni Zouari
Turkey	Mrs Sevda Zorlu
Ukraine	Mr O. Rapoport
U S A	Mr Virgil Anderson
Yugoslavia	Mr Ivan Bunji

The President declared the meeting open, a quorum having been obtained, there being 65 NBOs represented.

2. Approval of the Minutes of the 1992 Meeting and report of the 1994 Meeting

The minutes of the 1992 meeting of Congress, held on 26 August 1992 in Salsomaggiore, ltaly and the report of the meeting held on 21 September 1994 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which had previously been circulated to all NBOs, were approved and ordered filed with the official records of the Federation.

3. President's Report

Mr Damiani, as President, read his report and a copy is filed with the minutes of this meeting. The President reported briefly on his activities and visits over the last two years and the achievements of the WBF during this period"particularly the entry of the WBF into the International Olympic Committee as a Recognized Organization and also the successful championships held in Beijing in 1995. He also outlined his hopes and projects for the future of the WBF in which he trusted the NBOs would share, especially the patronage of UNESCO for the World Bridge Teaching Programme in schools.

Various questions were posed from the floor, including a request for a copy of the letter from Alcatel-Alsthom concerning their withdrawal of sponsorship from the Worldwide Simultaneous, which is attached to the President's Report. Mr Jourdain, President of the BBL, also asked whether the dates of future championships could be published as soon as they were known. This was noted.

Several delegates spoke concerning the smoking policy at WBF Championships, most of them being in favour of restricting smoking wherever possible, although there were some requests for a total ban.

4. Treasurer's Report

Mr Retek, WBF Treasurer, presented his report which summarized the financial position of the WBF at this time and a copy was ordered filed with the minutes.

5. Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

6. New Business

The President welcomed H.E. Ambassador Ben Haha, Ambassador of Tunisia to Greece, into the meeting, together with Dr Hosni Zouari, President of the Tunisian Bridge Federation, and Mr Snoussi, Commercial Director of Les Organers, the Hotel Complex where the 1997 Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup and the Swiss Open Teams Championship will be held. The President briefly outlined the arrangements for the Championships to the Congress delegates and explained that the contracts would be signed after the present meeting had finished.

A petition was then presented by the delegate from South Africa, on behalf' of' certain African countries, in which they requested that a new Zone be made for Africa. The President read the petition to the members of Congress but it was decided that this was not a subject for discussion in such a forum but should be addressed to the WBF Executive Council.

There being no further business, the meeting was terminated at 11.50 hrs.