MEETING OF WBF CONGRESS

THURSDAY, 9 OCTOBER 2008 IN BEIJING, CHINA

The meeting was called to order at 10.30 a.m. by the President, Mr Damiani, who welcomed the delegates to this Congress meeting and thanked them for their presence. The meeting then proceeded as follows:

1. Roll Call to Determine Quorum

Mr Jeffrey Polisner declared a quorum. The following member NCBOs were represented by their President or his accredited representative, or by that representative’s proxy:

The President declared the meeting open, there being 87 NBOs represented.

2. Approval of the Minutes of the 2006 Meeting

The minutes of the 2006 meeting of Congress, held on 15th June 2006 in Verona, Italy, which had previously been circulated to all NBOs, were approved and ordered filed with the official records of the Federation.

3. President's Report

The President first asked for a minute’s silence in memory of Mr Marc Hodler, former Vice President of the IOC, President of the International Ski Federation and President of the Swiss Bridge Federation and former President of the Congress who helped so much in the WBF Olympic destiny. Also for Mr Rao Gao Tang, former President of the Chinese Contract Bridge Association with whom the WBF had cooperated for so many years for the good of Bridge in China and Worldwide.

He then went on to introduce and welcome Mr Ding Guangen, the new President of Congress who has been holding posts within the party and state of china for many years but who is also an accomplished bridge player. Mr Ding Guangen has made many important contributions to the development of bridge in China and played a major role in the organization of the 1st World Mind Sports Games.

The President then gave the floor to Mr Ding Guangen who addressed the Congress.

The President then thanked the Chinese Contract Bridge Association and its President, Mr Xiang Huaicheng for their fantastic organization of these 1st World Mind Sports Games and their warm hospitality, mentioning too Mr Liu Si Ming, Mr Fan Guang Sheng and Mrs Chen Zelan, all of whom had done so much to make these Championships so successful.

After completing his report, the President also expressed his thanks to the members WBF Laws Drafting Committee which had done a wonderful job in producing the 2007 Code.

The delegate for Bangladesh congratulated the Chinese hosts and the WBF for an extremely good Championship. He suggested that NBOs should be encouraged to hold Youth championships and asked if it would be possible to provide them with materials and books. Finally, he suggested that the WBF Delegates could be elected for a period of 6 years, rather than 4.

The President agreed that it was necessary to organize Youth championships every year and said that perhaps after these Championships the NBOs might see the benefit. In future, the World Youth Championships for the Under 25 and Under 20s will be held every second year in even years and the new World Youth Championships will be held next year in Istanbul and from then on every second year in the odd years. He added that he would see what the WBF could do to arrange TD courses to teach the teachers and, eventually, to provide materials. With respect to the tenure of the delegates, he said that this was irrelevant as the WBF is on a 4-year bridge cycle. However, he did agree that two terms was probably the optimum for any one delegate.

The delegate from Kenya wanted to thank the Chinese hosts and the WBF on a wonderful tournament.

Mr Ghassan Ghanem, President of Zone 4, congratulated the Chinese host and the WBF on the excellent organization. He said that he would try get the support of his NBOs to agree to merge with Zone 6 and, once he has their affirmative vote, he would make contact with Zone 6. He also thought that possibility of getting into the Asian Games was good.

4. Treasurer's Report (click here for full report)

Mr Derivery presented his report which summarized the financial position of the WBF at end 2007. The report is available here.

The President thanked Mr Derivery for his report.

5. Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

6. New Business

There was no new business.

The President then asked Mr Geert Magermann to make a short presentation on the upcoming FISU events, with the 5th World University Bridge Championships in 2010 progammed to be held in Chinese Taipei. He also mentioned the University Bridge Pairs on internet, the new University Bridge Platform that contained all the information on university bridge activities.

The President thanked him for his presentation. He also thanked the Polish Bridge Federation on their organization of the last University Bridge Championships that were held in Lodz.

Mr Ata Aydin, President of the Turkish Bridge Federation, then made a short presentation on the new World Youth Championships that will be held in Istanbul from 15-21 August 2009. This will be another good opportunity for the youth to meet other youngsters.

Mr Leo Battesti then made a presentation of what he was doing with Chess in Corsica, where he has succeeded in having Chess lessons introduced into schools. He said that, despite the fact that the island was very small, he did have 4,500 players and many sponsors.

Finally, Mr Ernesto d’Orsi made a presentation on the 2009 Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup that will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 29th August to 13th September. He also mentioned that Mr Ortiz-Patiño would be showing his world renowned stamp collection in Sao Paulo.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned sine die at 12 noon.