European Go Federation Minutes of Annual General Meeting (AGM) 4.8.2000 Held at Lakeside Hotel, Strausberg, Germany Martin Finke (Vice-president) is chairing the meeting. 1. Meeting started at 18:10. Present: Executive: Erik Puyt (President, absent) Zoran Mutabzija (Vice-president) Martin Finke (Vice-president) Anne Tombarello (Secretary) Thomas Pfaff (Treasurer) Members: Armenia (absent) Austria Anton Steininger (delegate) Belgium Frank Segers (delegate) Croatia Zoran Mutabzija (president) Czechia Jana Hricova (president) Denmark Torben Pedersen (Present with no voting rights) Finland Matti Siivola (president) France Frederic Renaud (vice-president) Germany Martin Stiassny (president) Hungary Tibor Rapai (president) Ireland John Gibson (secretary) Israel (absent) Italy Gionata Soletti (secretary) Lithuania (absent) Luxembourg Jean Brauch (president) Netherlands Harry van der Krogt (executive) Norway Terje Christofferson (president) Poland Wlodzimierz Malinowski (delegate) Portugal Jose Teles de Menezes (president) Romania Iulian Toma (president) Russia Victor Bogdanov (vice-president) Slovakia Rudolf Krusina (president) Slovenia Peter Gaspari (president) Spain (absent) Sweden Henric Bergsaker (delegate) Switzerland Alan Held (vice-president) Turkey (absent) Ukraine (absent) United Kingdom Tony Atkins (secretary) Yugoslavia Aca Milosevic (delegate) Auditors: Peter Zandveld Mark Hall Observers: Isamu Oka (Italy) Tony Claasen (Netherland) Frank Janssen (EGCC) Oleg Gavrilov (Russia) Dragan Barisic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Alexandre Souponev (Belarus) Jorgen Abrahamsson (Sweden) Comments: Denmark was present and not voting. As Denmark could not vote and neither Luxembourg nor Hungary were present at the same time, all votes after Bosnia & Herzegovina and Belarus were admitted had 24 votes counted. 26 of the 32 members were present. 2. Minutes of last year's meeting Soletti (Italy): Italy had sent a letter about the minutes suggesting some changes: Names of country should be used instead of persons. ** Since the list with names and functions was in the meeting minutes, the AGM decided that this was not necessary. Soletti (Italy): In the meeting minutes inverted comma's were used, this stands for exact representation of what was said. Atkins (United Kingdom): Could not see any inverted commas. Finke (Vice-president): Recommended that for this year's meeting minutes no inverted commas should be used. Bergsaker (Sweden): Correct Swedish representative instead of Norwegian. ** Anne Tombarello will record the mistakes. ** With these changes in last years minutes were accepted with 17 in favour and 4 abstaining 3a. Membership Bosnia & Herzegovina was accepted last year as observer of the EGF. Since last year they have sent reports to the EGF indicating that they have representatives in the whole country and founded a national Go Association for Bosnia & Herzegovina. Therefore the EGF executive proposes to accept Bosnia & Herzegovina as full member of the EGF. ** Bosnia & Herzegovina accepted with 20 votes in favour A letter was received from Belarus describing go activity in the country and asking to be accepted as member of EGF. ** Belarus was accepted with 21 in favour 3b. Proposals to change the constitution: Proposal by executive: (4.1). Any Go organisation in a country that does not already have a member organisation of the EGF may be admitted to Observer status of the EGF by the Executive committee, provided this organisation meets the conditions as mentioned in article 3. ** Accepted with 21 in favour, 2 abstaining, 1 against (4.2.) An Observer may later apply for membership. The Executive committee will propose admission of this organization to the AGM, but only if this organization has regulations, which provide: - clear rules about that country’s representation in international tournaments where player selection is needed; - admission on reasonable terms of every player wanting to join the (proposed) member, even if they may already be a member of another go organisation; - a procedure for handling internal conflicts; - the possibility of appeal to the EGF Appeals Commission at a commission of the EGF, if the problem cannot be solved internally in a proper way. Bergsaker (Sweden): Last year proposal C++ required that members should be democratic. Why this was removed? Vice-president (Finke): It is to be understood that democracy is required. ** Accepted with 24 in favour (4.3.) For admission, a decision by a simple majority within the AGM is sufficient. ** Accepted with 22 in favour, 1 abstaining, 1 against (5.) (addition). If a member does not meet the conditions as mentioned in article 4.2. anymore, it could be considered as breaking the discipline or fairness necessary for the correct working of the EGF. ** Accepted with 22 in favour, 2 abstaining Proposal UK1: Adopt the sub-numbered version of the Constitution as definitive (ie 6.10 not 6j) Correct the following spelling and grammar errors: 6.8 "descretion" to "discretion" 6.10 "absentions" to "abstentions" 7 "be be" to "be"; "duely" to "duly", "elligible" to "eligible" 9.1 "preceeding" to "preceding" 9.2 "Comission" to "Commission" 11. "Center" to "Centre" ** Accepted Proposal UK2: In Clause 7 change "When postal votes are allowed" to "As postal votes are allowed" ** Accepted Proposal UK3: In Clause 6.6 change "Nominees must be proposed by at least one Federation in good standing" to "Nominees must be proposed by at least one member Federation in good standing, seconded by two more member Federations and must confirm to the Executive their willingness to occupy the post for which they are proposed" ** Accepted with 21 in favour, 2 abstaining Proposal UK4: withdrawn Proposal UK5: Add to the end of Clause 5: "Appropriate action may be suspension of membership, with appropriate loss of membership rights, until an AGM or special general meeting reinstates that member." ** Accepted Proposals by the Swiss Go Association (CH1), (CH2) withdrawn Proposal CH3: Remove the last sentence from Clause 3 "Any disputes concerning membership must be referred to the Annual General Meeting." and add it to a new Clause 4.4. Clause 4.4 shall continue: "In particular, if two organisations claim to represent a country, even if one of them is a member organisation, then provided they can both demonstrate to the executive compliance to the conditions in 4.2, the AGM should decide which should be recognised in the future as the member, that being the organisation with the largest number of votes in a simple ballot. A member organization is not excused from the requirement of proof if its status is challenged. If a country does not have an organization which fulfils the ideal requirements, the AGM must then choose that organization which best approximates to the required conditions." Bergsaker (Sweden): It is a problem of EGF if an association fades out. ** Not accepted with 9 against, 6 abstaining, 9 in favour, 10. Appeals 10.1. An Appeals' Commission will be installed by the AGM. The commission shall have the following functions: a. to hear and decide on appeals filed by an effected party against decisions of the EGF, including its organs and disciplinary instances, unless such appeal is expressly excluded in these bylaws or in the regulations of the EGF. Appeal to a decision of General Meeting is not possible, since General Meeting is the highest authority of the EGF; b. to hear and decide on appeals concerning go matters: - filed by players or legal persons, who have completed the internal juridical procedure within the go organization in Europe, to which they are affiliated (provided there was a internal procedure which could be followed) or - filed by players or legal persons against decisions of the go organisation in Europe to which they are affiliated, when this go organization has no internal juridical procedure; c. to act as an arbitration panel for disputes within the world of Go in Europe, if the EGF or the EGF's disciplinary instances are not directly involved in such a dispute; d. To prepare the Regulations governing Appeals for approval by the AGM. Segers (Belgium): wants to split voting to a, b+c, d: Soletti (Italy): People in appeals commission should know about law. ** Accepted (a) with 19 in favour, 3 abstaining, Mutabzija (Vice-president): AC suggests actions to AGM. ** Accepted (b+c) with 18 in favour, 5 abstaining, 1 against ** Accepted (d) with 24 in favour 10.2. As long as no Regulations governing Appeals are decided upon by the AGM, the commission will work in the way the commission decides, considering reasonableness and due process. ** Accepted with 22 in favour, 1 abstaining Mutabzija (Vice-president): This constitution is considered as intermediate. The executive will work on a new constitution with other constitutions of European organizations as example. 3c. MOTION PROPOSED BY THE FRENCH GO FEDERATION PREAMBLE The present situation of Go in Italy is not satisfactory: there are two organisations with quite the same number of players. The FIGG is concentrated in Milano. The AGI federates almost the other Go clubs. The EGF must act with one goal in mind, to prepare the ground for an agreement on clear basis between the two parts of Italian Go. To reach this goal, we propose : 1) To create a special task force commission under the authority of EGF (3/5 members) for one year. This commission will try to forward an attempt to reunite the two parties. It will help to start new contacts between FIGG and AGI and will be open to every useful suggestions from the two Italian organisations. This commission will present proposals to end the conflict at the latest for the general meeting of 2001. Bergsaker (Sweden): Authority of EGF or IGF should not be used as a weapon in internal conflicts: Tombarello (Secretary): EGF needs to help Italians to solve the problem ** Accepted with 9 in favour, 7 abstaining, 8 against ** Executive must nominate this commission 2) The choice of representatives for international competitions or tournaments during this time must be open to all members of both organizations. In case of disagreement between FIGG and AGI, the executive of EGF will decide the representatives. Tombarello (Secretary): We know that this year, AGI members were allowed to play in Italian Championship, but they were asked to sign a paper stating that they cannot get points to qualify for WAGC. ** Not accepted with 12 against, 2 abstaining, 10 in favour 4. Financial report 1999-2000 Auditors considered: In page 1/8 equity 25 000 stated should be noted as a liability and not equity. All other parts are correct. Switzerland suggests that face values of equities should be added to the financial report Steininger (Austria): Ing said that he will support EGF until 2000. Finke (Chairman): Ing Foundation is continuing the support. 4.a. Budget proposal ** Accepted 4.b. Letter by treasurer ** Accepted 5. Election of Executive and auditors Fred Renaud is suggested as a third auditor; ** A straw poll accepted this as an idea with 15 in favour, 7 abstaining T. Mark Hall and Peter Zandveld to continue as auditors; ** Accepted with 20 in favour, 1 abstaining Stefan Hruska will continue as Ing treasurer Voting for Executive in favour abstaining against Zoran Mutabzija for President 23 Thomas Pfaff for Treasurer 22 Matti Siivola for Secretary 22 2 Tony Atkins for Vice-president 23 1 Oleg Gavrilov for Vice-president 23 ---------------------- 30 minutes break --------------------------- Mutabzija (President) is chairing the meeting. 6. Reports from commissions 6.a. Finance commission 1. The future tasks of the Finance Commission will be - to define the investment policy of the EGF - to give advice to the board of the EGF and to the investment managers - to control the work of the investment managers. 2. In the future, the assets of the EGF will be managed by two investment managers – by the treasurer and by one additional investment manager. The investment managers will have to take care of the investment policy defined by the Finance Commission. The investment accounts of the EGF must be organized such that two signatures will be needed for orders to the bank: Either the signatures of the two investment managers or the signatures of the president and of the secretary. 3. We shall try to find the second investment manager in 2000/2001. The new second investment manager shall be approved by the general meeting 2001. 4. The Finance Commission shall be independent from the executive and from the investment management, i.e., the members of the executive and the investment managers must not be members of the commission. Therefore, Erik Puyt and Thomas Pfaff are stepping down from the Finance Commission at the Congress 2000. The Finance commission expressed that they wanted to invest a part of the EGF money in stocks. This was discussed in the annual general meeting and was accepted by the AGM. ** Accepted with 11 in favour, 2 abstaining, 10 against 6.b. Rules and Ratings Commission (see http://www.kttl.helsinki.fi/msiivola/go/RR-report2000.html) Atkins (Vice-president): Complained about the TT all-rounds supergroup rule. Zandveld (auditor): Said this was in the EGF rules already. ** Accepted 6.c. Financial statement by Ing Treasurer ** Accepted 6.d. Promotion and Education Commission had stooped working and produced no report Atkins (Vice-president): Explained this was because it should have been two commissions. The meeting expressed that one of the tasks of the executive was to check that the commissions continued to work and otherwise report this to the members. 6.e. EGF Logo Commission The meeting favoured to the Commission to continue. 6.f. Mutabzija (President): Proposes once a week a round of email within executive, once a month email to members, vote by email, and confirmation by mail if necessary. ** Accepted 7. Future European Go Congresses a. Berlin 2000: The tournament is going fine. Small problems sponsoring east European players occurred. The system how to divide sponsor money meant to subsidize East European players was difficult, this should be looked upon for next congresses. Total prize money is 27000-29000 DEM. Some discussion about visas occurred. There are 600 participants. b. Dublin 2001 A web page for the congress can be reached from http://ireland.european-go.org Accommodation at various prices from 15 EUR will be near to the venue, but for camping the site for 8 EUR person/night is located 15 km from venue. Soletti (Italy): proposes lower entry fees Gibson (Ireland): there will be discounts Sponsors were discussed. Fujitsu-Siemens Computers will sponsor only 2001. c. Croatia 2002 will be held in Zagreb. A web page can be found at: http://croatia.european-go.org/egc2002/ Tombarello (observer): Maybe other countries can help in organizing. d. 2003 Candidates were Poland, Tuchola and Russia, St Petersburg. Visa questions were discussed. Russia 12 votes (chosen), Poland 10 votes. The tournament will be in St Petersburg university, 40 minutes by train from the centre. There will be Korean sponsors. 2004 Candidates were Poland (Tuchola) and Czechia (Prague). First there was a vote whether 2004 will be decided now or later 12 votes now (accepted), 10 votes later In the actual vote: Poland 13 votes (chosen), Czechia 6 votes 2005 Czechia was a candidate. Sweden expressed also interest in organising a Congress and also Finland. First there was a vote whether 2005 will be decided now or later 10 votes now, 11 votes later (accepted) 2005 is decided later. 8. European Tournament Calendar Some changes were offered. The actual Calendar is on EGF news web page: http://www.european-go.org/www/kalendar.asp 9. Representation outside of Europe Andre Weiher was selected as Team captain for WAGC 2001. Gionatta (Italy): Directors of IGF who are selected by EGF board should make a report. Mutabzija (President): A report will be put on the web. In Pair Go Spain refrained from participating. To decide the missing place there should be a play-off between Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, ensuring one of the countries is new, although sponsor requested three. Martin Finke was selected as guest official for Europe. The european strength limit applies (average 0 from strength of both players where +1 is 1-dan, -1 is 1-kyu etc.) 17th August there will be a ladies professional tournaments in China. Two ladies from Europe will participate. Guo Juan was personally invited and a Russian female player (Svetlana Shikshina). Since Guo Juan could not participate there was a place for another European female player of sufficient (propfessional..) strength, but the invitation was for August 17 in China. No player was selected for this place due to the too short preparation time. 10. Promotion, Teaching and Education. a. International Professional Go instructors. The program is inactive. b. Visiting professionals. A Nordic/Baltic tour is being planned. An Ing professional is available for Go Congress (Mr.Sho from Taiwan). c. EGF webpage An European Go Magazine will continue on web. If you have articles (in English) please send them. d. Fujitsu European training will be held 9.-12.12. See web page. 11. Ing projects and events a. New Ing projects can be sent in and will be judged by the executive in the coming months. b. Ing memorial will be 10.03.2001 in Amstelveen. c. WYGC 2000 in Prague was held. A report can be seen on web page http://www.goweb.cz/cago/wygc/default.asp?lang=en 12. European Youth, Team, Ladies and Pair Go Championships. European Youth Championship: 03.03.2001, Poland European Team Championship: 17.03.2001, Russia European Pairs Championship: 08.04.2001, Bosnia & Herzegovina 13. EGF was registered as a legal entity in the Netherlands, from November 1999. ** Accepted 14. Discussion of the new EGF constitution was skipped. 15. Any other business Held (Switzerland): Saijo Masataka is retiring and EGF could support him in attending European Go Congresses. ** EGF will put 1000 EUR. Switzerland will put 100 CHF. People and associations may also contribute. Hall (Auditor): A team tournament was held in China. Only one European team attended and he was concerned news was not being circulated efficiently. Meeting was closed at 23:45