EGF AGM Groningen 2009

 1. Opening of the Meeting: Martin Stiassny,chair, opened the meeting at 20:10.

 2. Verifying Presence and Voting Rights: At start of meeting there were 26 
    delegates (but Denmark were not paid up and could not vote).

 3. Accepting the Agenda: Italy commented on the late start and how their items 
    were included.

 4. International Matters:
 4a Presentations from other International Bodies:

    Mrs Taki - Pair Go: 20th Anniversary, 47 member countries, supported by
               PandaNet
    Mr Kim Jong-Ryeol – Korean Baduk Association: Globalisation
    Ms Chang Hsiao Yin (Ingrid) – World Chinese Weiqi Federation
    Ms Yuki Shigeno – IGF

 4b Confirmation of Victor Bogdanov as replacement IGF Director: As Erik Puyt 
    had resigned a replacement was needed quickly so no consultation was made to 
    the members. Appointment approved 19-0.

 4c Nomination of Martin Stiassny as continuing IGF Director: Martin was 
    approved for period 2010-2012 22-1.

 4d Report from IGF Directors: Martin Stiassny reported on the work for the 2008 
    WMSG and working towards Go as Olympic Sport. The next WMSG will be 2011 or 
    2013 with 5 possible cities.

 4e Anti-Doping Policy: Martin Stiassny explained the IGF policy. Policy is 
    determined by IGF and WADA. There are only 4 international events that the 
    rules apply to. It only urine testing with volunteers out of competition and 
    the event winners. 

 4f Go and Olympics - the way forward: Aim to be an Olympic recognised sport by 
    next WMSG. Important for funding in some countries. Italy wanted all players 
    at any tournament to have to be national go association members; there was 
    limited support for this. 

 4g EGF Application for Association Membership of IGF: Motion approved 19-0.
 
 4h International Event Captains: Lack of sponsor money means events are not 
    inviting captains. Either volunteer captains could represent us or the EGF 
    find some budget to send a captain. Both need approval of Executive.

 4i Cooperation with EGCC: EGCC goal is go promotion. Their personnel reduced 
    last year and reorganisation took much time. Now they are able to talk to 
    National Go Associations again. Their financial report is available on 
    request. 

 5. Acceptance of Previous Year’s AGM Minutes: Accepted after comments by Martin 
    Stiassny without a vote.

 6. Admission of New members (none) and Updates from Candidates: Estonia, Greece 
    and Montenegro are still awaited.

 7. Reports
 7a President’s Report: Tony Atkins had circulated his report but was absent 
    from the meeting.
 7b Secretary’s Report: John Gibson had nothing to report.
 7c Treasurer’s report: Hans Kostka reported economic problems due to removal of 
    Ing Grant. This will possibly return when the economy improves. If spending 
    continued as before the EGF reserves would only last three years. Zhuyeqing 
    Tea Company is providing 10000 euro to assist the EGC. It is the big events 
    such as Ing Cup and EYGC that lose their budget. There is a proposal to 
    increase members’ income from 4500 euro. Also more sponsors (European as 
    well as Asian) should be sought, and glossy material should be produced to 
    support this. Hans reminded that IGF fees can be paid together with EGF fees 
    to save charges. 

 8. Auditors' Report: Arnaud Knippel reported that papers had been delayed in 
    the post and they had not been able to check the accounts. A vote was taken 
    to accept accounts if the auditor’s approve within a month; passed 18-0. 

 9. Reports of Chairman of Existing Commissions:
 9a Rules Commission: Matti Siivola reported that WMSG rules may be ok to use, 
    but have not been used in Europe yet. Tournament organisation rules are to 
    be gathered together for the various events, but should not be too 
    restrictive.

 9b Ratings Commission: Ales Cieply reported that rating data is now on European 
    Go Database thanks to work by Aldo Podavini. The ratings are updated daily. 
    There was concern about the ownership of the data, but the EGF gets a 
    monthly archive. 

 9c Strong Players' Commission: Catalin Taranu had wanted to organise an 
    exciting and vibrant strong players' website, but had become Romanian 
    President and is too busy to continue. The suggestion was made that strong 
    players should have voting rights.

10. Election of Executive Officers and Auditors: Oleg Gavrilov withdrew leaving 
    an uncontested field.
10a The executive were elected without voting:
      President - Martin Stiassny; 
      Secretary - Tony Atkins; 
      Treasurer - Hans Kostka;
      Vice-Presidents - Jana Hricova and Leszek Soldan; 
      Officers - Matti Siivola and Ales Cieply;
10b Auditors - Arnaud Knippel and Thilo Burkhardt

23:00 to 23:30 break

11. Budgets - EGF's Financial Future
11a Motion to Increase Membership Fee: The motion was modified to increase the 
    minimum to 200 euro but allowing a reduction for emerging countries for up 
    to five years, 11-4. The motion was then approved 16-3.
11b Proposal to suspend support rules for EYGC when no sponsor: passed 16-0.
11c Presentation for Comment of Budgets 2009-2010 and 2010-2011: No printout 
    was provided so it was hard for many to comment. It was proposed to divert 
    the EGCC management fee to pay for team captains; defeated 6-9. The budget 
    was approved 6-2.

12. Appointment of Commissions: No changes.

13. European Go Congresses
13a Accounting Requirements - Reports from Past Tournaments: Congresses should 
    report their figures afterward, but it is not clear in what format although 
    less important if no sponsorship. It was requested that Sweden presented
    its report on 2008 by email within two weeks.
13b Comments on 2009 Groningen, Netherlands: Was going OK. The sponsor had 
    visited, but all was arranged at short notice.
13c Progress report on 2010 Finland: Venue may have to change to a school in 
    centre of Tampere. 
13d Progress report on 2011 France: Now moved to Bordeaux
13e Progress report on 2012 Germany: Information is available on Cologne.
13f Selection of hosts for 2013: Poland, in Gdynia 100m from beach, was 
    accepted as the only proposal. 
13g Expressions of Interest in Later Years: 2014 Russia still proposing Sochi 
    and Romania now proposing Sibiu. 2015: Czechia expressed interest.

14. European Tournament Calendar - Selection of Hosts
14a Youth Championship 2011: Brno Czechia
14b Student Championship 2011: Prague, Czechia
14c Pair Go Championship 2010: St Petersburg, Russia, at Ing Cup venue
    2011/12: Portugal and Slovakia expressed interest 
14d Women’s Championship 2011: Bucharest, Romania
14e (Ing Cup suspended)
14f Team Championship 2011: No proposals (possibly Portugal could run it)

15. Rules Proposals
15a Proposal to Deduct 76 Pair Go Points from 6 countries supported at WMSG: 
    Proposal was withdrawn (WMSG was special event).
15b Proposal to Award More Age Group Prizes at EYGC. It was noted the age limit 
    at WYGC changes to Under-16 next year. No vote was taken on the suggestion.
15c Proposal to Award PGEC Tournament Prizes by Same Rule as Tournament Points: 
    The sponsor wishes this to happen so the Executive will implement this. No 
    vote was taken.
15d Proposal to Adopt new European Championship Rules: No discussion, just 
    votes on a few principles:
    a. Hold it at EGC:  21-0
    b. EC not affected by non-European players 16-0
    c. The number of rounds to be played on the EC might be less than 10; 4-7 
15e Rules for Selection and Level of PGEC Tournaments: No discussion or vote.
15f Definition of European Player: EGF member country passport holders 12-4.
15g Formalise and Record the Rules of the Championships: Deferred to next year 
    8-0.

16. Any Other Business
    It was agreed to start earlier next year.

Meeting closed at 01:38