European Go Federation Annual General Meeting Held on 31 July 1998 in Mamaia, Romania 1) The meeting started at 19:02. Because Francis Roads has resigned as president of the EGF, Alan Held first vice president of the EGF acts as chairman of this meeting until the new executive is elected. Present at the meeting were: Representatives of countries Julian Toma - Rom A. Milosevic - Yug Steve Bailey - GB Szabics Gabor - Hun Marc Gonzalez - ESP Alfred Effenberg - Aus Olivier Dodinval - B Andre Weiher - Ger Pierrre Colmez - F Dmittry Yatsenko - UKR Rudi Verhagen - NL Targosz Dariusz - Pol Rudolf Krusina - Slova Terje Amstoffer - Norw Vladimir Danek - CZ Matti Siivola - Fin Zoran Mutabzija - CRO Thomas Heshe - DK Gionata Soletti - IT Niklas Mellin - SWE Victor Bogdanov - Rus Alan Held - CH Andrej Kralj - Slove Other representatives Peter Zandveld - NL - Auditor EGF EriK Puyt - NL - EGCC Alan Held - CH - vice president EGF Oleg Gavrilov - Rus - vice president EGF Thomas Pfaff - Ger - Treasurer EGF Martin Finke - Nl - Secretary EGF Observers Ciedryz Krysztof - Pol Vladimir Gorjhaltsan - Rus George Stihi - Rom Andrej Kralj - Slo Joan Pons - ESP Henric Bergsaker - Swe Farid Ben Malek - F Branislav Radic - Yug Frank Janssen - NL Zzoran Jovic - Yug Matti Groot - NL Christoph Gerlach - Ger Nicoletta Corradi - It After the opening of the meeting all persons introduced themselves. There were 23 countries represented at the meeting all of whom had paid their dues and were entitled to vote. Change to the order of the agenda: Item nr 9 on the agenda proposal for the constitution is switched to item 17a. 2) The meeting minutes of 1997 were accepted without changes. 3) Financial report Peter Zandveld, one of the auditors of the EGF, made the following statements about the financial reporting. General The report you have received states the true state of affairs of the EGF. The way the accounting has been carried out is excellent. I think that together with the accounts a budget for the coming year should be presented at the General Meeting. Basically we want an indication about how the executive is going to spend the money beforehand. As you can see the expenses of the officers are very low. This means they pay for attending to this meeting themselves. Any future candidates for office should realize that being an officer of the EGF is an expensive hobby, unless you intend to travel a lot anyway. Details Page 2: The statement of assets and liabilities contains the Presidents fund. It looks like a liability but the surplus is actually equity. Also I think the income and expenditure should be included on page 1 in the same way as the donation from Ing to the investment fund is presented. Page 3. I think some countries should take a closer look at their membership numbers. Also some special arrangements have been made with some countries. Perhaps some have to be reviewed. Other accounts. I have not seen the books of the Ing fund. This was partly due to the fact that I asked for it too late. I will check it after the congress. I did see the books of the Fujitsu accounts. They were OK. Long term. The EGF owns now a large sum of money that can be spend in a minute by a few signatures. It is time we see that procedures are put in place that the executive cannot hand out this money lightly. I have received several questions, both from member nations as from private individuals about all kinds of EGF financial matters. I had to say 'I do not know' too often. From this I concluded the following: It should be clearer which accounts have to be checked by the auditors. E.g. Ing cup tournament? The EGF should put more effort into quality control of the go congresses, and in the way the sponsoring money the organizers receive from Hitachi is spend. The average go-player does not notice whether a congress is sponsored or not! I think the EGF should therefore set up a program to gradually improve quality control and financial control of the go congress. Alan: On the web page is a report about spending the Ing money and about the expenses of the Ing cup. When audited this will be stated on the WebPages. The investments are starting to pay off; the investment income will be larger than the expenses in the coming year. A surplus of 3,.000 USD is expected in the coming year, in the annual letter (January) this will be known more precisely. At the next AGM plans will be presented for what purpose this money will be spent. In the future all proposals for organizing a European Go Congress should contain a budget and important information about the congress. The financial figures of the congress must be presented one year after the congress at the AGM. The new executive will have to develop a program to enforce this. The material is presently carried on the balance for 1 DM and this will remain so. The EGF is building sufficient inventories of stones and clocks in order to be able to organize a congress. This year 250 sets of stones are "temporarily missing" due to the fact that the transport company of the stones went bankrupt. Donation of material from the ING fund should be listed. After a vote it was decided that the executive of the EGF remains responsible for distributing stones and clocks. 5) Election of executive and auditors The election procedure was this year a complicated one. Italy nominates 35 candidates, the same seven for each position on the board. The members of the current executive have gone on record as stating that if Mr. G. Soletti is elected as a member of the executive they will step down. Both Stefan Hruschka and Francis Roads have informed the executive that they are not candidates for the executive of the EGF. So six candidates remained for president of the EGF(in alphabetical order) : Viktor Bogdanov, Vladimir Danek, Zoran Mutabzija, Erik Puyt, Matti Siivola, Gionata Soletti After some discussion two candidates for president remained: Zoran Mutabzija and Erik Puyt who presented their ideas for the future in a short presentation. There was a vote and Erik Puyt was elected as president of the EGF. After his election as president Erik Puyt took over the chairing of the meeting. Then there was a discussion about whether the executive should be enlarged to seven members. The current executive points out that an enlargement of the board makes it less effective because of the difficulties in communications which will become larger. Despite the fact that this was not on the agenda the enlargement of the executive was voted upon. The vote resulted in a tie and according to the constitution the situation remains as it was an executive of five members. For the coming years the executive will present a proposal for the internal organization. After some discussion because it was felt that the president should have the right to choose his secretary. He chose Martin Finke who was then elected by acclamation. Thomas Pfaff was re-elected as treasurer by acclamation. For the position of first vice president there were two candidates: Matti Siivola and Alan Held. Alan Held was chosen as first vice president. For the position of second vice president there were four candidates: Viktor Bogdanov, Oleg Gavrilov, Zoran Mutabzija and Matti Siivola. After two rounds Zoran Mutabzija was elected as second vice president of the EGF. The executive thanks Oleg Gavrilov for his work in the executive the last year. After the election there was a break. 6a) EGCC (Matti Groot) Things are going well at the EGCC as can be seen in the annual report that was circulated together with the invitation for the AGM. At the congress there was a separate meeting with 15 countries to start the evaluation of the developed material and to discuss new ideas. Q (it): as can be seen in the report 250.000 USD has been spent on Go activities what reporting and evaluation system is used. A (EP): The evaluation will be done together with the involved countries and started during the congress. Q (it): Are the members of the supervisory board of the EGCC elected by the EGF? A (AH): The supervisory board consists of: Alan Held, Christoph Grabowsky and Pierre Decroix chosen on a personal basis because of their financial expertise and Martin Finke as EGF secretary, and a representative of the Dutch Go association. Two years ago we asked for candidates for the supervisory board but no candidates applied. The auditors of the EGF Peter Zandveld and T. Mark Hall are re-elected as auditors by acclamation. Rules & Rating commission The report of the rules and rating commission is attached as attachment 1 to this meeting minutes. EGF WebPages There are now EGF Web pages on which current news about go in Europe and about the EGF will be posted, please check this page regularly. There is a proposal from Croatia to enlarge the possibilities of the WebPages for EGF member countries and individuals, this will be implemented. EGF Finance committee Things are looking good, the investments are growing this year with 20.000 USD and investments are starting to pay off. EGF LOGO committee The proposal for logos was clear, all logo's had to be sent in 3 month before the AGM. Looking at the limited number of proposals the suggestion was to give everyone one more year for making proposals and vote next year. The logos will be presented at the EGF website. There were questions about the attraction of the Fujitsu GP tournaments. A(EP): Fujitsu is more interested in the Fujitsu finals and not so interested in the GP tournaments. We are looking for other potential sponsors for the GP. Q(it): Who is the contact person with Fujitsu? A(EP): Jan van Frankenhuisen is contact person with Fujitsu. He has made all the arrangements with Fujitsu and will remain contact person with Fujitsu. If Jan doesn't continue he will ask another EGF person to take over this contact. 7) Future European Go Congresses 1999 Slovakia Rudolf Krusina is elected as director of the EGC 1999 in Slovakia. He presented the plans for the congress in Podbanske in the High Tatras. Q: The plan was originally presented for Bratislava, why has this been changed to Podbanske? A: Podbanske is a better place for a congress, Bratislava is hot and full of smog in the summer and in Podbanske we will get better media support and more possibilities for sponsors. More information about Podbanske will be presented during the congress and at the special WebPages for the EGC. : http://egc99.goweb.sk At the Permon hotel there are 300 beds, other beds will have a distance of up to 20 km from the playing site. Depending on the number of participants shuttle buses will be organized. The organizers intend to give prize money, the exact amount is dependant on the sponsors. Berlin 2000 The plans haven't changed since last year when they were presented, the congress will take place in Staussberg about 1 hour by train from Berlin Centre. More details about prizes and accommodation will be presented next year. This year's congress It was pointed out that the playing conditions are not good, the playing rooms are too small for the number of participants especially in this hot weather. Future congresses Future (possible) congress organizers should make a budget and make clear in their plans what the nature of the congress will be and in what prize range the sleeping accommodations are. Also whether or not there will be prize money must be mentioned in the plans. European Go Congress 2001 A number of countries (Austria, Spain and Finland) had announced that they would present plans for the year 2001 but decided for various reasons not to apply. Proposals for a European Go Congress 2001 were presented by (in alphabetical order) Croatia Ireland Yugoslavia Croatia: no specific plan but has for three years indicated the wish to organize an EGC. There are several possibilities for places for an EGC, if chosen for 2001, all details will be presented next year. Ireland: A handout was distributed with a plan for 2002 but this plan can also be executed in 2001. The congress will be organized together with the British Go Association. The congress will take place at the university complex of Dublin 2 km from Dublin Centre. A budget was presented. Yugoslavia: A plan was presented for a congress either in the mountains or on the coast. Several ministries will support the congress. After discussing these plans there was a vote and Ireland was chosen to organize the European Go Congress of 2001 in Dublin. Croatia and Yugoslavia announced that they would prepare plans for 2002. After the election of the congress there was a discussion because some countries indicated that they needed a longer preparation time for organizing the congress. It was decided that if a country could give a good reason for needing a longer preparation time for a congress it could be given a slot period by the AGM for organizing a EGC in a specific year. This means that if a country wants to have a longer preparation time they must present a reason for needing a longer preparation time and after the AGM has given them a slot year in which they can organize a congress they will also be given a deadline by which the definite plans have to be presented to the AGM. 8) Change accounting currency of the EGF into Euros. The proposal to change the accounting currency of the EGF into Euros was accepted. It was also accepted that, starting in 1999, the federations yearly membership fees will be 0.50 Euros time the number of personal members of the federation, 50 Euros minimum. 9) Proposed new constitution See 17a 10) The Fujitsu Grand Prix schedule 1998-1999 The following changes were made to the GP schedule that was attached to the invitation for the AGM. The European Team Championship date was changed to 5 and 6 December 1998. The GP of Milan will take place on 17 April 1999 and the GP of Bled on 24 April 1999. A date for the Croatian GP was inserted: 29 May 1999. With these changes the Grand Prix calendar is made final and no changes can be made by the organizers without loosing their Grand Prix status. Fujitsu wants all European players of professional level to play in the Fujitsu finals. This was approved and therefore there is one qualifying place less for players in the Grand Prix tournaments. 11) Rating The EGF will look at a Czech proposal for maintaining a European rating list. 12) Representation outside Europe George Stihi will be team captain for the WAGC 1999 Oleg Gavrilov will be team captain for the WYGC 1998 Most probably Europe will be allotted 9 places for the World Pair Go Championship. The executive asks once more for candidates who can act as representatives (team captains) outside Europe. In general we are looking for persons who do a lot for Go and are not strong enough Go players to qualify for world championships. 13) Go Teachers: Since one of the European candidates for the Teacher program in Japan couldn't go to Japan. Alan Held had to make a choice and after consulting a number of persons present in Japan he selected Karaek from Turkey as participant for the teachers program. Next year probably candidates from south East Asia will go. The EGF asks for the names of possible candidates for the Teacher program for the coming years. 14) Touring professionals Hungary asks for a visiting professional at their Go Camp, the possibilities for next year will be checked with the Nihon Ki-in. 15) If the next payment from the Ing Chang Ki Foundation arrives new grants can be allotted. The EGF asks for more new proposals for an Ing grant. The applications should contain plans for teaching kids and teaching Ing rules. 16) European Championships European Pair-Go Tournament Cannes 99 European Team Championship 1998 Belgrade European Youth Championship Cannes 99 Ing Cup Amsterdam 99 Proposals for 1999-2000 European Youth Championship: Romania Ing Cup: Finland Pair Go Championship 2000: not decided yet Woman Championship 2000: not decided yet. 17a) Constitution A draft proposal for a new constitution is sent around, only two persons did sent in corrections or additions so it was decided not to bring the new constitution to a vote. Alan Held will collect suggestions for the constitution and presents them in several options on the web. Q: Should the EGF be registered as an official federation. A (AH) some years ago this question was studied with the help of a lawyer and then it was concluded that there would be no benefit of going legal. The lawyer advised us not to register and so to avoid paying tax f.i. on interest. We have until now encountered no problem what so ever by having no official status. The meeting was closed at 12:50 ------------------------------- Attachment 1 to meeting minutes of the AGM 1998 The rules and ratings (RR) commission of the European Go Federation Report for General meeting 1998 Certifying referees, schedule Period 1998-1999 - (Chief) referees for GP tournaments should be announced to EGF at least one month in advance. - (Chief) referees for Fujitsu Finals, Ing Cup, EGC etc should be announced to EGF at least two month in advance. - National association should give a list of persons who they want to be authorized to act as referees in international tournaments by EGC 1999. - Define criteria for EGF referees. Period 1999-2000 - Announcing of the referees same, but only listed persons can act as referees. - (Chief) referees for Fujitsu Finals, Ing Cup, EGC etc should be certified (maybe personally) - Depending on the list decide who will be certified at the lowest level EGF referees. - Define criteria for EGF upper level referees. - EGF can nominate a tournament supervisor to important EGF tournaments Periods 2000-on - The (chief) referee of an EGF tournament must be an EGF referee Further requirements will be defined later. Player identification numbers (PIN) The motivation to use the PINs is to improve to use the rating system and make tournament registration easier. RR-commission proposes the following: The transition period will be August 1998 - August 1999. The format of a PIN is CCCNNNNN or CCNNNNNN where CCC is the IOC code and N is a number. If a national association (NA) does not accept this format it should negotiate with RR commission. A same PIN may not be used for more than one person. A person may not have more than one PIN in effect any time. The PIN can be changed, but this is discouraged. A PIN will have a starting date and may have an ending date. NA may provide PINs of this format to EGF and/or adopt PINs generated by EGF. There will be a transition period when NAs should decide on this. If they don't, then EGF will keep the IOC code for the generated numbers. If NA chooses to provide the PINs the NA will use the codes starting by IOC code. The EGF may use other codes for special purposes. The EGF may extend the format in future if necessary. A protest At European Go Congress 1997 a protest was made. After handling the protest the matter was forwarded to European Go Federation. Since three members of RR commission had already been involved in different phases a temporary commission consisting of the two remaining members and a former member was installed to investigate the case. After the decision the RR commission concluded to provide more detailed norms on tournament organization. The work is still in progress. An intermediate paper was provided for EGC1998. Barcelona GP A question about professional players attending Barcelona GP was raised. Such problems such be negotiated with RR-commission at least three months in advance. Since this didn't happen the RR-commission decided that Barcelona GP is treated like any other GP tournament. Mattii Siivola