EBL General Assembly

Delegates from 32 countries gathered in the Vugraph auditorium on Tueasday morning to attend the General Assembly of the European Bridge League. Present were also WBF President José Damiani, WBF Vice Presidents Joan Gerard (USA) and George Retek (Canada), as well as ACBL President Al Levy and WBF Past President Ernesto d’Orsi (Brazil).

The meeting started with the Extraordinary General Assembly, convened by the EBL Executive Committee to discuss amendements to the EBL Statutes. The main change concerned the increase of the members of the Executive Committee from 10 to 12. All proposed amendements were approved unanimously.

The Ordinary General Assembly followed. The outgoing President Gianarrigo Rona of Italy presented a detailed report on the activities of his administration, and referred to plans for the next four years. It was announced that EBL Vice President José Oliveira of Portugal was retiring after eight years of service. At the proposal of the President, the Assembly named Mr Oliveira Honorary Vice President. An election for the position of EBL President followed, in which Gianarrigo Rona - the only candidate - was comfortably reelected.

Elections for all 12 places of the EBL Executive Committee also took place. Four new persons entered the board: David Harris (England), Yves Aubry (France), Sevinc Atay (Turkey) and Goran Mattsson (Germany). The other eight elected were members of the outgoing administration: Radoslaw Kielbasinski (Poland), Micke Melander (Sweden), Marc de Pauw (Belgium), Anna Maria Torlontano (Italy), Panos Gerontopoulos (Greece), Jens Auken (Denmark), Marijke Blanken-Burgers (The Netherlands) and Jean-Claude Beineix (France).

While the votes were counted, WBF President José Damiani briefed the meeting on recent develpments and prospects regarding the position of bridge in the Olympic world, where certain positive possibilities appear in the horizon.

The General Assembly will continue with the second session on Thursday morning, at 10 am, in the Vugraph auditorium in Palais de l’ Europe, with mailnly financial matters on the agenda.