EBL President's Farewell

Mr President of the World Bridge Federation and President Emeritus of the EBL, José Damiani, Mr. Honorary President of the EBL, Bill Pencharz, Mr President of the Polish Bridge Union, Radoslaw Kielbasinski, Authorities, dear colleagues, dear friends,

Following the governing principle that in human events everything which has a beginning, has an end, once again the curtain falls on our championship. 15 days have passed since the start of this event and this was a period of time that saw you as protagonists of these competitions, conducted with loyalty in an extraordinary atmosphere of fair-play and friendship. These are, as you know, the real values of sport, of our sport, bridge.

In such kind of speech, closing or opening an event the speaker very often is used to repeat the same concepts. Forgive me for following this line, repeating what I said in previous occasions. Success in a championship is very important and represents the objective of all competitors, but results can have high and low points, like in any other area of life. What is really important is friendship, serenity, the pleasure of being together, and enjoying ourselves all together. In my opening speech I promised that we would demonstrate our values and we did it. We, or \rather, you showed the world that sport and bridge values are stronger than any destabilizing action and can defeat any attempt at division or discrimination.

This year, thanks to the efforts of the Polish Bridge Union, at these Championships we improved the technology in managing and broadcasting. It means that we have been able to give a better service both to the players, journalists and guests and to attract thousand and thousand of spectators, all over the world, who followed online five matches every session thanks the excellent job did by BBO and Swan.

I am sure that you had a pleasant stay in Warsaw and on behalf of all of you I want to express to the Polish Bridge Union and to his President, my dear friend and colleague Radek Kielbasinski, our gratitude for their very warm welcome and for what their have been able to offer us during these 15th days, making this championship an unforgettable event. And we all have to be proud to have enjoyed all together the 50th anniversary of this great Bridge Federation.

I wish to thank also our sponsor friends and the Authorities of Warsaw who allowed us to run this Championship machine successfully. I am pleased to call to the podium Mr. Riszard Krauze, Mr. Marek Zeleniewski, Mrs. Beata Stelmach, Mr. Artur Pilka and Mrs. Katarzyna Jazdrzyk to award them with the EBL Plaque.

Dear Friends, let me say that a great part of the success of this event goes to the truly amazing work of the fantastic staff of the Championship. I believe that it is superfluous to underline their enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism. It is my pleasure now to introduce to you some extraordinary people, asking them to stand up to receive your applause.

Ton Kooijman, the indefatigable Manager of the European Championships; Gianni Bertotto, the Technical Director; the Appeal Committee chaired by my predecessor and EBL Honorary President Bill Pencharz; the ubiquitous my dear friend Jean-Claude Beineix; the very strong team of Tournament Directors led by Antonio Riccardi and Max Bavin; the IT Services Managers, Jan Romanski and his colleagues; Jacek Berkowski the magician of technology; the BBO and Rama operators led by Marek Wojciechowski; the Line-Up staff led by the Chodorowskis; Grattan Endicott, the Manager of the Convention Cards Desk; Jola Latala and her very kind assistants of the Hospitality desk; the Anti-doping and Medical officers, Yves Aubry and Paolo Walter Gabriele; Jerzy Gres and Ryszard Kielczewski of the Main Office; Jan Swann and his assistants in the Press Room; the eclectic Mark Horton and all the journalists and technicians of the Daily Bulletin and the EBL Internet Services; Patrick Jourdain and the IBPA Officers and journalists, our precious companions on our journey in developing bridge; the VuGraph Commentators, Barry Rigal and Marek Wojcicki; Monica Gorreri and the member of her team, which duplicated million of boards; the Secretariat with Marina, Silvia, Gildana, Livia, Dirk and Andrea; the Scorers and Caddies Services led by Janusz Maliszewski; Tomas Brenning and Laila Leonhardt from Swan; the Venue Facilities Manager Anna Retka; the Lavazza team, who with kindness and charm offered us about one hundred thousands coffees and teas over the past two weeks, thanks to our great friend, the Lavazza Company. Last but not least, the man who accompanied the staff through this fantastic adventure, the On Site Organizer Slawek Latala. I am pleased to invite Slawek to the podium to receive the EBL Plaque.

Dear friends, dear players, with all my friends and colleagues of the EBL board we tried to do our best and we hope to have been able to satisfy your expectations, and in any case tonight we celebrate all together the victory of bridge. Congratulations to all of you players, this evening is for you, to thank and honour you. I hope you will have a very pleasant evening tonight, in friendship and serenity, and once home will have happy memories of your friends and this event.

See you, all of you, next year in Antalya, to participate in another great bridge championship and to show, once again, our firm and resolute response to all the negative events taking place in the world.

Thank you for your attention.
Gianarrigo Rona