The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
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Nigel Short
- Posts: 323
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Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Andrew has promised, to the ECF Board, that in the event of being supported and an Azmai victory, the ECU offices would be moved to London. Mind you, he also promised to the ECF Board that he would resign if he lost the confidence of the Board for even "15 minutes". I further note that Azmai himself announced publicly at his launch, in Warsaw, in November, that the ECU offices would be moved to Berlin. Say no more...
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Mick Norris
- Posts: 10392
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- Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Any postings on here represent my personal views
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Chris Rice
- Posts: 3418
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Azmai's 54th birthday celebrations, a thinly veiled campaign opportunity on top of a Tbilisi mountain with Kirsan.
Note the last few lines of the article....
"Zurab Azmaiparashvili is currently running for President of the European Chess Union. The elections take place this summer during the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, and a campaign web site is in preparation.
To conclude this article, all that is left for me to do is wish Zurab a happy 54th birthday, hopefully an auspicious number as there are 54 federations in the ECU!"
Not sure whether AP was attending. Can't see any piccies of him on the ChessBase or Chess Russia sites.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/mountainto ... -in-tblisi
http://chess-news.ru/en/node/14945
Note the last few lines of the article....
"Zurab Azmaiparashvili is currently running for President of the European Chess Union. The elections take place this summer during the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, and a campaign web site is in preparation.
To conclude this article, all that is left for me to do is wish Zurab a happy 54th birthday, hopefully an auspicious number as there are 54 federations in the ECU!"
Not sure whether AP was attending. Can't see any piccies of him on the ChessBase or Chess Russia sites.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/mountainto ... -in-tblisi
http://chess-news.ru/en/node/14945
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John McKenna
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
I doubt the State Dept. have slapped a travel ban on him.
However, he may be a bit wary of consorting too openly with Russians, or those close to them, right now.
However, he may be a bit wary of consorting too openly with Russians, or those close to them, right now.
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Stewart Reuben
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Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
I have just remembered that Kirsan did not have the support of the RCF in 1995 when he became President when Campo resigned. The GA overruled the federation which was allowed in the statutes.
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John McKenna
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Was that not an unprecedented and monumental step for the General Assembly to take?Stewart Reuben wrote:I have just remembered that Kirsan did not have the support of the RCF in 1995 when he became President when Campo resigned. The GA overruled the federation which was allowed in the statutes.
Did it not already show that Kirsan had managed to secure overwhelming support among small federations?
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Stewart Reuben
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Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
John McKenna >Was that not an unprecedented and monumental step for the General Assembly to take?
Did it not already show that Kirsan had managed to secure overwhelming support among small federations?<
It was in the statutes to ignore a federation that did not support a candidate. Only 3 federations voted against Kirsan as President in 1995. One was Guernsey and another Scotland.
Of course it should not have been possible for his name to be put forward with no advance notice, but that is a different issue.
I was there in Paris and I think everybody was totally taken aback. It was against the statutes of course. Ghobash was Deputy President and surely, when Campo stood down, he should have become President. Instead he jut sat there, saying nothing and, if I remember correctly, that was the last we ever saw of him.
Did it not already show that Kirsan had managed to secure overwhelming support among small federations?<
It was in the statutes to ignore a federation that did not support a candidate. Only 3 federations voted against Kirsan as President in 1995. One was Guernsey and another Scotland.
Of course it should not have been possible for his name to be put forward with no advance notice, but that is a different issue.
I was there in Paris and I think everybody was totally taken aback. It was against the statutes of course. Ghobash was Deputy President and surely, when Campo stood down, he should have become President. Instead he jut sat there, saying nothing and, if I remember correctly, that was the last we ever saw of him.
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NickFaulks
- Posts: 8478
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
The point of requiring a federation's support is to ensure that the candidate has something to do with chess. Whatever your view of Kirsan, it would have been ridiculous to suggest in 1995 that he had nothing to do with chess.John McKenna wrote:Was that not an unprecedented and monumental step for the General Assembly to take?Stewart Reuben wrote:I have just remembered that Kirsan did not have the support of the RCF in 1995 when he became President when Campo resigned. The GA overruled the federation which was allowed in the statutes.
Did it not already show that Kirsan had managed to secure overwhelming support among small federations?
This came up again with Karpov's deputy in 2010. Conn was a lawyer who really did have nothing to do with chess, and had not even joined the USCF by the deadline. As I recall, they just altered the record and backdated his membership. I was a bit surprised that the Kirsan team did not complain, but Conn didn't strengthen the ticket
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.
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Stewart Reuben
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Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Nick Faulks >The point of requiring a federation's support is to ensure that the candidate has something to do with chess.<
Surely that is only one point. What about the federation's perception of the competence of the candidate?
Surely that is only one point. What about the federation's perception of the competence of the candidate?
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Chris Rice
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- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Despite the fact that Danailov was forced to dump Sakotic from his ticket it appears that Sakotic is still in post at the ECU. Further on Twitter in late February Danailov said that compared to Makro and friends Sakotic was a "saint".
Further allegations have now surfaced on the Chessdom site against Sakotic and Sakotic's replacement on Danailov's ticket, Mr Joran Aulin-Jansson, when asked to comment came up with the Arsene Wenger defence and said “I am not fully informed with this case, so for the time being, I have no comments. I will, however look in to this.” The Chessdom report is below for those few individuals interested in chess politics:
Organization of EYCC in Budva broke the law, authorities said
Montenegro Directorate of Youth and Sport, a government body, inspected the documents and accounts of 13 sport federations and 7 clubs.
The inspection found that the Montenegro Chess Federation broke the law during the organization of 2013 European Youth Chess Championships in Budva, “Sahovska Hronika” quoted the Montenegrin News Agency MINA. Inspector for sport Branislav Ivanović said in a statement that the organization rights were transferred from MCF to NGO Potez without the approval from the MCF Executive Board.
Further, there is no contract between MCF and Potez, nor reports about the number of participants and finances. The Montenegro Government was not asked for approval to organize the Championships, which goes against the state Sports Law.
In a full report, available on the Directorate of Youth and Sport website, the inspection called on police investigators and prosecutor’s office to look into the matter. Last month the protests from country’s top players and clubs forced the Montenegro Chess Federation President Vladimir Sakotic to resign.
Sakotic is also Executive Director of European Chess Union. ECU President Silvio Danailov referred to Sakotic as a “Saint” in Twitter post. Chessdom asked for a comment from Joran Aulin-Jansson, who is nominated for the post of ECU Deputy President on Danailov’s ticket. Mr. Aulin-Jansson replied: “I am not fully informed with this case, so for the time being, I have no comments. I will, however look in to this.”
The ECU Back to Europe campaign urged Mr. Danailov to:
- A. To terminate the contract of Mr. Sakotic as the Executive Director of the ECU with immediate effect.
- B. To set up an independent Commission to investigate the actions of the Executive Director and to clarify whether ECU receipts were misused in events which involved Mr. Sakotic or his family.
Mr. Danailov didn’t comment publicly.
Further allegations have now surfaced on the Chessdom site against Sakotic and Sakotic's replacement on Danailov's ticket, Mr Joran Aulin-Jansson, when asked to comment came up with the Arsene Wenger defence and said “I am not fully informed with this case, so for the time being, I have no comments. I will, however look in to this.” The Chessdom report is below for those few individuals interested in chess politics:
Organization of EYCC in Budva broke the law, authorities said
Montenegro Directorate of Youth and Sport, a government body, inspected the documents and accounts of 13 sport federations and 7 clubs.
The inspection found that the Montenegro Chess Federation broke the law during the organization of 2013 European Youth Chess Championships in Budva, “Sahovska Hronika” quoted the Montenegrin News Agency MINA. Inspector for sport Branislav Ivanović said in a statement that the organization rights were transferred from MCF to NGO Potez without the approval from the MCF Executive Board.
Further, there is no contract between MCF and Potez, nor reports about the number of participants and finances. The Montenegro Government was not asked for approval to organize the Championships, which goes against the state Sports Law.
In a full report, available on the Directorate of Youth and Sport website, the inspection called on police investigators and prosecutor’s office to look into the matter. Last month the protests from country’s top players and clubs forced the Montenegro Chess Federation President Vladimir Sakotic to resign.
Sakotic is also Executive Director of European Chess Union. ECU President Silvio Danailov referred to Sakotic as a “Saint” in Twitter post. Chessdom asked for a comment from Joran Aulin-Jansson, who is nominated for the post of ECU Deputy President on Danailov’s ticket. Mr. Aulin-Jansson replied: “I am not fully informed with this case, so for the time being, I have no comments. I will, however look in to this.”
The ECU Back to Europe campaign urged Mr. Danailov to:
- A. To terminate the contract of Mr. Sakotic as the Executive Director of the ECU with immediate effect.
- B. To set up an independent Commission to investigate the actions of the Executive Director and to clarify whether ECU receipts were misused in events which involved Mr. Sakotic or his family.
Mr. Danailov didn’t comment publicly.
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LawrenceCooper
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- Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:13 am
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Better known for his football career at ChelseaChris Rice wrote:Inspector for sport Branislav Ivanović
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Chris Rice
- Posts: 3418
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
I hadn't realised that Fiona Steil-Antoni (a lovely young woman from Luxembourg who plays for Cheddleton in the 4ncl) was the Campaign Press Officer for Azmai's 'Back to Europe' campaign. Clearly that camp have made a major move with the Georgian 2018 Olympiad and 2017 World Cup bids including Fiona laying waste to Danailov and his team. Here's the Back to Europe press release:
Georgia bids for the Chess Olympiad 2018 and World Cup 2017
The Georgian Chess Federation sent an official bid for the Chess Olympiad 2018 and the World Cup 2017 to FIDE today, with all the necessary guarantees.
Thanks to the personal efforts of the Deputy Minister of Sports and candidate for the post of ECU President, GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili, more than 20 millions USD are allocated to both events!
About 2 millions USD will be spent on parallel development and promotion programs in Europe and the rest of the World.
This is a clear message for the challenges and opportunities of the new upcoming ECU administration.
Danailov spends ECU funds on his Campaign!
Silvio Danailov and his partners stay quiet about the serious questions raised by our campaign and a number of journalists and chess people. It seems that they are lacking any funds for this campaign and they are instead using the ECU budget on it.
Meanwhile Danailov also announced that he wants to terminate the meetings of the ECU Board 7 months before the elections(!), which is a serious violation of the statutes!
We will come back to all these matters with more details, but for the moment we ensure you that after the elections we will prove that funds from the ECU budget were spent on Danailov’s campaign and all this money will be returned after the 11th August.
Every single euro will be back in the ECU accounts.
With kind regards on the behalf of the “ECU Back to Europe” Team
Fiona Steil-Antoni
Campaign Press officer
Georgia bids for the Chess Olympiad 2018 and World Cup 2017
The Georgian Chess Federation sent an official bid for the Chess Olympiad 2018 and the World Cup 2017 to FIDE today, with all the necessary guarantees.
Thanks to the personal efforts of the Deputy Minister of Sports and candidate for the post of ECU President, GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili, more than 20 millions USD are allocated to both events!
About 2 millions USD will be spent on parallel development and promotion programs in Europe and the rest of the World.
This is a clear message for the challenges and opportunities of the new upcoming ECU administration.
Danailov spends ECU funds on his Campaign!
Silvio Danailov and his partners stay quiet about the serious questions raised by our campaign and a number of journalists and chess people. It seems that they are lacking any funds for this campaign and they are instead using the ECU budget on it.
Meanwhile Danailov also announced that he wants to terminate the meetings of the ECU Board 7 months before the elections(!), which is a serious violation of the statutes!
We will come back to all these matters with more details, but for the moment we ensure you that after the elections we will prove that funds from the ECU budget were spent on Danailov’s campaign and all this money will be returned after the 11th August.
Every single euro will be back in the ECU accounts.
With kind regards on the behalf of the “ECU Back to Europe” Team
Fiona Steil-Antoni
Campaign Press officer
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Phil Ehr
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2011 10:14 am
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
ECU President Silvio Danailov is meeting with Council and Board members Friday evening, 11th April in Central London. The format will be determined after the number of guests is set. RSVPs are due tomorrow to the ECF office.
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/meetings ... didates-2/
Most Forum readers do not serve on Council, but you probably know someone who does. Why not get in touch?
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -March.pdf
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/meetings ... didates-2/
Most Forum readers do not serve on Council, but you probably know someone who does. Why not get in touch?
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -March.pdf
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Chris Rice
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- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Phil these are my suggested questions although they will be uncomfortable to ask. I have also posted them on the portal link as you requested above:Phil Ehr wrote:ECU President Silvio Danailov is meeting with Council and Board members Friday evening, 11th April in Central London. The format will be determined after the number of guests is set. RSVPs are due tomorrow to the ECF office.
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/meetings ... didates-2/
Most Forum readers do not serve on Council, but you probably know someone who does. Why not get in touch?
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -March.pdf
1. Regarding the scandal with the Montenegro Chess Federation why were the documents, contracts and money flow between the Montenegro Chess Federation, European Chess Union, NGO Potez, Hotel Budvanska Rivijera, NGO Centar za razvoj saha, and sponsors (Mtel and others) never made public?
2. Can you disclose what the relationship is between the European Chess Union, NGO Potez and NGO Centar za razvoj saha? What contracts exist between these bodies?
3. What is your opinion of Vladimir Sakotic? (Danailov was quoted on Twitter in late Feb 2014 as saying that Sakotic was a “saint” compared to Makro & Co). Do you think that someone involved in such a scandal is fit & proper to be an Executive Director of the European Chess Union?
4. The rival ‘Back to Europe’ campaign have demanded that the ECU set up an independent Commission to investigate the actions of the Executive Director and to clarify whether ECU receipts were misused in events which involved Mr. Sakotic and/or his family. Do you intend to set up such a Commission?
5. How much of the ECU budget have you used to fund your campaign for re-election as ECU President?
6. The rival Back to Europe campaign have stated that you wish to terminate the meetings of the ECU Board seven months before the elections, which they claim is a serious violation of the statutes. How do you respond to this?
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Chris Rice
- Posts: 3418
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am
Re: The battle for ECU Presidential elections begins
Zurab Azmaiparashvili about the Chess Olympiad bid
Apr 3, 2014
Q: Hello Zurab, thank you for accepting to answer a couple of questions for Chessdom. Your federation has made a rich bid for the Olympiad 2018 and the World Cup 2017. As I understand with your personal support the combined budget for the Olympiad and the World Cup has grown up to 20 million USD! Can you tell us how did you convince the government to accept this?
A: Well, actually we started to work on the project more than a year ago! In February 2013 FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov visited Tbilisi and we had a meeting with the then Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
During the meeting Kirsan suddenly proposed – why doesn’t Georgia organize the Chess Olympiad 2018. And this happened exactly a few minutes after we agreed on FIDE Women Grand Prix in Georgia! My face changed completely and I asked only one question – how much would it cost?! Just 15M EUR for Baku Olympiad. Yes, but in Azerbaijan they have oil! However, Bidzina interrupted our discussion: 15 Million?! Ok I’m ready!? Silence… It’s how we started to work on making a bid
Q: So if a billionaire says it looks easy…
A: Not at all! We started working very hard on this project. Trust me we have used all our resources, having strong support from the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Mr Levan Kipiani, from the current PM Irakli Garibashvili, however…For those with no real experience in working on approval with the Ministry of Finance everything may look very easy!
In effect, we passed many hard days, almost losing any hope to make a bid, but finally, with big efforts from our federation, the ministry, friends and especially the current PM Irakli Garibashvili and of course Bidzina Ivanishvili we succeeded to submit the bid!
Q: That is a very interesting insight…congratulations. Zurab, do you know that FIDE Presidential Board has postponed the bidding deadline until 15th April?
A: Yes, I have read about this decision. Of course I’m not happy with this. Though I try to understand. If I were a member of PB and present at the meeting in Khanty-Mansiysk, knowing that no bids have been submitted a day before the deadline, I may have also agreed. However, it would have been better for the decision to be announced after the deadline, barring no bid had been submitted by then.
Q: Will your federation react?
A: We do not see the need. Actually, we prefer to spend money on tournaments rather than on conflicts or courts. We have publicly announced our intention during the Tallinn Congress so everybody was aware of our bid. Therefore, we simply plan to wait for the deadline to end.
I am certain that our bid is of high enough level; we have open cards (everybody knows our budget and targets!) and we just want to offer the best conditions for FIDE and the National Federations.
Also, I’m sure by the time of Olympiad 2018 my team will be leading the ECU and it will be an extra honor for me to host the Olympiad in my home country!
Q: By the way, how is your campaign going? Have you submitted a ticket?
A: Well, things are going very well and every day our team is growing up. Soon you will get our platform and the names of our team: ECU back to Europe!
Q: Thank you Zurab and good luck
Apr 3, 2014
Q: Hello Zurab, thank you for accepting to answer a couple of questions for Chessdom. Your federation has made a rich bid for the Olympiad 2018 and the World Cup 2017. As I understand with your personal support the combined budget for the Olympiad and the World Cup has grown up to 20 million USD! Can you tell us how did you convince the government to accept this?
A: Well, actually we started to work on the project more than a year ago! In February 2013 FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov visited Tbilisi and we had a meeting with the then Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
During the meeting Kirsan suddenly proposed – why doesn’t Georgia organize the Chess Olympiad 2018. And this happened exactly a few minutes after we agreed on FIDE Women Grand Prix in Georgia! My face changed completely and I asked only one question – how much would it cost?! Just 15M EUR for Baku Olympiad. Yes, but in Azerbaijan they have oil! However, Bidzina interrupted our discussion: 15 Million?! Ok I’m ready!? Silence… It’s how we started to work on making a bid
Q: So if a billionaire says it looks easy…
A: Not at all! We started working very hard on this project. Trust me we have used all our resources, having strong support from the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Mr Levan Kipiani, from the current PM Irakli Garibashvili, however…For those with no real experience in working on approval with the Ministry of Finance everything may look very easy!
In effect, we passed many hard days, almost losing any hope to make a bid, but finally, with big efforts from our federation, the ministry, friends and especially the current PM Irakli Garibashvili and of course Bidzina Ivanishvili we succeeded to submit the bid!
Q: That is a very interesting insight…congratulations. Zurab, do you know that FIDE Presidential Board has postponed the bidding deadline until 15th April?
A: Yes, I have read about this decision. Of course I’m not happy with this. Though I try to understand. If I were a member of PB and present at the meeting in Khanty-Mansiysk, knowing that no bids have been submitted a day before the deadline, I may have also agreed. However, it would have been better for the decision to be announced after the deadline, barring no bid had been submitted by then.
Q: Will your federation react?
A: We do not see the need. Actually, we prefer to spend money on tournaments rather than on conflicts or courts. We have publicly announced our intention during the Tallinn Congress so everybody was aware of our bid. Therefore, we simply plan to wait for the deadline to end.
I am certain that our bid is of high enough level; we have open cards (everybody knows our budget and targets!) and we just want to offer the best conditions for FIDE and the National Federations.
Also, I’m sure by the time of Olympiad 2018 my team will be leading the ECU and it will be an extra honor for me to host the Olympiad in my home country!
Q: By the way, how is your campaign going? Have you submitted a ticket?
A: Well, things are going very well and every day our team is growing up. Soon you will get our platform and the names of our team: ECU back to Europe!
Q: Thank you Zurab and good luck