World Bridge Federation President José Damiani delivered the following speech at tonight's Victory Banquet.

Dear Friends:

As long as you will, I am sure, share the opinion of the French players that they understand perfectly my English, I am allowed to tell you in this language how very happy we have been to be in Lille for more than two weeks.

Thank you, Madam Martine Aubry for your help and trust. I remember what you told me in order to convince me to come to Lille for the Championships - that there was nowhere else that could be the godmother of bridge. Indeed, I followed suit and, thanks to the City of Lille, to the European Community, the Nord Pas de Calais region and the Chamber of Commerce, we finally made it here. And you know that your people of Lille are very happy that we are here. They were more than pleased to see all of us with our green bags all over the city. The restaurants all recognise that they definitely prefer to deal with the people who play their sport using their heads rather than their feet - it brings far more money for them!

Here in this charming city of Lille we have welcomed 70 different countries and more than 4,000 players with possibly as many as 10,000 people visiting the area during the course of our Championship. We were very proud that you came here in such numbers to play in the numerous events arranged for you.

The sheer number of players has created its own problems. We are aware that there have been some areas of the organisation which have seemed less than perfect as a result. Please accept my personal assurance that we are working, even now, to ensure that the next World Championship of this complexity, to be held in Montreal, Canada in 2002, will be even more successful.

The future of bridge at all levels is of great concern to the World Bridge Federation, and I am very proud to have been able to convince certain governments and UNESCO of the value of bridge in education. As you know we believe that the active promotion of bridge is essential to ensure its success world-wide.

Next week I will be going, with many players and colleagues, to Lausanne, where there is to be a Grand Prix hosted by the International Olympic Committee. We are very hopeful that, following meetings with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, bridge will join the Winter Olympic Games, possibly as early as 2006.

The future of bridge is bright. The future of bridge is positive. Please return to your countries and help us to move into that future with confidence.

Here and now, though, there are many people to thank. We were very glad that our Championship attracted many sponsors. On your behalf I wish to thank them.

And not forgetting their technical partners:

We must not forget the people who have worked long hours to make these Championships a success - the individuals working in different sectors, working together as a team.

Special thanks go to the members of the WBF Organising Committee and to the Local Organising Committee, to the many members of the Hospitality Team under their leader, Odile Beineix; to Elly Ducheyne and her assistant for working long hours in the Press Room, to our excellent team of Tournament Directors led by Bill Schoder, Chief Tournament Director, and Max Bavin, Assistant Chief Tournament Director.

There was a large team of caddies managed by Annie Chekroun, who worked tirelessly moving boards and collecting results. The Systems Desk was managed by Anna Gudge, the Lineup Desk by Corrie Louwerse. Claude Dadoun and his team managed all the scoring and results. The Duplication Team was managed efficiently by Natacha Herment, dealing the many hundreds of boards required for this Championship. The Daily News Team with its Editor Henry Francis together with Mark Horton and Brian Senior, with Stelios Hadjidakis doing layout, provided information about the Championships, and this was all put on Internet by Thanassis Matziaris, Panos Pavlidis, Koen Gisjman and Laurent Dansiger.

The Bridge Vision Team had an excellent group of commentators including Guido Ferraro, Eric Kokish, Barry Rigal and Bobby Wolff co-ordinated by Jean-Paul Meyer and Vincent Labbé, and was run by our experienced French Team of Video Operators. We were very pleased to have the big screens in the main hall with special video results and pictures produced by Patrick Chalard and Frédéric Torrin. The IT was managed by Mark Newton with assistance provided by Michel Collin and Christian Laverrat.

The man who oversaw the whole operation and kept things going once again was Ton Kooijman, our talented operations director. He was assisted by Tibor Bertalan.

These Championships provided much work for the Appeals Committee, capably chaired by Jaime Ortiz-Patino. His primary assistants were Bobby Wolff, Joan Gerard, Steen Moller and myself. Thanks also to the members of the committee who worked so tirelessly.

Our thanks also go to Christine Francin, our assistant treasurer, and to the secretariat team of Carol von Linstow and Sophie Saint Léger.

My special thanks, indeed my gratitude, go to the French Bridge Federation led by President Michel Marmouget; and especially to my dear friend and colleague, Jean-Claude Beineix.

I would like also to acknowledge the work undertaken by my colleagues, the members of the Executive Council.

Finally I want to thank you, the players. I congratulate you all, not only the winners, for your ethics, your sportsmanship, your high standards. I hope that you have enjoyed your stay in Lille, and wish you a safe journey home.

Remember, bridge is a sport that can cross all boundaries. We all belong to a great family, the family of bridge players world-wide, working not only for our sport but also for our motto - bridge for peace.