Press Conference

Many of the world's leading bridge journalists attended yesterday's press conference, at the MECC. The questions were being answered by José Damiani, President of the World Bridge Federation, Laurens Hoedemaker, President of the NBB, Wilco De Jong, Managing Director of Maastricht Tourist Information, Panos Gerontopoulos, WBF Executive Council Member, Henry Francis, President of the IBPA, and Nico Tromp, Press Director for the Olympiad.

In his opening remarks Mr Damiani said how delighted he was that all sectors of the Bridge Playing community are represented here in Maastricht:

• The University Cup, held under the auspices of FISU (the International Sports Federation for Universities), was a success on its debut, attracting 22 teams, far more than similar European events, and considerable progress has been made with FISU, very much in accordance with the WBF's Olympic policy.
• The Seniors World Cup also made its first appearance, and the popularity of the contest was reflected by the tremendous strength of the players.
• The Open and Women's Series
• The World Transnational Mixed Teams. Mr Damiani said that the dates were not very convenient for this event, but that he was, nevertheless, very pleased with the entry. He noted that many of the teams feature Transnational pairs, demonstrating that this type of event is gaining in popularity.

The President was a little disappointed by the entry of only 40 teams in the Women's series, and confirmed that efforts will be made to encourage more countries to compete.

Mr Daimiani informed the Meeting that the WBF's Olympic programme is progressing as planned, with excellent prospects for the future. He stressed the benefit of Olympic recognition for all countries, saying that this was undoubtedly the right way forward for the future of the sport of bridge.

The WBF Congress that took place in Maastricht was a great success, being attended by the representatives from 75 of the 80 of the countries present in Maastricht. A new WBF Constitution and new WBF Bye Laws were agreed by this Meeting, bringing the WBF in line with Olympic Regulations (Court of Arbitration and Anti-Doping Policy), and a new dues structure was also agreed, which will assist the WBF to further its Olympic policy and development of the sport as a whole.

Mr Damiani remarked that technology is playing an increasingly important role in the development of the WBF and the promotion of bridge as a sport, drawing attention to the four web-sites covering these Championships, and noting that in addition to the WBF's own site (www.bridge.gr) which is covering the event, there is the special site for the event (www.bridgeolympiad.nl) and the e-bridge site (www.ebridgemaster.com) which have the vu-graph presentation and Canal-Web (www.canalweb.com) where live video broadcasting can be found.

The President reminded the Press Conference that a website has also been developed (www.worldbridge.org/teaching) with a teaching program that can be obtained free of charge by teachers wishing to obtain material for students, as well as full details of how to teach bridge. This material will also be available on CD later in the year.

When the floor was thrown open to the journalists, many interesting questions and topics were raised.

Alan Truscott of the New York Times, mentioned the location of hotels, making the point that those some distance from the convention centre should preferably be allocated to people with cars, a point taken on board by Wilco De Jong.

Henry Francis remarked on the World Wide Simultaneous Pairs scored over the Internet. José Damiani explained that the new form of scoring was very popular with the players, and perhaps easier for them to understand.

Patrick Jourdain of the London Daily Telegraph asked for information about the drug testing in at the Orbis Championships in Bermuda and here in Maastricht. The WBF President confirmed that 32 tests had been carried out in Bermuda, and 24 will be completed in Maastricht. 8 players from the University event have already been tested, and the other sixteen will be drawn at random from among the eight semi-finalists.

Although there had been one positive test in Bermuda, it involved a player using medication for a known condition, and had been passed by the IOC.

Ireland's Alex Montwill received a positive response to his question concerning the availability to NBO's of a list of substances to avoid.

In response to questions about the impact of the Olympiad on Maastricht, Wilco De Jong said that conservative estimates of revenue were: Hotels, DFL 3,000,000, Restaurants DFL 1,500,00 and Shops DFL 500,000.

In reply to questions raised by Seamus Dowling of the Irish Times concerning participation in the Olympic Games, José Damiani indicated that a change in IOC regulations meant that there were no longer demonstration sports. They have been replaced by attraction sports, but they must have been included when the site for the games was chosen, and this was not the case in respect of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. However, the local Olympic Committee can still grant the necessary permissions, and with the considerable help of IOC Vice President Marc Hodler, it is still possible that we will be present. An exhibition match during the second week of the games is the most likely possibility.

We remain on course for participation in Turin in 2006.

When the WBF President reminded everyone about the regulation regarding the playing of sports on snow or ice, that will require an IOC amendment, it was pointed out that journalists could perhaps help by using some key phrases in their articles, such as 'Declarer's contract was now on ice', and 'Declarer went down in a cold contract'.

That put everyone in a good mood as they adjourned for the Press lunch.

Page 4 of 5