The USBF is proud of the achievements of our bridge teams in Shanghai; USA teams won Gold and Bronze in the Senior Bowl, Gold in the Venice Cup and Silver in the Bermuda Bowl, an outstanding accomplishment. The players are all great competitors and outstanding world champions. We do not, however, agree with the actions of the Venice Cup winners at the prize-giving ceremony, where they held up a sign saying "we did not vote for Bush".
The victorious women were supported financially by many United States citizens who had made direct or indirect contributions to the USBF and to the ACBL International Fund which provides financial support for North American teams playing in international events. As representatives of all of those people and of all of the members of the USBF, the champions had an obligation to behave in a manner that all of their supporters could be proud of. Their statement made some people less than proud. As such, it demonstrated conduct unbecoming a member of the USBF when representing the USBF on the international stage.
World Bridge Championships, like Olympic events, are intended as a respite from politics. India plays against Pakistan. Israel plays against Arab countries. All in a spirit of good will. It is simply not the time or place for any team to make a political statement -- and all participants should know that. The championship rules expressly require participants to abide by the provisions governing Olympic athletes, including the Olympic Charter ban on demonstrations and political propaganda. The women’s team may not have intended their sign as political but it was viewed by many on both sides as making a political statement.
Whatever the players’ intentions, the USBF cannot condone or ignore the actions of our Venice Cup champions. The USBF has commenced proceedings to review those actions. There will be a hearing in two weeks in San Francisco, at the next ACBL national championship, to determine if sanctions are warranted. No sanctions whatsoever are currently in place.
Open Letter from USBF Board of Directors - Nov. 16, 2007
- Details
Shanghai Incident
Many of the USBF Board members have received questions about what is happening with regard to the incident at the closing ceremony in Shanghai. Board members cannot engage in discussions of this matter. The Board has considered the matter and acted promptly. For more information, see the Minutes of the USBF Board for 10/15/07 , 10/18/07 , and 10/25/07 as well as the letter sent to the Presidents of the WBF and CCBA on October 17th.
- Details
Notice of 2009 USBF Board Election
ATTENTION ALL USBF MEMBERS
This Fall the USBF will conduct an election to fill 3 seats on its Board of Directors. All three seats are for a three-year term.
USBF Board members must be currently active USBF members, having paid the 2009 annual active member dues of $50.
The USBF Nominating Committee has nominated Cheri Bjerkan, Joan Gerard & Howard Weinstein to fill the three seats.
 |
 |
Additional candidates may be nominated by petition. Ten or more Active Members of USBF may nominate an Active Member for a Board position. To file a petition nominating a candidate, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the name of the candidate and the names and email addresses of the people making the nomination on or before November 20. 2009. If there are no petition candidates, the candidates nominated by the Nominating Committee will be elected without the need for an election.
See the election timeline (or download it in PDF format) for when things happen.
- Details
Notice of 2011 USBF Board Election
ATTENTION ALL USBF MEMBERS
This Fall the USBF should have already conducted an election to fill 2 seats on its Board of Directors. Both seats are for a three-year term commencing in January, 2012. Unfortunately, the Nominating Committee didn't get organized and hasn't yet nominated candidates for these Board positions, so the election has been delayed. The Nominating Committee is now working hard to find nominees and the election will be held in February.
USBF Board members must be currently active USBF members, having paid the 2011 and 2012 annual active member dues of $50.
The USBF Nominating Committee will hopefully soon nominate at least two people for the two positions.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THE USBF BOARD OF DIRECTORS, PLEASE EMAIL THE CHAIR OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE (GEORGE JACOBS) WITH YOUR NAME AND A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF WHY YOU WANT TO SERVE ON THE BOARD.
In addition to those candidates nominated by the nominating committee, candidates may be nominated by petition. Twenty-five or more Active Members of USBF may nominate an Active Member for a Board position. To file a petition nominating a candidate, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the name of the candidate and the names and email addresses of the people making the nomination on or before January 27, 2012. If there are no petition candidates, the candidates nominated by the Nominating Committee will either be elected without the need for an election (if there are only two nominees), or will be the entire slate of nominees for the election.
See the election timeline for when things happen.
- Details