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FISTF Congress 2024 Results of Voting on Resolutions and Board for 2025-28

Voting on both the Congress Resolutions and the Board nominations closed on 23 January 2025, and although a number of MNAs left it very late to vote, it is very pleasing to note that all 22 MNAs voted on most or all of the resolutions: 21 or 22 MNAs voted on all the Resolutions and Board nominations, including abstentions (please note that under the FISTF Statutes, abstentions are not counted as “cast votes”).

There was overwhelming support for all five nominations to serve on the Board, with all nominees receiving the support of between 95% and 100% of cast votes, well over the 50.01% required under the Statutes.
This means that the following persons have been elected to the Board:
President: Steve Dettre (AUS)
Finance Director/Treasurer: Nic Tan (SGP)
Sports Director: Chris Angelinas (GRE)
Media Director: Andrea Ciccarelli (ITA)
Development Director: Bob Varney (ENG)
The new Board will be meeting soon to discuss filling of the three Board positions for which there were no nominees and which are now therefore vacant: the General Secretary (a core Board position which should be filled as soon as possible) and, if possible, the Promotion & Marketing Director and the Special Sports Director positions. Now that the Board has been elected/confirmed, it has the ability under Article 12.9 of the Statutes to co-opt onto the Board members from any MNA.

Congress Resolutions and voting results

In total, 22 Resolutions were proposed for members’ approval:
• 10 “sub-Resolutions” under Resolution 1 (proposed changes to the Statutes);
• Resolution 2 (New/revised membership requirements for MNAs, AMNAs and MNA-Ps), which involved various further changes to the Statutes and Official Handbook;
• 9 “sub-Resolutions” under Resolution 3 (proposed changes to the Official Handbook);
• Resolution 4 (proposed “Whole of Sport” discussion); and
• Resolution 6 (proposed changes to the FISTF Board voting process) which, if approved, required further changes to the Statutes not yet drafted.
It is very pleasing to note that there was strong support overall from MNAs for the proposals, with most resolutions receiving between 90% and 100% support, and 19 of the 22 resolutions being approved. Most of the approved resolutions can be implemented quite easily, as many of them involved proposed amendments to the Statutes and/or Handbook which had already been drafted and sent to members.

The Statutes will be revised and published as quickly as possible, while the approved changes to the Handbook will be included and come into force in the Official Handbook for the 2025-26 season, which it is hoped can be finalised in the next few months. Several approved resolutions do however require further work by the Board and/or a further vote from members to be finalised and implemented, including Resolution 1c and Resolution 6. The Board will be discussing these issues shortly.

In addition, three resolutions did not receive the 66.67% approval required: Resolution 2, which set out new/revised membership requirements for MNAs, AMNAs and MNA-Ps; Resolution 3e1, which set out two options to limit the maximum number of foreign players on a team; and Resolution 3e2, which proposed to return to the old rule of a maximum of only one substitute per game. The outcome on Resolution 3e1 is clear (the change will not proceed), but the outcome on Resolution 2 actually conflicts in part with the result on Resolution 1b, which proposed the creation of AMNAs and which was approved. The Board will consider how best to resolve this conflict and report back to members soon. Regarding Resolution 3e2, there was strong overall support to limit the number of foreign players, but it was split between the two options so that neither gained the necessary 66.67% support. The Board will consider whether the option receiving the most votes should be put to members for another vote.

The Board will also commence work as soon as possible on the “Whole of Sport” conference approved by members. It is hoped that it can be held in the first of 2025.

FISTF