2019-06 – Voting for Hanbook updates

Preamble

Dear Member Associations.

The FISTF Board of Directors has worked for the last few months to revise the official Handbook.

A draft version was sent to all Member Associations and a range of responses were sent back.

After processing these responses,  the Board of Directors has decided to go back to our Member Associations for confirmation or otherwise of sections of the Handbook.

One major change was the removal of all sections relating to the organisation of tournaments. These will now be included in a separate Tournament Organisation Handbook which will be released soon.

Many members offered good suggestions to improve language in the Handbook, make some things clearer, and better explain some sections. We agreed with these and will implement them in the Handbook.

However, it was agreed that where there was an objection to a section, either to the inclusion of the section, rewording, or removal, we would ask for a general vote by the Member Associations.

It should be noted that two parts of the Handbook had objections to regulations that were approved at the 2017 Congress:

• The removal of the U12 category from the World Cup;
• Making the World Cup biennial (every two years).

Nevertheless, we have included these in this voting process for the purpose of complete transparency.

Voting

HANDBOOK-001 : General Comment

At various places in the Handbook, the phrase “FISTF reserves the right to apply a different decision if necessary” is included.

REASON: Occasionally there are situations that arise that are not covered in the Handbook, and the Board needs some flexibility to deal with these.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-002 : Section 3.3.3. Diploma

This relates to the provision of a Diploma stating that the Member Association is a member of FISTF.

REASON:  Some nations had requested such a diploma which would aid them in their discussions with government organisations or other regulatory bodies.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-003 : Section 5.10.2. Number of foreign players

Section 5.10.2. proposes a change to the number of foreign players a club may use in a team competition, from TWO to ONE if the player is listed within the top 200 of the FISTF World Ranking (Open). There is no restriction on the number of players outside the top 200 as at September 1 each year.

REASON: The FISTF Board proposes this change to encourage clubs to focus on using more local players, rather than focussing on signing foreigners. The aim is to build the grassroots of the sport.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-004 : Section 5.11. Loan Transfer

Section 5.11 proposes a new category of transfer, a Loan Transfer.

REASON: It was proposed that players from outside Europe who were on work assignment, or extended holidays, could temporarily transfer to a European club, allowing them to play in Team events as well as Individual events.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-005 : Section 7. Membership fees and levies

The FISTF Board proposes that member associations pay a one time membership fee and yearly fees are removed. It also proposes that the levies for players and teams in Majors and Grand Prix only are increased. There is no increase in levies for International Open and Satellite events.

REASON:  This will make the collection of fees easier, and actually have a net positive effect on revenues.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-006 : Section 7. Concept of the ‘Campaign’ to be removed

It is proposed that the concept of the ‘Campaign’ be removed, where a Member Nation organizes a group of tournaments, with FISTF offering a discount on the total amount of tournament fees.

REASON: The Board felt that the discounts offered were too much.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-007 : Section 7.7.2. Early payment discount

It is proposed that if an invoice sent by FISTF to an event organise is paid within 14 days, a discount of 25% will be granted.

REASON: The purpose of this is to encourage early payment and reduce time spent chasing payments.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-008 : Section 9.1.1. “Should be” instead of “has to be”

The proposal is to change the wording of this section to read: Only for Europe, the third weekend every month (except for June, July and August) should be (rather than has to be) free of Major, Grand Prix and International Open tournaments.

REASON: The reasoning is that as the competition calendar becomes more crowded, as more nations take up their allocation of events, it becomes harder to quarantine the third weekend from international events.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-009 : Section 10.1.1. World Cup biennial

FISTF World Cup general rules – World Cup is now biennial (every two years)
REASON: In 1994 the World Cup became an Annual event where 99% of participants came from Europe. We now have a much more global FISTF, and must develop a competition that means a title is unique. Currently, with one world cup each year and so many categories, we have created too many World Champions. It must become sought after again, and allow the rest of the world to come to Europe every two years (or Europe to go other places planning biennial trips).

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-010 : Section 10.1.1. World Cup biennial

Section 10.2.3 Selection of Players. At the 2017 Congress, it was agreed to remove the U12 category from the World Cup only. The U12 category can still be contested at all other FISTF events.

REASON: Because only a few Europeans Under 12 players come to these events. Additionally, no other sports start competition at this level.

Vote here :

HANDBOOK-011 : Section 2.1.1. Finance Regulations

The members of the Board of Directors and any committees may present a claim for payment of expenses.

REASON: Occasionally, FISTF Directors may be required to attend meetings on FISTF behalf. There should be an opportunity for Directors to claim reasonable expenses. Having said that, the new Board of Directors, appointed after the Extraordinary General Meeting in 2017, have not made any claim on expenses. Nevertheless, we feel the opportunity for expenses should remain in the Handbook.

Vote here :