Compendium of letters and decisions.
Britain 25.02.2022
RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE
Yesterday Russia, an EGF member, invaded Ukraine, another EGF Member. The British Go Association considers this behavior to be unacceptable, and we call upon the Russian Go Federation to condemn this invasion.
If such a condemnation is not received within 48 hours, we call for the following:
a) The immediate resignation of Natalia Kovaleva, a Russian citizen, from the Executive of the EGF. In the event that she does not resign, we call upon the remaining members of the Executive to immediately remove her from any Executive role, and to seek her removal from Office.
b) For the EGF Executive to use its powers under Clause 3.4.2 to immediately suspend Russia from membership of the EGF, and to bring forward proposals to the 2022 AGM to expel Russia from membership
c) All Member States to write to the EGF Executive to support these proposalsIn the event that the Executive decides not to take the above action, the BGA is prepared to call for a Special General Meeting provided we get support from at least 4 other EGF Members.
NOTES
Clause 2.3.3 of the EGF Constitution, www.eurogofed.org/egf/EGF_Constitution_2014_Final.pdf allows for the termination of membership of a Member country, subject to the agreement of a General Meeting, and Clause 3.4.2 permits the Executive to take action normally reserved to the General Meeting in an emergency.We therefore believe that the Executive has the power to take the actions that we call for above.
Clause 3.3.1 permits “the Executive Committee or five members in good standing” to request a Special General Meeting, but it takes at least 2 months before it can take place.
Yours truly,
Toby Manning
President.
Ukraine 27.02.2022
Российская федерация го - иди нахуй! [Russian Go Federation - fuck off!]
Dear Presidents of National EGF Member Countries’ Go Federations,
Me, Dmytro Yatsenko, 5dan, long time Ukrainian Go Federation President
have to address you with an unpleasant request today.I play Go since 1975, for more than 46 years. For me Go is not only a
passion, it’s the whole of my life. I think that Go is a mean to evolve
and develop the personality and to connect with other people regardless
of their age, sex, nationality, etc. I was always standing for progress
and positivity, and I have always acted accordingly. Fight on a Board -
friendship outside the Board!But today everything changed. There is a war at my home! Non-motivated
aggression of the Russian Federation Army! My logic has changed too!
Responsibility for this aggression is the responsibility of each Russian
citizen.I ask you to help with the whole world to isolate Russia:
To call for the emergency EGF meeting
To vote for expelling the Russian Go Federation from the European Go
Federation. To vote without discussion, without providing time limits
and explanations ”why”!I sincerely hope that such a decision will cause the change in Russia
itself by the citizens of the Russian Federation, where, by the way, I
have many friends!Sincerely yours,
Dmytro YatsenkoPresident of the Ukrainian Go Federation
Supported by:
Ukrainian Go Federation Presidium:
Dmytro Bogatskyy, 6d
Sergey Ridzel 5d
Viktoriia Symonenko, 8k
Oksana Nevostruyeva (mother of Savytskyi Avhust 7k)
Volodymyr KosterinUkrainian Go Players:
Andrii Kravets, 2p
Bohdan Zhurakovskyi, 5d
Valerii Krushelnytskyi, 5d
Arkadiy Bogatskiy, 4d
Prykhodko Ivan 1k
Yehor Lysenko 5k
Mykyta Minaiev 9k
Svetlana Kalmutska (mother of Vsevolod Ovsiienko, 4d and Tymofii, 8k)
Iryna Shcherbin (mother of Serhii 16k)
Oleh Kushnerik and Nina Dimitrova (parents of Roman Kushnerik, 5k)
Natalia and Roman Stefanovych (parents of Dmytro 2k and Andrii 16k)
Natalia Hadzhyievа (mother of Hadzhyiev Viktor 7k)
Kateryna Bondar (mother of Ihnat 11k and Yana 16k)
Tetyana Petryk (mother of Danylo 7k)
Oksana Naumenko (mother of Roman 10k)
Oleksandra Vlasenko 9k and Vlada 17k
Ivan Zavadskyi 16k
Yeva Hrabarchuk 8k
Yan Vovchok 10k
Skliarov Maria (mother of Oleksii 13k and Kostiantyn 18k)And many others Ukrainian Go players (not everyone is in contact right now).
Czechia 27.02.2022
Statement of the Czech Go Association on the events in Ukraine
Dear all,
in connection with current world events, one of the items to be discussed at the General Meeting of the Czech go association held on 26 February 2022 was the statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Czech Go Association condemns the invasion and considers this behavior unacceptable.
The Czech go association also calls on the IGF & EGF and
recommends the following to its players:
- The Czech Go Association with immediate effect recommends its members not to enter games against players from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus in all official tournaments and competitions. In the event of the Czech player withdrawing from the game with a Russian player, there are no penalties, even if this would violate the rules of game of the Czech go association.
- The Czech Go Association declares that representatives from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus are not welcome at the European Youth Go Championship 2022 in Prague.
- The Czech Go Association calls on the International Go Federation and the European Go Federation to ban the participation of players from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus in all official tournaments and competitions.
- The Czech Go Association calls on the International Go Federation and the European Go Federation to suspend the membership of the Russian Go Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
On behalf of the Executive Committee
Jaroslav Kotowski
President of Czech Go Association
Cyprus ≤28.02.2022
We, as Cyprus Go Association, believe that war and any form of violence off the Go board is unacceptable. We also believe that politics should be off the agenda of the EGF and its members. The EGF “has no political purpose, and is interested only in the promotion of Go” (see clause 1.2.1 of the EGF Constitution). The official governments of each country have expressed their political views. National Go Federations are not obliged to express political views. We, therefore, find the UK letter extreme and unfounded. The Russian Go Federation has not invaded the Ukrainian Go Association. We propose that this conversation ends here, and ask the President of the EGF to kindly intervene and announce an official EGF position on the matter.
Germany ≤28.02.2022
We, the German Go Association, wants to second the Statement from the Cyprus Go Association. We are shocked what is happening in Ukraine right now and think that it isn’t acceptable what’s happening there. But this has, like Nicholas stated, nothing to do neither with the Russian Go Federation nor the Ukraine Go Association.
Various players ≤28.02.2022
To EGF, EYGC comitee, national GO Associations in Europe
Considering Russia’s, an EGF member, invasion of Ukraine, another EGF member and independent country,
Considering that every country has the right to decide its future and its goals, taking in consideration the loss of innocent victims lives and damages to Ukraine.
Codemning such a brutal act from a country which pretends to be a part of our community,
Taking in consideration British GO Association(BGA)’s proposal attached, we hereby agree to all its proposed measures in full. When Russia as a country is banned and excluded from the peaceful world, we cannot stand and pretend that nothing is happening. Children and go players are not responsible for that mad man but the loss of innocent lives because of Russia, as a country, is much more important than anything, including the game of GO.
As for ourselves, if this proposal from BGA does not receive a positive answer, none of us shall play against a Russian player till Russia does not withdraw its troops from Ukraine and does not cease killing innocent people. Not in EYGC 2022 and not in any further tournament! We shall apologise to our Russian GO opponents and ask them to tell their friends and relatives that till then Russia is not welcome in Europe by no means.
Our point of view is shared with UK, Czechia ,Ukraine, Lithuania, Iceland GO Associations and further nations to come.
Stand by Ukraine!
From Ukraine:
Elena Kachanovska 7kyu
Oksana Malko for Olesia Malko(1dan)From Czech Republic:
Lukas Podpera 7 dan
Ivan Kostka 4dan
Adriana Tomsu 2 danFrom Poland:
Cezary Czernecki 4dan
Przemsylaw Dysczyk 1dan
Piotr Dyszczyk 1danFrom Romania:
Ion Florescu 6 dan
Lucretiu Calota 5dan
Bela Nagy 4dan
Sorin Sora 4 dan
George Ginguta 3dan
Sergiu Dan Iugulescu 3dan with Iugulescu Eduard Andrei 14k(player in EYGC 2022)
George Cristian Ghetu 3 dan with Sara Maria Ghetu 12kyu and Denis Mihai Ghetu 17kyu(both players in EYGC 2022)
Ion Dobrescu 2dan
George Gigoi 2 dan( player in EYGC 2022),
Dragos Boldeanu( player in EYGC 2022)
Adelina Sora 1dan
George Bordea 1 dan, personal and on behalf of all players in Sprancenatu GO Club
Vlad Gabriela Viorica 1 dan
Irina Davis 1kyu,
Robert Andrei Grosu 1kyu and Eduard Gabriel Grosu 15 kyu ( players in EYGC 2022)
Stochita Ionut 1 kyu,
Ilie Sebastian 2 kyu
Razvan Andrei 2 kyu
Mircea Nitu 2kyu and George Nitu 18kyu
Marius Nicu Ion 2kyu Go teacher and on behalf of all players of Hikaru GO Club
Antonia Stanciu 3 kyu( player in EYGC 2022)
Acsinte Alexandru 3 kyu
Alexandru Filippi 3 kyu
Ferenc Toth 4kyu
Gabriel Ciora 4 kyu, Cristiana Ciora 5 kyu and Ruxandra Ciora 9 kyu
Maria Vasilescu 5 kyu( player in EYGC 2022)
Vasile Augustin Pop 6 kyu
Vlad Gabriel 7 kyu
Bogdan Fistoiu 9 kyu,
Emma Marosan 9 kyu ( player in EYGC 2022)
Patrascu Alexandru Nicolas 10 kyu( player in EYGC 2022)
Dan Grigoras 11 kyu
Edvin Matei Petre 11 kyu( player in EYGC 2022)
Alexandru Voicu 12 kyu( player in EYGC 2022)
Ruxandra Gabriela Ilie 13 kyuI, Sergiu Dan Iugulescu, can testify for everyone’s above consent to this letter.
Croatia ≤28.02.2022
Dear representatives of EGF members, dear members of the Executive Board of EGF,
following the online consultation with all its members (go-clubs) and the session of the assembly of National Olympic Committee held today, Croatian Go Association expresses:
full solidarity with Ukrainian go players and their families, as well as with all citizens of Ukraine suffering under the aggression of Russian military forces from Russia and Belarus,
full support for the proposals received from Ukrainian go federation, Czech go association and British Go Association,
full support for the recommendation of the Executive Board of International Olympic Committee - no participation of Russian and Belarusian players and officials in go competitions (https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-eb-re … -officials).
Dear go friends from all over Europe,
in this moment when we came closer then ever in recent history to “the point of no return” for peace in Europe,
please read carefully all arguments formulated by International Olympic Committee and - give peace a chance!On behalf of Croatian Go Association,
Damir Medak
Austria ≤28.02.2022
The Austrian Go Federation disagrees with the proposition of the British Go Association. Individual people can not be punished for the act of a government and the Russian go federation is NOT part of that government so the same applies here.
Italy ≤28.02.2022
FIGG, the Italian Go Federation, condemns war in every form and way.
We believe that sports, and Go among them, have the power to unite people and this is perfectly expressed by the constitution of EGF, whose main purpose is well defined in article 1.2.1.
Excluding a member because of politic reasons linked to its government does not fit the purposes for which Go is played and EGF exists. On the contrary, showing a spirit of unity could help. In agreement with the Cyprus Go Federation, which first promoted this message, we think that this conversation should be closed.
We ask the EGF board to announce an official position aimed at promoting dialogue.
France ≤01.03.2022
The French Go Federation solemnly condemns the aggression of Ukraine by the Russian military forces.
The EGF and its members should do their best to support the Ukrainian Go community in any possible way.
All EGF events scheduled in Russia should be moved or cancelled.
Russian Go players should not be allowed to represent their country in EGF events, but should not be further stigmatized and should be authorized to participate individually under neutral EGF banner.
It’s at such occasions that the Go community should prove that its cohesion goes beyond frontiers.
Special EGF Meeting briefing ≤01.03.2022
Dear members of the EGF,
This is the invitation for the special EGF Meeting, it’s on short notice, i hope most of you can make it, i’d be happy if you confirm to me that you can attend. I talked to Yatsenko Dmytro, president of the Ukrainian Go Federation and he told me that Thursday at 20:00 CET (21:00 EET) works for him.
Best regards,
Lorenz Trippel (EGF Secretary)I put together these voting items, if there is something important missing please let me know! I will send out a more detailed agenda before the meeting.
All EGF events in Russia to be canceled and reallocated.
Russian players can’t represent Russia but can still participate in EGF events under a neutral banner (alike at Olympic Games), until further notice
Suspension of RGF within EGF
Expulsion of RGF from EGF
Exclusion of Russian players from EGF events until further notice
Exclusion of the RGF representative from the EGF executive board
Measures against Belarus Go Association
Belgium ≤01.03.2022
Dear all,
Please read hereunder the position of the Belgian Go Federation regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
Kind regards
Jean-Denis Hennebert
Secretary of the Belgian Go Federation in name of the board of the BGF.The Belgian Go Federation
- condemns the Russian invasion in the strongest terms and expresses strong support for the Ukrainians, but also for the Russians who have the courage to affirm their opposition to the war.
- calls the EGF and the European Go community to condemn the war on Ukraine in the strongest terms; even though as being apolitical the EGF may want to refrain from strong ethical / political statements, the EGF constitution makes it our mission to protest against actions perturbing or even destroying Ukrainian Go activities.
- calls to cancel all events planned in Russia (and to the extent it can’t be guaranteed that events won’t get disturbed by violence or sanctions also in Belarus and Ukraine).
- hopes that the administrators of the Russian Go Federation will (join us to) condemn the Russian invasion (should they be able to do so without risking their own safety !).
- supports the suggestion of the French Go Federation: “Russian Go players should not be allowed to represent their country in EGF events, but should not be further stigmatized and should be authorized to participate individually under neutral EGF banner.”
- is ready to participate in a special general EGF meeting, but does not insist to hold it if a vote by e-mail would be a faster alternative to get clear majorities on some urgent points.
General Meeting briefing ≤02.03.2022
Dear friends,
Let me share with you the results of yesterday’s board meeting in preparation for tomorrow’s meeting.
In the board-meeting we had no discussion about whether the EGF has to react to the terrible news and developments, started on 24th February 2022, from two EGF-member-countries, Russia and Belarus, against one EGF member-country, Ukraine. We have to react !
In the upcoming General Meeting of the EGF the EGF board-members will have no vote, but you should know before the meeting what direction of motions are preferred by the EGF-board:
a) Suspending the EGF-membership of Russia and Belarus, starting after the EGF General Meeting on 3rd March 2022
b) Not allowing any European Championship in Russia and Belarus (we got interest from Russia for the European Student Championship 2022 and the European Pair-Go Championship 2023).
c) Forbidding players from Russia and Belarus to participate in any EGF organized or EGF supported tournament. This includes tournaments at the European Go Congress, all European championships (online and face-to-face), tournaments which are part of the European Go Grand Prix, the Pandanet GO European Team Championship, any Qualification-tournaments organized by the EGF.
Start: at once after the General Meeting, so also valid for the European Youth Championship 2022.Like other Mind Sports Organisations (Chess, Bridge, Draughts) also the IGF (International Go Federation) plans to publish a world-wide published statement, but the IGF-directors are waiting on the results of our General Meeting.
Tomorrow we need to set up a general statement, similar to many other sports-organisations. Please come up in the meeting with proposals.
I don’t want to repeat the opinions of the board-members about the invasion of Ukraine. I am still speechless and you will get a personal e-mail this night where I will explain my mood, my motivation to go on and my now heavily damaged dreams about Go in Europe.
Hoping to meet many of yours tomorrow evening
Yours
Martin Stiassny
Turkey ≤02.03.2022
The position of Turkish Go Players Association regarding the invasion of Ukraine is as follows.
The Turkish Go Players Association
- condemns the Russian invasion in the strongest terms. We wish the Russian government to put an end to this uncalled invasion as soon as possible.
- expresses full solidarity with Ukrainian go players and their families, as well as with all citizens of Ukraine suffering under the aggression of Russian military forces from Russia and Belarus,
- believes that politics should be off the agenda of the EGF and its members. The EGF “has no political purpose, and is interested only in the promotion of Go” as stated wisely by the Cyprus Go Association.
- believes that no players or events to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus.
In this regard further understanding would go a long way:
It must not be passed without notice that not each and every Russian is included in the war. Russian people are in the streets condemning the war and being held in custody because of their protests. The war is started by the “state of Russia”. The people themselves are not responsible for starting the war, nor are they able to put a stop to it. We can understand the impasses the Russian citizens face, as we, many Turkish citizens, live in a less severe version of the same situation. Unless stated individually or as an entity, their governments’ actions are not directly their choice. They are simply citizens, who may or may not face other consequences such as incarceration, should they oppose their governments’ decision. This does not in any way make the invasion less wrong. A person who does not state that the invasion is right in any way, should not be held directly responsible, ergo, should not face severe consequences in other apolitic platforms such as EGF.
For this reason, we try to empathise with the Russian Go Federation and its players and we do not support the suspension you have described, unless they openly state that they support the Russian government’s invasion. We don’t even want to think about this being an option for the European Youth Go Championship, and the children that will attend, the same children that we see as our future.
We can show them a better way, a peaceful way.
It does not mean in any way that EGF should do nothing. It is simply not punishing people, but the aggression itself. In this regard, EGF could act differently and solve this problem in a smarter way in line with the other features that we say that the game of Go has developed, such as problem solving skills, critical thinking, respect for the opponent, and so on.
It is our belief that EGF should be united in its sense of fairness not to punish players for the decisions of their government if they are not actively participating in them. EGF should committed to fair competitions for everybody without any discrimination.
Wherever this is not possible on short notice for organizational or legal reasons, the EGF should strongly urge or disband organizers of sports events worldwide to do everything in their power to ensure that no players from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus. Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral players or neutral teams. No national symbols, colours, flags or anthems should be displayed.
On behalf of Turkish Go Players Association,
Eren Kurter
Gabriel Wagner ≤02.03.2022
We are all shocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I am personally very worried for all Go players in Ukraine, especially for youth players who participate in the EGF-Academy. I have offered them and their families to seek refuge in my home in Germany, if they can leave Ukraine.
I understand we all have a feeling of helplessness when looking at the atrocities happening in Ukraine! However, please let’s keep in mind what we actually want to achieve and not just blindly “do something”. Let’s not indulge in wishful thinking. Expelling the RGF from the EGF will affect Russian Go players and other European Go players. It will affect their view on the European Go Community, not just now, but for many years to come. It will spread more resentment and hatred. It will not affect Putin.
I am worried about increasingly toxic and dehumanizing personal interactions in the Go community. I am disappointed about how some members of the European Go community treat their counterparts in Russia. The British Go Association pressuring RGF (and Natalia Kovaleva personally!) to publicly condemn the Russian invasion is irresponsible. It stems from a privileged position of those living in the UK and disregards the very different situation that Russian individuals are in. It is easy to “play hero” if you do not have to face the consequences yourself. They force Natalia Kovaleva and other individuals to choose between putting themselves at risk from persecution by their own government or alternatively facing condemnation in the Go scene in Europe (to which they have contributed for many years).
I want to reiterate the words of Nicholas Roussos from the Cyprus Go Federation: “The Russian Go Federation has not invaded the Ukrainian Go Association.”
My Plan for the EGF-Academy
Some people have approached me asking if Russian players will continue to be able to train in the EGF-Academy.
Any motivated, talented, and respectful youth player from Europe is welcome to participate in the EGF-Academy. This includes students from Russia. We cannot “punish” children for the wrongs of their governments.
Alexandre Dinerstein from Russia has been teaching in the EGF-Academy for 7 years and greatly contributed to youth development all across Europe, including in Ukraine. I see no reason to stop him from teaching in the EGF-Academy now (unless he himself thinks so, of course).
If the above two points cannot be guaranteed, I will not continue managing the EGF-Academy this spring.
As per Article 1.2 of the EGF constitution, the EGF has no political purpose and is only interested in the promotion of Go. If Russian students or teachers do not have proper access to the EGF-Academy, this would go directly against the core goal of the EGF as per its institution.
People-to-people exchanges between Russia and the rest of Europe are now more important than ever before.
I will consider postponing the start of the new season until the situation has clarified. I will keep students updated about this in the next few weeks.
On a side note, I understand that many people would feel uncomfortable seeing the Russian flag at Go competitions in Europe right now. Hence I support the proposal by several Go associations (including the RGF!) to let Russian players only participate under a neutral/EGF flag in the upcoming months.
These are just my personal thoughts as manager of the EGF-Academy, I am not speaking for any institution, I do not have a vote at tomorrow’s AGM. I just hope that the AGM will be fruitful and that everyone remembers their responsibilities towards others in the European Go Community. Let’s do everything we can to support Ukrainians in need, but let’s not randomly “punish” the wrong people.
Russia 02.03.2022
Despite the absence of an official appeal from the EGF to the Russian Go Federation, in the current situation, when the issue of sanctions against the Russian Go Federation will be considered at the EGF Meeting, the RGF Executive Committee considers it necessary to make the following statement:
- The RGF condemns all kinds of violence.
- The RGF stands for sports outside politics and thinks that the exclusion of the RGF will not affect the current situation in any way, just as the RGF cannot influence the events taking place.
- We would like to maintain cooperation with the EGF and European national Go federations and are ready for collaboration.
- The exclusion of the RGF from the EGF will cause serious damage to humanitarian ties, will contribute to disengagement and future conflicts. Therefore, the RGF considers it important to state that despite the horror of everything that is happening, it is necessary to maintain humanitarian ties.
For its part, the RGF offers the following:
a) to suspend the RGF membership in the EGF for 3 months, after which to return to this issue
b) to postpone or cancel the European Youth Go Championship 2022 in the Czech Republic
c) to allow all Russian players to participate in EGF competitions under a neutral flag or the flag of the EGF.Acting President Russian Federation Go Vladimir Gorzhaltsan
Iceland ≤03.03.2022
We will continue to demand action.
It is a fantasy to think that this is “politics” and that there is some reason to exclude condemnation of Russia’s actions from the agenda of European Go.
We are calling for EGF and our European Go community to condemn the war on Ukraine in the strongest terms and cancel all events planned in Russia.
This is beyond and above politics. The horrible crime being committed against the people of Ukraine as we speak should be enough to persuade any representative of the European Go community of this.
Condemnation of war has a long history in sports. The IOC has condemned this war, placing the blame solely on Russia and Belarus, it has also called on all events planned in Russia and Belarus by sport federations to be cancelled. The IOC has also called for the Russian and Belarusian flags not to be displayed and the anthems not to be played, something we need to consider as well. If the EGF cannot heed our calls, I hope it can heed this call by the IOC. https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-eb-urges-all-ifs-to-relocate-or-cancel-their-sports-events-currently-planned-in-russia-or-belarus
This issue can only become more urgent. It is prudent to act immediately to leave no doubt to where we stand on these matters. There can be no ambivalence about condemning this crime. A European Go Federation cannot be ambivalent about European values and sports federations cannot be ambivalent about wars of aggression.
Hallbjörn Þór Guðmundsson
President
Icelandic Go Association
Ireland ≤03.03.2022
the Irish Go Association position is that EGF should focus on:
- supporting Ukrainian go community as much as possible in whatever possible way
- not holding any tournament in Russia for the time being or any kind of event involving Russian government support/funding.
Asking RGA to make any kind of official statement, or expelling Russian players/staff from EGF activity is unfair and out of the scope of our association.
Lithuania ≤03.03.2022
The Lithuanian Go Association fully supports the request of the Ukrainian Go Federation.
Let’s do it as soon as possible.
Serbia ≤03.03.2022
With great regret and sorrow, we are following the events in Ukraine. I personally, and everyone else in the Serbian Go Federation and community are against any kind of violence, especially against this war.
We find it purposefully to act in support and help of our friends in the Ukraine Go Federation and the whole Ukrainian Go community. We should put our effort as an EGF, and as individuals to see if we can help Go players in Ukraine.
Anything that is related to governing the states (or politics, in general) should stay outside of our conversation.
Best regards,
Mihajlo Andjelic
president of Serbian Go Federation
Greece ≤03.03.2022
Despite the fact that Greece is merely an observer, our community would like to express its position on the issue. We wholeheartedly condemn the ongoing war, yet we fully support the stance adopted by the Cypriot and Serbian Go Associations.
Kind regards,
Konstantinos Michailidis
President of the Greek Go Association
Catalin Taranu ≤03.03.2022
Dear all,
I feel that discussions have shifted too much in the direction of punishment ( or not) and stigmatization (or not) of the Russian Go players. This is not the correct way to approach the problem and is leading to false arguments.
The core of what we need to do is to find a way to truly respect and support the feelings of the Ukrainian Go players. They are the people who , as we speak, are losing fathers,friends, jobs, houses, a country and a future. We can’t possibly comprehend that, sitting comfortably in our chairs back home.
Considering the current situation , we don’t have any right to judge their moral decisions .
If they wish to not play Russian players in tournaments I believe it is our duty to heed that wish.
In a practical scenario, a Ukrainian player ( or a player from another country) who does not wish to face a Russian player in a Go tournament will lose that game, ending up in being punished for his moral decision. This is something that I think we need to discuss and avoid.
It is very easy to transform all this into a witch hunt of the Russian players. Let’s not do that.
But let’s not forget why we are having this discussion , meeting and decision tonight.Best regards,
Catalin Taranu
EGF Meeting summary by Germany 03.03.2022
Hello,
I’ll be with my President until the new election in May, so I’d like to briefly report on the votes from today’s extraordinary EGF meeting. I will use the form: [question] [result] [vote by number of federations yes-no abstention] [vote weighted → that counts] [our voting behavior]; [short explanation].
Should all tournaments in Russia be cancelled and new ones not awarded until revoked? Yes 27-1-1 58-4-2 Yes; As decided and announced.
Should Russian players not be allowed to represent their country (i.e. play under a neutral flag)? Yes 21-4-4 49-8-7 Yes; As decided and announced.
Should the Russian federation be suspended until revoked? Yes 18-9-2 40-20-4 Yes; As decided and announced.
Should the Russian federation be expelled? No 4-22-1 7-51-2 No; As decided and announced.
Should Russian players’ permission to participate in European tournaments be revoked? No 12-14-3 24-32-8 Abstention; The discussion on this was controversial and ambiguous. Therefore, contrary to our original decision, we abstained. I want to note that a German Yes would not have changed the overall decision.
Should Natalia be excluded from the EGF board? Became obsolete, since Natalia, after suspension of the Russian Federation, resigned from her position herself. Formally, the vote was no: 8-14-7 15-32-17 abstention; we wanted to vote yes, but Martin Stiassny asked not to break his team, besides Natalia never represented Russia in EGF Board. This was new information for us, which is why we chose abstention.
Do the same sanctions apply to the Belarusian Federation? Yes 22-3-2 47-9-4 Yes; Seemed logical to us. The Belarusian federation is also suspended, no tournaments will be held in Belarus and players are not allowed to represent the country.
Translated with DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator (free version)
UFGO President ≤04.03.2022
Dear friends,
Russia does not exist any more! There are only Russian terrorists.
Our goal is denazification of Russia.
Method:
general isolation
↓
The Hague
↓
remorse
↓
reparation
↓
lifting isolationIf you’re a Russian person, choose whether you’re a Russian or a person.
A person? You stand for peace? You cannot do anything?
Make a selfie - burn your passport on a video.Russian citizen? Ok. Иди нахуй! [Fuck off!]
Let’s kick them out everywhere. No to half-measures.
…the only thing that matters is life…Dmytro Yatsenko,
UFGO President
Robert Bugaj ≤04.03.2022
Dear Martin, Lorenz, Jaroslav, Catalin,
As a former Vice-President of the Polish Go Association and the father of a EYGC participant I am observing with concern the discussion on the peaceful and apolitical competition at the Go board. Regardless of whether it takes place during a tournament in the same Hall or online.
The possibility of allowing young go players to compete with Russia agreed before the start of the war by Russia due to visa problems caused by the world Covid-19 pandemic is now completely outdated.
The fact that the EGF Board can allow Russian juniors to participate in the EYGC puts the need to make a moral choice not only to players from the country plunged in a cruel war, but also to all other youngsters and their parents who oppose the unprecedented and unimaginably cruel war. Moreover, the manifestation of solidarity and opposition to Russian aggression by refusing to play with a player from Russia (irrelevant whether face-to-face or online) will result in punishing such a child with defeat by a walkover.
Russian arguments about the deterioration of the moral condition of Russian children are nothing compared to the harm suffered by Ukrainian children who lose their lives and families in the rubble of the bombed homeland. The lack of responsibility for starting a war does not mean that Russian citizens, including children, can avoid the consequences of this war.
For the winners, the lack of competition with players from Russia disrupts the results of the competition less then the lack of competition with the Ukrainians who will be absent due to the war. That’s because the result will also be influenced by forfeits due to the refusal to play games against the Russians. Therefore, the decision not to admit players from Russia to EYGC is a “less worse” and this solution that will remove the burden and the injustice of each of the decisions made in the remaining participating children.
Appeals to the EGF Board to prevent Russian young players from participating in the EYGC.Yours sincerely
Robert Bugaj
Member (ex-Vicepresident) of the Polish Go Association
EGF Meeting summary by Sofiam 04.03.2022
RGF on Youth Championship 04.03.2022
Taking into consideration the complicated international situation and controversial attitude towards Russian athletes, to prevent possible conflicts and to protect all participating children, primarily our children, from possible moral and psychological traumas the Executive Committee of the Russian Go Federation made a decision to cancel the participation of the Russian team in the coming European Go Championship on March 10-12, 2022.
We hope for the soonest resolution of relations with the European Go Society.
It is a difficult decision for us, our children and juniors are the strongest in Europe but we are taking this step to protect them.
We hope for your understanding.
Translated with DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator (free version)
IGF Statement 11.03.2022
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has passed a resolution urging all International Federations to relocate or cancel their events currently planned in Russia or Belarus.
The IGF has no plans to stage any events in either country and urges all regional associations/federations and all IGF association members to relocate or cancel any events currently planned in Russia or Belarus.
In addition, until further notice, no Russian or Belarussian flags will be displayed at events under IGF’s auspices. The Russian or Belarussian players participating in IGF events will be identified with the IGF flag. Regional associations/federations and IGF association members are urged to adopt a similar policy.
This statement is being sent to all IGF members and association members confirming IGF’s strong condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia with support of Belarus and expressing IGF’s unwavering solidarity with our Ukrainian friends.
European Team Championship 14.03.2022
The Pandanet Go European Team Championship has excluded Russia from the current League A, following the decision of the EGF (EGF announcement)
Senko Cup ~03.2022
Due to the current situation between Russia and Ukraine, we have suspended the participation of Natalia Kovaleva, representing Russia.
The tournament will be held as a 7-player tournament.Translated with DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator (free version)
EGF announcement ~05.2022
source (added text)
By Email voting by the EGF members on April 30 2022 it was decided that:
The start of players from Russia/Belarus in EGF-related tournaments is no longer possible
The related decision of the last AGM will be updated from “start under neutral flag possible” to “no start possible”
This decision is valid from 16th April 2022 on till further information
List of the affected tournaments (see bottome of this page)
List of the affected tournaments:
European single championships, the European Go Congress, Grand Prix (= Bonus Points-) tournaments, European Team Championships (PGETC, Youth-Teams, Student-teams, future European Team Championships), European Pair-Go championship, European qualification-tournaments for European and/or international tournaments (for example the base for nominations by the EGF). any future EGF-supported tournaments.
Not affected are:
– Any teaching activities (EGF-academy, workshops for youth at EYGC, twitch-comments on the EGF-channel)
– Working in EGF tasks, supporting publications, Go-news, EGF web page etc
Korea Prime Minister Cup ~21.09.2022
Korea Baduk Federation is requested to exclude Russia and Belarus from the 17th KPMC according to the EGF’s strong insistence… The KBF would try to hold a fair tournament for every participant, but the EGF insists that KBF should do that as a prerequisite to keep the EGF as a co-organizer.
EGF commentator suspension ~11.2022
Official Announcement: While the war on Ukraine continues, the EGF Board has decided to ban Russian and Belarusian nationals from commenting games on the official EGF social media (including Twitch) until further notice.
