Member Suspended
A Disciplinary Committee accepted a guilty plea and sanctioned a member who admitted to abusing NGS exemptions. The behaviour was considered to be in breach of the NGS regulations and therefore an offence under paragraph 3.2 (ii) of the Disciplinary Rules. The member was suspended from EBU membership for 18 months, reduced to six months as required by Rule 10.2(vii) for admission of guilt in response to the letter seeking comment. The disciplinary committee considered the member’s position as a TD and as an experienced player aggravating factors in determining the sentence. The panel directed that the sanction would be communicated under Rules 13.2 – 13.4 but publication under Rule 13.1 would indicate the nature of the offence but not identify the offender in accordance with Rule 10.2(vii).
In response to this case, the following update was sent to all EBU affiliated clubs:
Laws & Ethics Updates (Sent to Clubs on 2nd July)
Clubs should be mindful that the NGS regulations for exemptions should be followed when a tournament director or host/mentor opts to exclude themselves from the scheme for a session.
- Exemptions are limited to one player or pair in an event and is at the discretion of the event organiser.
- Exemptions are only for unfamiliar partnerships: a partnership may not exempt a session if they have previously played together three or more times.
- To use the exemption, the player seeking to exempt themselves must complete a form which is available in their My EBU members’ area. This has to be done as soon as the host/TD knows that they will be playing and, in any case, no more than 30 minutes after the start of the game (this 30-minute leeway is offered for the benefit of hosts who are not confirmed to be playing until the end of the first round of the game).
- This form must be filled out in addition to selecting the appropriate option in the scoring program.
Clubs do have the option to run code 12 sessions which count for Master Points but are excluded from NGS. When running these sessions clubs must make all players aware in advance that the session will not count for NGS.
Member given a Suspended Sentence
A Disciplinary Committee accepted the guilty plea and sanctioned a member who admitted to rude behaviour towards opponents and the tournament director after a ruling was given that the member disagreed with. The behaviour was considered to be in breach of the Best Behaviour at Bridge policy and therefore an offence under paragraph 3.2 (ii) of the Disciplinary Rules. The sentence imposed was a nine-month suspension of membership which was reduced as required by Rule 10.2 (vii) to three months for an admission of guilt in response to the letter seeking comment. The panel considered mitigating circumstances and decided to suspend the sentence for nine months, only to be actioned in the event of a further proven offence. The panel directed that the nature of the offence be published under Rule 13.1 but not identify the offender in accordance with Rule 10.2(vii).
September 20, 2024