To: FMJD Member Federations

To: FMJD Member Federations

Subject:

• Introduction

• State of FMJD (Presidents report)

• New Statutes and Bye-Laws


Bennekom, February 2012

Introduction

Dear draughts friends,

This year FMJD exists 65 years. In many countries 65 years is the retirement age but FMJD is still very much alive. As a matter of fact we have made a lot of progress over the past years and that has resulted in a much healthier FMJD, despite the economic crisis that affects so many countries. But in our 65 years our structures have become somewhat rusty. Many minor and major changes have been made in the past and they have not resulted in very coherent Statutes. Instead of coming with minor changes we need a big change. Therefore we propose new Statutes and Bye-Laws. That is a process that needs careful consideration and decision-making. Nevertheless, we hope that this whole process can be carried out this year.

Presidents Report

When I was elected President of FMJD in December 2009, FMJD was facing serious problems. The World Championship for Men in Brazil was cancelled on short time notice and no time was available to come with alternatives. The financial crisis raging around the world was peaking and therefore even no money was available for low cost alternatives. Also future World Championships would have to face an enormous lack of money and lack of willingness of sponsors to invest in draughts.

I decided to follow three parallel roads to potential success. First of all our beautiful game should be more interesting for Television and Internet. We developed ideas and at about the same time top players, independently, gathered under the leadership of Bessel Kok. It resulted in a top tournament in Beijing in December 2011 where games with a shorter thinking time played an important role.

My other two lines were to seek active collaboration with IMSA, the international Mind Sport Association and with SportAccord (formerly GAISF). FMJD has been a member of these organizations for a number of years and this membership is now paying off. Excellent personal relations with IMSA President José Damiani and SportAccord President Hein Verbruggen certainly have been very useful.

The very special relation Hein Verbruggen has with China (Hein is an honorary citizen of Beijing because of the important role he played in getting the 2008 Olympic Games to China) resulted in the first SportAccord World Mind Games in December 2011. Top players in Bridge, Chess, Go, Draughts and Xiangqi played there. The tournament for international draughts had 12 players with men and 8 with women who played for total prize money of $90,000. With financial help of FMJD the section 64 could organize a demonstration tournament In the same playing hall. FMJD received a substantial organization fee for this tournament.

It has just been announced that the SportAccord World Mind Games are secured as an annual event for 2012-2014 and will be held again in Beijing. Qualification will be through World Cup tournaments. In 2011 the World Championships for Men and Women rated as World Cup tournaments and we were very happy with the World Cup tournament in Ufa. Many thanks there to the President of the Republic of Bashkortostan Khamitov who I met a few times personally and to Mr. Chertok, President of FMSR. FMSR has been very active and now officially represents FMJD for international draughts on 100 squares.

Ideally we want to have at least two World Cup Tournaments per year. For 2012 we are working on a World Cup tournament in Brazil and the World Mind Sport Games (August in Cardiff or Strasbourg) will count as a World Cup Tournament as well. The desired total prize money of €30,000 can be paid from the inscription fees and the financial resources of FMJD. For 2013 we have the World Championships for Men and Women. Those are World Cup Tournaments as well and we will organize a World Cup event in The Netherlands in the town of Wageningen that celebrates its 750th anniversary that year. For this tournament we receive financial support from IMSA with the goal to increase the role of Internet and computers in promoting such tournaments.

In 2011 IMSA entered into a long time relationship with Duplicate Poker. FMJD will receive part of the money involved in the contract whereby the money is earmarked for special projects. Duplicate Poker organized a mind sport event in November 2011 in the London Eye where draughts was demonstrated as well. Unfortunately the male top players Georgiev and Schwarzman could not be present there and we had serious visa problems for other players. Boomstra however made a very good impressions there as did our female top players, Viktoria Motrichka and World Champion Tamara Tansykkuzhina.

2011 Was also the year of the World Championship Tournaments for Men and Women. In a very well organized tournament in The Netherlands, in the polder town of Emmeloord and on the former island Urk, Alexander Georgiev led the pack by three points and very well deserved kept his title. The World Championship for Women was organized in Rivne in the northwestern part of Ukraine. It was very well organized and Tansykkuzhina deserved her world title. FMJD is very grateful to the organizers of these events and hopes that we will see them back on the organizational front in the future.

All of the world many tournaments were organized and it shows that our mind sport is still very much alive.

In 2011 compensation was paid for costs occurred with the cancelled World Championship in Brazil in 2009. Surplus money from the Foundation of draughts was transferred to FMJD and money was spent on the teaching material from KNDB (‘Mappen Methode’). All in all FMJD created a profit in 2011 of over €50,000 though some of that money is earmarked. Precise numbers will be given in our financial presentation at the first General Assembly.

For 2012 we will need money for a special General Assembly for new Statutes and Bye-Laws, we will need to contribute some prize money for the World Mind Sport Games and we also want to use some of our funds to attract more members, especially in Africa and the Americas. We will also develop further ideas to make more training material available. And we need to have further courses for arbiters. Both from a viewpoint of mind sport as from a financial perspective we expect further success for draughts.

In the past two years the Council members worked together in an excellent way and special thanks go to all of them for their invaluable and non-paid contribution to FMJD. We are glad that our Tournament Director Youth, Johan Demasure, overcame his health problems and now is in good shape again. An exception needs to be made for Mr. Ibrahim Fofana. After organizing an FMJD council meeting in Bamako in Mali in November 2010, we have not heard of him and we need to tackle this problem. We will come with suggestions in due time.

New Statutes and Bye-Laws

After our first Statutes were made in 1947 many changes were made but basically the Statutes have not really been renewed for a long time. In the past year SportAccord has given us advice on the creation of new Statutes. We received examples and answers on specific questions.

We should strive for Statutes that do not need regular changes like we had in the past. The Statutes, in our view, should also comply with Sport Laws deposited in Switzerland and used by many global sport associations. The new Statutes reflect this.

Originally FMJD was set up for international draughts on 100 squares. About 15 years ago other organizations such as ‘64’ and checkers became member. Though we want to retain FMJD as one family, it is important to stress the independence of the other variants, as it has been the case practically over the past 15 years. The other variants are to become associated members of FMJD and can use the FMJD logo with the text ‘ Associated Member of FMJD’. There will only be very limited crossover financial obligations between FMJD and its associate members. Of course FMJD will try to collaborate with the associated members in international mind sport events where the organization accepts other variants than international draughts on 100 squares.

Other important changes are the reductions of the Membership fee and the termination of two different fees. Seeing the financial situation of FMJD and the greater income generated we can propose one membership fee that is lower than the lowest membership fee currently used. The lowering of the fee should attract many more members.

FMJD
Statutes


Table of Content
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Name and headquarters
Article 2. Objectives
Article 3. Non-discrimination, representation of women
Article 4. Official languages
CHAPTER II MEMBERSHIP
Article 5. Categories of Members
Article 6. Conditions for Membership
Article 7. Application procedure and conditions for membership
Article 8. Honorary Members
Article 9. Members' rights
Article 10. Members’ obligations
Article 11. Resignation
Article 12. Revision of Membership
Article 13. Suspension
Article 14. Expulsion
Article 15. Notices
CHAPTER III. ADMINISTRATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
Article 16. Organs
A. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Article 17. Definition, organization
Article 18. Powers of the General Assembly
Article 19. Delegates
Article 20. Quorums
Article 21. Voting
Article 22. Elections
Article 23. Election of the President
Article 24. Ordinary General Assembly
Article 25. Agenda for Ordinary General Assembly
Article 26. Presidential election
Article 27. Extraordinary General Assembly
Article 28. Conduct of meetings
Article 29. Minutes
B. COUNCIL
Article 30. Composition and election
Article 31. Eligibility, term of office
Article 32. Meetings, quorums
Article 33. Powers of the Council
C. ADMINISTRATION
Article 34. Mission
Article 35. Director General
CHAPTER IV FINANCES
Article 36. Subscriptions
Article 37. Finances, liability
Article 38. Auditors
CHAPTER V. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 39. Dispute resolution
Article 40. Interpretation
Article 41. Modification of the Statutes
Article 42. Dissolution
Article 43. Independence of Members
Article 44. Enforcement
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Name and headquarters
1.1 The World Draughts Federation FMJD, originally Fédération Mondiale du Jeu de Dames, is a non-profit association, composed of autonomous and independent national draughts federations for international draughts (draughts played on 100 squares)
1.2 FMJD is constituted according to art. 60ff of the Swiss Civil Code, and is formed for an unlimited period of time.
1.3 The registered office of FMJD is located in the Netherlands.
Article 2. Objectives
2.1 The objectives of FMJD are
` 1. To promote and develop international draughts at all levels, as a means to contribute to the positive development of society;
2. To develop specific services for its Members and all draughts players, and provide them with assistance, training and support;
3. To increase the level of recognition of FMJD and its Members by the Olympic Movement stakeholders as well as by other entities involved in sport;
4. To fight against doping and promote Peace in and through sport
5. to organize high level tournaments such as World Championships and actively support the organization of tournaments by its Members;
6. To set and publish regulations for titles and grant them to those entitled to receive them
7. To be a modern, flexible, transparent and accountable organization;
8. To organize, at least once every two years, a gathering of all of its Members, and of other stakeholders of the draughts movement, called the General Assembly;
9. To recognize unconditionally the autonomy of its Members and their authority within their organization;
10. To promote closer links among its Members, and between its Members
11. To coordinate and protect the common interests of its Members;
12. To collaborate with and where possible be a member of organizations having as (one of) their objective(s) the promotion of mind sports on a world-wide basis;
13. To collect, collate and circulate information to and among its Members.
2.2 Other objectives may be defined by the General Assembly.
Article 3. Non-discrimination, representation of women
3.1 FMJD and its Members reject all forms and means of discrimination against individuals, groups of people, organizations or countries on grounds of ethnic origin, gender, language, religion or politics.
3.2 FMJD supports a fair representation of women in its activities and in the management of sport.
Article 4. Official languages
4.1 The official languages of FMJD are English, French and Russian.
4.2 Its Members in their relations with FMJD shall use English as much as possible. For the interpretation of the Statutes and all other official documents of FMJD the original English language shall prevail
CHAPTER II MEMBERSHIP
Article 5. Categories of Members
The Members of FMJD are the countries represented by the:
a) The Full Members
b) The Associate Members in so far they are no Full Member
whose admission has been approved by the General Assembly.
Article 6. Conditions for Membership
6.1 Full Members
Full Members are those National Organizations for International Draughts that are accepted by the General Assembly as the representing Draughts Organization for their country
Candidate organizations for full membership shall fulfil the following conditions:
Structure and Governance
a) Be the national representative for international draughts
b) Be a registered nonprofit organization
c) Support the fight against doping
d) Take measures to promote the participation of women and persons with disabilities, apply fair play, look after players health and safety, have high standard arbitration and clear competition rules;
e) Take measures to protect the players and their entourage from corruption, illegal and irregular betting, fraud, and other harmful practices linked to sport.
f) Take measures to incorporate and implement sustainability principles both with regard to the environment and society
g) Apply in all aspects of its daily business the principles of good governance
6.2 Associate Members
Associate Members are organizations representing other variants of draughts such as, but not limited to:
Russian and/or Brazilian draughts on 64 squares Checkers Turkish draughts
Or other variants admitted to the discretion of the General Assembly
Associate members are independent having their own council, finances, general assembly and elections. FMJD can collaborate with the associated members in the organization of all encompassing international mind sport events in which the organization accepts other versions of draughts than international draughts on 100 squares.
Associated members can use the FMJD logo but always need to mention ‘Associate Member of FMJD’
Article 7. Application procedure and conditions for membership
7.1 Applications for membership must be submitted 3 months prior to the General Assembly at which they are to be considered.
7.2 The FMJD council reviews each application and recommends or does not recommend an applicant to the General Assembly.
7.3 The FMJD council can decide to grant provisional membership to an applicant
Article 8. Honorary Members
The General Assembly may, upon a proposal by the Council, grant the title of "Honorary President" or "Honorary Member" respectively to a retiring President or a retiring Council Member for their outstanding services to FMJD. They may attend the General Assembly, but do not have the right to vote. Also other persons that have been active for FMJD and rendered outstanding services can be granted the title of “Honorary Member”
Article 9. Members' rights
Members have the right:
9.1 To receive in advance the agenda of the General Assembly, to be called to the meeting within the prescribed time, to take part to the meeting and, if Full Members (or the Member referred to under article 21.3), to exercise their right to participate in voting and lections;
9.2 To be informed of the state of FMJD;
9.3 To draw up proposals regarding the Agenda of the General Assembly;
9.4 To nominate candidates for all functions within FMJD to the Presidency of FMJD;
9.5 To exercise any other right arising from the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FMJD.
Article 10. Members’ obligations
Members have the obligation:
10.1. To comply at any time unreservedly with the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FMJD;
10.2. To have at all times their executive organs, and, if applicable, their disciplinary organs, elected by their respective General Assembly;
10.3. To notify FMJD, in writing of any modification in their constitution or/statutes, or of the inclusion or hiving off of any new draughts discipline to their program and any change that affects the conditions of admission;
10.4. To pay their membership subscription in due time.
Article 11. Resignation
11.1 A Member may resign at any time, provided that at the time of resignation he has no outstanding liabilities to FMJD and is a fully paid-up Member.
11.2 Such resignation shall take effect immediately upon receipt of a notice of resignation signed by the authorized person(s), and shall be reported to the next General Assembly by the Administration of FMJD
11.3 A Member that resigns remains liable for any outstanding obligation
Article 12. Revision of Membership
Modifications of its constitution/statutes, regulations and directives by a Member or ceasing to comply with the conditions of membership, may result in the revision by the General Assembly of its membership of FMJD.
As a result of such revision the General Assembly may set a deadline within which the Member shall comply with any directions that the General Assembly may give failing which the General Assembly may decide to suspend or expel the Member.
Article 13. Suspension
The Council may, by a majority decision, suspend until the next General Assembly a Member who fails to comply with a provision of the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FMJD, and in particular for the following reasons:
1. Non-payment of any liabilities due to FMJD;
2. Owing 2 (two) years of overdue annual membership fee to FMJD;
3. A final decision must be made by the next General Assembly, provided the suspension is still in force at that time.
Article 14. Expulsion
A Member shall lose its membership of FMJD on a resolution passed by the FMJD General Assembly, notably for the following reasons:
1. Refusal to pay any liabilities due to FMJD;
2. Non-payment of any membership fees due to FMJD for 4 (four) or more years;
3. Refusal to comply with the provisions of the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FMJD;
4. Loss of its status of representative of its sport at the international level.
Article 15. Notices
15.1 A notice or notification to a Member shall be deemed to have been properly received provided it was sent to the last address indicated by the Member to the Administration.
15.2 Notification regarding suspension or expulsion of the Member concerned or dissolution of FMJD shall always be sent by registered mail.
CHAPTER III. ADMINISTRATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
Article 16. Organs
16.1 The General Assembly is the supreme organ of FMJD
16.2 The Council is the executive body
16.3 Commissions support the Council and the AG. They are mentioned in the by-laws
A. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Article 17. Definition, organization
17.1 The General Assembly is the meeting attended the Members of FMJD. It is the supreme organ of FMJD
.
17.2 Only a General Assembly regularly convened has the authority to exercise its powers.
17.3 The General Assembly may be Ordinary or Extraordinary.
17.4 The meetings of the General Assembly are open to the public except when decided otherwise by the General Assembly. When justified by the circumstances the President may under the control of the General Assembly request individual members of the public to leave the conference room.
Article 18. Powers of the General Assembly
18.1. The General Assembly adopts or amends the Statutes, regulations and directives of FMJD
18.2 The General Assembly may amend or revoke the regulations and directives of the Council to the extent that they affect the Members directly.
18.3 The General Assembly approves the minutes of the last meeting.
18.4 The General Assembly admits, suspends (subject to article 13.1) or expels a Member.
18.5 The General Assembly elects the President.
18.6 The General Assembly appoints the independent auditors.
18.7 The General Assembly approves the budgets, financial statements and the activity report.
18.8 The General Assembly sets the amount of the subscription for Members;
18.9 The General Assembly bestows, on a proposal by the Council, the title of Honorary President or Honorary Member on a retiring President or retiring Council Member who rendered outstanding services to FMJD
.
18.10 The General Assembly exercises any other competence specifically attributed to it by the Statutes, regulations and directives of FMJD.
Article 19. Delegates
19.1 Each Member's delegation is limited to a maximum of 3 (three) persons,. A Member’s delegation shall not include FMJD Council Members
19.2. All delegates other than the President/Chair, Vice-President or Secretary General/Director General of the Member shall send to the Administration a power of attorney document signed by one of the above mentioned three Officers, which he must carry on the day of the General Assembly.
Article 20. Quorums
20.1 The quorum for general business of the General Assembly shall be the majority of the Members having voting rights.
20.2 The quorum for business entailing changes of these Statutes or the dissolution of FMJD shall be 2/3 (two thirds) of the Members having voting rights.
Article 21. Voting
21.1 Each Full Member who has satisfied all its financial obligations toward FMJD at the time of the meeting is entitled to one vote.
21.2 A delegate may represent 1 (one) more Member that has given his voting rights in an official letter to the delegate. The original letter needs to be presented to the council before the meeting starts.
21.3 The council conducts the daily business of FMJD. For decisions that are deemed very important for all members, the council can conduct a vote by correspondence.
21.3 Associate Members have no voting right, but have the right to speak.
21.4 Save any indication to the contrary in these Statutes, all decisions shall be made by the majority of the votes validly cast
21.5 Illegible, void, and blank votes, and abstentions shall not be included in the count of validly cast votes
21.6 Except in the case of elections, voting shall always be conducted by a show of hands or voting machines, unless 2 (two) or more Members having voting rights should request a secret ballot; in that case, voting machines may also be used, provided they allow secrecy in voting. When the AG rejects a candidate for a position, the AG needs to come with an alternative candidate.
21.7 Dissolution of FMJD and amendments to the Statutes require 2/3 of the votes validly cast
21.8 Voting by proxy or letter is not allowed. A council member, however, can be given the authority to vote on behalf of his country
Article 22. Elections
22.1 A candidate is elected if he/she obtains the majority of the votes validly cast.
22.2 Voting for elections shall always be carried out by secret ballot whenever there is more than 1 (one) candidate for the office up for election. Voting machines may be used provided they allow secrecy in voting.
22.3 In the event there is only one candidate for the position being filled, the election will be carried out by acclamation, unless an election by secret ballot is requested by at least 2 (two) Members having voting rights.
Article 23. Election of the President
23.1 During the election of the President, the out-going President shall, if seeking re-election, surrender the chair to a "chairman pro-tempore", elected by the Assembly, who will then conduct the election.
23.2 The out-going President subject to the provision of article 23.1 resumes his position after the election and continues to chair the General Assembly.
23.3 The newly elected President and Council members take office after the close of the General Assembly.
Article 24. Ordinary General Assembly
24.1 The Ordinary General Assembly is convened by the Council once every 2 (two) years, preferably on the occasion of the World Championship for Men.
24.2 All proposals by Members or by the Council to modify the FMJD Statutes should be communicated in writing to the Administration at least 6 (six) months prior to the General Assembly. After consideration, the Council will pass on the proposal to the Members along with its comments at the latest 4 (three) months before the General Assembly.
24.3 At least 4 (four) months before the date of the opening of the General Assembly, the Administration shall send a formal call to the meeting to all Members. The notice shall stipulate that any Member willing to add a new item on the agenda must submit it to the FMJD Administration no later than 2 months prior to the meeting. Also proposed changes of Statutes will be sent to all members.
24.4 At least 1 (one) month before the General Assembly meets, the Administration shall circulate the agenda as prepared by the Council, together with the activity report and any other relevant documents. The budget and the accounts will be circulated immediately after having been audited, but, in any case, at least one month before the General Assembly.
24.5 Together with the agenda, the Administration shall circulate details of any membership applications and a brief description and results of any investigations made to that effect by the Administration as well as any recommendations by the Council. Objections to or reservations held regarding such membership applications must be communicated to the Administration together with the reasons for such objection or reservation, no later than 15 days prior to the General Assembly.
Article 25. Agenda for Ordinary General Assembly
25.1 The agenda shall contain but is not limited to the following items:
1. Opening of the meeting;
2. Roll call
3. Adoption of the agenda subject to article 25.2;
4. President's address;
5. Appointment of scrutinizers (if applicable);
6. Suspension or expulsion of a Member (if applicable)
7. Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting;
8. Activity reports;
9. Reports of the commissions
10. Financial matters (balance sheet, accounts, auditing report, budget, auditor…);
11. Statutes modifications (if applicable);
12. Proposals by council and members
13. Voting and elections (if applicable);
14. New membership applications;
15. Items presented for information;
16. Items brought forward from meetings among Members;
17. Date and place of next meeting.
25.2 The Council may add any urgent matter to the agenda of the General Assembly at any time. In any other cases, the agenda may be modified by the General Assembly provided there is a majority of the votes validly cast.
Article 26. Presidential election
26.1 Nominations for the Presidency must be notified in writing to the Administration at the latest 30 (thirty) days before the beginning of the meeting at which the elections will take place. The General Secretary will issue a note indicating the deadline to be observed at the latest 60 days before the meeting at which the elections will take place.
26.2 Candidates must be nominated by a fully paid-up Member.
26.3 Candidates must have reached the age of 18 at the date of the election, and be in full possession of their civil rights
26.4 Nominations that arrive after the deadline shall not be taken into consideration. If no candidate has been nominated within the deadline or if a nominee is no longer a candidate on the day of the General Assembly, candidates may be nominated at the General Assembly. If there is no candidate the Vice-President elected by the Council shall act as Chair until the next General Assembly.
26.5 After the deadline for receiving nominations has been reached, the list of nominees for President will be distributed immediately to the Members.
26.6 The General Assembly elects the President for a 4 (four) year term. He/she is eligible for re-election.
Article 27. Extraordinary General Assembly
27.1 An Extraordinary General Assembly may be convened at the request of the Council or shall be convened upon receipt of a written request from at least 1/3 (one third) of the Members having the right to vote, no later than two months after the request. Notification of the meeting will be sent out to the Members at least 30 (thirty) days in advance.
27.2 The notification shall detail the reasons for convening an Extraordinary General Assembly. No business other than that specified in the notification shall be conducted at such Extraordinary Assembly except for any urgent matter that the Council may add to the agenda.
Article 28. Conduct of meetings
The President presides over every meeting of the General Assembly and of the Council. If the President is absent, unable or unwilling to preside a (senior) Vice-President shall preside for the duration of the meeting as Chairman unless the General Assembly decides otherwise
Article 29. Minutes
29.1 The full minutes of the meetings are recorded by the Administration and submitted for approval by the Council within 2 (two) months of the meeting. No later than 4 months after the meeting the full minutes will be made available to the Members
29.2 Brief minutes of the meeting will be made available to the Members within 3 (three) weeks after the end of the meeting
29.3 No correction of or alteration to the minutes will be accepted without written notification to the Administration, duly received and acknowledged, within 4 (four) months of the date of circulation of the minutes to the Members.
29.4 The minutes are submitted for approval at the next General Assembly.
B. COUNCIL
Article 30. Composition and election
30.1 The Council is the executive organ of FMJD. It consists of 6-8 members:
1. The President, elected by the General Assembly;
2. The General Secretary, elected by the General Assembly
3. The Treasurer, elected by the General Assembly
4. The Tournament Director, elected by the General Assembly
5. The Tournament Director Youth, elected by the General Assembly
6. A relations officer overlooking and continuously improving relations between the Associate Members and the relation between the Associated Members and FMJD
7. On the discretion of the President, he/she may propose at the time when his/hers candidacy is announced to appoint 1 (one) or 2 (two) more members to the Council who will have specific tasks. The election of these additional members is to the discretion of the General Assembly.
30.2 The Council elects from their members 1 (one) or 2 (two) Vice-Presidents
30.3 The President can ask (one of) the Vice President(s) to be Executive Vice President in fact taking over a number of the Presidential tasks in accordance and agreement with the President
Article 31 Eligibility, term of office
31.1 The candidates Council Members must have reached the age of 18 when taking office, and be in full possession of their civil rights.
31.2 Council members are appointed for a term of 4 (four) years. They may be reappointed.
Article 32. Meetings, quorums
32.1 The Council shall meet in principle twice during each year of its period of office
32.2 The quorum for meetings of the Council is met when 2/3 of the council members inclusive the President are present. In the circumstance where the President is unable to attend and does not wish or is unable to cancel the meeting, the quorum shall be satisfied only with at least ¾ of the council members being present.
32.3 The President or the Chair of the meeting has a casting vote in case of a tie.
Article 33. Powers of the Council
33.1. The Council is competent in all matters that are not reserved to other bodies by the Statutes, regulations and directives of FMJD.
33.2 The Council lays down the regulations and directives of FMJD subject to article 18.2.
33.3 The Council represents and commits FMJD with regard to third parties. Subject to article 37.1 the Council shall decide through which individuals FMJD shall be committed towards third parties.
33.4 The Council oversees the day to day running of FMJD.
33.5 The Council prepares and convenes Ordinary and Extraordinary General Assemblies.
33.6 The Council appoints any commission it deems necessary at any time.
33.7 The council is authorized to make changes in the by-laws. These changes can be approved or rejected by the General Assembly
C. ADMINISTRATION
Article 34. Mission
34.1 The mission of the Administration is to implement the decisions made by the General Assembly and the Council, and carry out all the administrative duties of FMJD.
34.2 Members of the Administration do not have voting rights.
Article 35. Director General
35.1 The FMJD council may appoint a Director General, on the basis of a contract governed by private law. He/she shall be accountable to the Council for the running of the Administration and such other duties as may be required.
35.2 He/she hires FMJD staff with the approval of the Council.
CHAPTER IV FINANCES
Article 36. Subscriptions
36.1 All Members of FMJD shall pay an annual subscription according to the following scale:
Full Members: 100% (one hundred per cent) of the subscription; Associate Members: 25% of the full subscription fee for every member they represent and that are not already full members
36.2 New Members shall pay a partial subscription for the current year, as of the month of their membership acceptance.
36.3 The amount of the subscription shall be decided by each General Assembly on a proposal from the Council and shall be payable no later than the next 31st of January.
36.4 Should a General Assembly not be held in any one or more years, the same amount of subscription as the previous year shall become due on the 31st of January as appropriate.
Article 37. Finances, liability
37.1 FMJD shall be financially bound, within the limits of the approved budget, by the joint signatures of the President and a Council Member or of any two Council Members.
The President supported by at least two Council members can make non-budgeted payments deemed beneficial and necessary for the well being of the Federation.
37.2 Members shall only be legally and financially liable, toward FMJD and third parties, up to the limit of their annual subscription to FMJD.
37.3 The financial year of FMJD shall run from the 1st January to the 31st of December annually.
Article 38. Auditors
38.1 The accounts must be audited each year by external qualified professional auditors, totally independent from FMJD. Their duty is to check the accounts and present their report to the General Assembly, with their conclusions and recommendations, notably with regards to the approval of the financial statements by the General Assembly.
38.2 The auditors must be appointed by the General Assembly, generally for a period of 4 (four) years. Their mandate may be renewed.
CHAPTER V. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 39. Dispute resolution
39.1 Disputes will be treated first by a special commission within FMJD and will be escalated, if necessary, to the General Assembly. Any dispute remaining for which there is no competent internal body, will be submitted exclusively to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in Lausanne, Switzerland, applying its own procedural rules. Its decisions are final.
39.2 Any appeal against a final and binding decision from any FMJD organ shall exclusively be submitted to the CAS, to the exclusion of any ordinary court of any country.
Article 40. Interpretation
The authority for settling any dispute arising out of the interpretation of these Statutes shall reside with the President, or Chair for the time being, who shall seek the advice of the Council or General Assembly before taking the final decision.
Article 41. Modification of the Statutes
41.1 These Statutes may only be modified by the General Assembly or by an Extraordinary Assembly convened especially for that purpose.
41.2 The amendments to the Statutes require the 2/3 (two thirds) of the votes validly cast
Article 42. Dissolution
42.1 The intended dissolution of FMJD shall require an Extraordinary Meeting of the General Assembly at which the proposed dissolution shall be the sole item on the agenda.
42.2 Dissolution requires the 2/3 (two thirds) of the votes validly cast
42.3 Any assets remaining after the dissolution of FMJD, shall, after satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, be applied to the furtherance of any objective(s) of FMJD as determined by the General Assembly at, or before, the time of dissolution. If effect cannot be given to the foregoing provisions, they shall be given to a charitable
organization. Under no circumstances shall they be paid to, or distributed among the Members of the Association.
Article 43. Independence of Members
No discussion or voting by FMJD shall infringe in any way on the freedom and independence of any Member, who shall, at all time, retain complete independence and control over all matters falling within their field of activity.
Article 44. Enforcement
This version of the statutes has been adopted at the General Assembly in on 2012 and came into force immediately.

FMJD Bye-Laws


The Bye-Laws apply to the FMJD Statutes and refer, where necessary, to the articles of the Statutes.
Ad Article 1.1
FMJD, Féderation Mondiale du Jeu de Dames, was founded on September 16, 1947
Ad Article 2
The official FMJD website
FMJD shall have its own website: www.fmjd.org It contains amongst others: General information on draughts such as the precise regulations News and official decisions of the FMJD General Assembly and the FMJD council Names, addresses inclusive email and where applicable websites of the member federations and council members The results of official FMJD competitions inclusive World Championships The results of championships and tournaments organized by member Federations A technical section with, but not limited to, analyses of games, compositions The FMJD ratings
The FMJD rating
The FMJD rating is the official rating list of FMJD published four times per annum at the beginning of each quarter. It contains: The results of all official FMJD competitions, national championships and international tournaments Ratings of all players Mathematical calculations of individual performances of players in tournaments and the development over the years of ratings of individual players Organizers of tournaments that want FMJD recognition may have to pay a fee to obtain recognition
Regulation of tournaments
Tournament regulations are edited by the General Secretary and the Tournament Directors. They are accountable to the General Assembly through the Council.
Further regulations
FMJD regulations contain: Official rules for the International Draughts on 100 squares Official regulations for FMJD competitions Official regulations for the organization of FMJD competitions Regulations for referees
Regulations for the so called Swiss System Regulation of rapid games Regulations of blitz games Regulations of the rating system Regulations of International and FMJD titles Recognitions of records and special performances
Ad Article 6 (Members)
The Council of FMJD officially deals only with national Federations, continental Confederations and official representatives of the players organisations.
A player can belong to only one National Federation. An exception can be made for a player who moves to another country and becomes a member of a new federation. In that case, whenever such a player wants to participate in an official FMJD competition, the latter federation has to prove that the player has lived for over one year in the new country of residence.
A player who possesses double nationality must choose once and for all the Federation he or she wishes to represent and is not allowed to be selected by both of them.
For national team championships, the player must have the nationality of the country he plays for.
Tournaments such as World Mind Sport Games are open for all, also for players that are not a member of a National Federation.
Committees
FMJD will have several committees:
The technical committee that looks after the rules and the interpretation of the game and arbitrage The finance committee that looks after financial regulations within FMJD and comes with suggestions for contributions, penalties etc. The publicity committee that takes care of positive exposure of FMJD through its website and through other means The committee for Problemism which deals with problems made by composers for the game of draughts The ethics and appeals committee that deals with ethical issues such as fraud and with appeals against decisions taken by FMJD bodies The ICT committee that deals with technical issues such as electronic boards and internet
The committees report to the General Assembly and come where necessary with proposals. In the case of ethical issues, the ethical commission comes with a report and suggest, where thought necessary actions against members or individuals.
Ad Article 29 Council Meetings
The biannual Council Meetings are not open to the general public but can be attended, if they wish so, by:
The Presidents of the Continental Federations A representative of the Problemism Committee The representative of the male players (normally the World Champion) The representative of the female players (normally the World Champion) A representative of the Technical Committee A representative of the Ethics and Appeals Committee
Duties of the Treasurer
The treasurer performs the regular bookkeeping of FMJD and provides the budget to the Council that on its turn will present the budget to the General Assembly.
Every three months he shall provide a quarterly report to the council members.
The treasurer also pays outstanding bills whereby bill larger than 1,000 Euro are to be signed off by another council member.
Duties of the Tournament Directors
The tournament directors handle the organization of all competitions in accordance with the planning approved by the General Assembly. They receive and check the applications, ensure all competitions conform the regulations and record the results.
Duties of confederations and their presidents
The presidents of continental confederations have the following functions for the federations of their continent:
- Co-ordinating continent-wide activities
- Distributing information coming from the Board
- Gathering information and subscriptions to international competitions in order to help the Office or the Tournament Directors - surveying the countries where the game is played
- Establishing contacts with that countries
- Facilitating communication between countries and the FMJD Council
In principle, a Confederation may be established for each continent. Each Confederation may draw up its own statutes and regulations, to be approved by the General Assembly. Each confederation may choose its own board and elect its President.
The Confederation has as its aims:
- To organise continental championships in collaboration with the Tournament Directors
- To organise qualifications of the continental players for the World title competitions
- To organise other competitions between Federations on the continent
- To promote the game on the continent
- To recruit new countries for FMJD,
- To establish contacts with those countries.
For its own finances, the continental confederation may impose its own subscription fees (see Financial Regulations, article 2.4).
Ad Article 36
Financial regulations of FMJD
Resources
The resources of FMJD comprise but are not limited to:
a. Annual subscription fees of Full Members
b. Annual subscription fees of Associate Members
c. Enrolment fees paid by National Federations for their participation in official competitions
d. Enrolment and recognition fees for official FMJD competitions
e. Organization fees
f. Donations and other incidental sources of incidental income
The annual subscription fee
The annual subscription fee as referred to in Article 36.1 shall be set at €120 for Full Members and at €30 per member state represented by the Associate Members
The enrolment fee
The enrolment fee is fixed in the General Assembly on proposals from the Council. The enrolment fees have to be paid at enrolment. The relevant national federation remains liable for these fees to FMJD and cannot be reimbursed in the case of non-participation.
The enrolment fee per participating player is set at:
World Championship seniors or challenge €200 World Championship Rapid, Blitz or Olympiad €100 World Cup Tournament, World Mind Sport Games €125 World Title Match Seniors ` €300 World Title Match Women €200 World Championship Women €100 World Championships Youth or Youth Olympiad € 25 € 25
The council may decide to set other (higher) tariffs when the enrolment fee also includes, i.e., travel and/or hospitality.
Organization fees
For World Championship the organization will pay an organization fee to FMJD no later than 3 (three) months prior to the start of the event. In case of non-payment FMJD has the right to cancel the event.
The amounts are as follows: World Championship seniors € 5,000 World Championship women € 5,000 World Cup tournament € 2,500
Or other regulations that come in place World Championship Teams € 3,000 World Title Match Men € 1,500 World Title Match Women € 1,500 World Championships Youth or Youth Olympiad € 0
The council of FMJD is entitled to ask a lower amount if circumstances don’t allow organizers to pay more.
The organizers of the World Championship Seniors shall bear the costs of the FMJD General Assembly.
For the organization of special events such as, but not limited to, SportAccord World Mind Games and World Mind Sport Games, FMJD may negotiate a special organization fee.
Recognition fees
The fees for recognition of tournaments organized by the Federations, such as international Title Tournaments or International Tournaments are:
€ 150 for an International Title Tournament € 100 for a tournament to be recognized by FMJD € 50 for the recognition of records and special performances
All fees need to be paid prior to the event.
Guarantees
FMJD may negotiate a guarantee payment from organizers of major tournaments to cover costs of travel, accommodation, visa etc. for players and officials in the case of last minute cancellation of the event. In the case of cancellation FMJD will return the guarantee to the organizers minus all costs incurred by FMJD with a mark-up on costs of 15%
Expenses
General Assembly
The costs of the General Assembly are born by the organizers of the World Championship Seniors. Due to circumstances they may not cover all costs.
On behalf of the members the following is paid: Travel and hospitality (hotel plus meals) for a maximum of three nights for Council Members. Travel is in Economy at the cheapest rate possible Hospitality as arranged for by FMJD with a maximum of three nights for one participant per Full member
Council meetings
Hospitality for a maximum of two nights as arranged for by FMJD Travel costs up to a maximum of € 250
Arbiters
FMJD main arbiters for international tournaments will be reimbursed € 60 per day. FMJD pays the travel costs for the main referee in an official FMJD Title Tournament when these costs cannot be covered by the organization. The organization pays the hospitality costs of the main arbiter and all costs of the assistant arbiter.
Presents
FMJD may present organizers and officials of tournaments with presents. This is left to the discretion of the FMJD President
FMJD office
In principle the FMJD office costs have to be paid by FMJD. In a situation where this is partly subsidized, FMJD will pay the shortfall. At every General Assembly the FMJD council will give an estimate of these additional costs that can be approved or disapproved of the General Assembly.
Special regulations for tournaments with participation of Associate Members
In situations where FMJD participates in events and players of Associate Members also participate FMJD will accommodate their participation. The enrolment fee will be collected by FMJD and hand over to the Associate Members minus a fixed amount of €500
In situations where players of Associate Members participate in the case of a demonstration of their game, FMJD will give its best efforts to arrange free travel and hospitality for participants and officials. In cases where FMJD will receive an organization fee, 15% of that organization fee minus cash costs incurred associated with the event, will be made available to the combined Associate Members to cover (part of) their costs. The 15% will be divided according to the number of countries the Associate Members represent.
Annexes:
Annex 1 official FMJD rules of international draughts
Annex 2 official FMJD rules for the organization of official FMJD competitions
Annex 3 official FMJD rules for competitions
Annex 4 the referee
Annex 5 Swiss System
Annex 6 rapid and blitz games
Annex 8 simultaneous games
Annex 9 FMJD rating system
Annex 10 norms and titles
Annex 11 special achievements and records
Annex 12 World Championship Women
Annex 13 Regulations for the ethics committee
Annex 14 Regulations for the medical committee
Annex 17 World Championship (all categories)
Further Regulations
CPI (Commission for Problemism)
Procedures for nomination and selection of referees