The German Bridge Federation (DBV – Deutscher Bridge Verband), has published its verdict and the sentence after investigating the pair Josef Piekarek and Alexander Smirnov.
The two German players admitted to unethical practice at the table just before the commencement of the World Championship, the Bermuda Bowl, held in Chennai at the end of September. The DBV promptly withdrew the national team because the pair were involved in the qualification for the event.
The sentence will set an interesting precedent for the other cases under investigation. The pair are banned for life as a partnership and will not be able to participate as players for 10 years. This was reduced because they admitted their guilt before a proper investigation was undertaken, therefore the playing ban has been reduced to six years.
From sentence: ” 1. Josef Piekarek and Alexander Smirnow are banned for life from playing together as a pair […]2. Josef Piekarek and Alexander Smirnow are banned as players for 6 years (10 minus 4 years) until September 18th 2021[…] 3. The 6-years-ban for each of them is suspended for 2 years on probation, starting September 19th 2019 and ending September 18th 2021. The ban shall be reinstated by this Court if one of the defendants again commits an infraction of DBV-statute §19(3)b, not necessarily another breach of trust.”
The case will be discussed at the EBL Disciplinary Committee being held in Lausanne on 14 April later this year.
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Laura Camponeschi
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