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It is not at all sure that Monaco-Z will be permitted to enter the 2012 European Championships. If the rules and regulations of the European Bridge League (EBL) are taken literally the 24/month residence requirement – the time team players should have lived in Monaco – is not completely fulfilled when the championships are held next year.
To finish with the first six in the European Championships is the only possibility for teams from Europe to participate in the 2013 Bermuda Bowl. These world championships however are organized by the World Bridge Federation (WBF). And by now it seems that according to its president Gianarrigo Rona the rules and regulations of the WBF may not have a problem with the residence requirement.
Monaco Z is the newly formed bridge team under the captaincy of the Franco-Swiss sponsor Pierre Zimmermann. Zimmermann is scheduled to play with Franck Multon (France), Fantoni-Nunes (Italy) and Helness-Helgemo (Norway). In a first reaction Zimmermann said: “The Monaco-Z team playing the 2012 European Championships is now a distant dream.”
Rona hopes that at this years’s World Championships in Veldhoven the WBF will be able to harmonize the relevant rules of all zones in order to avoid juridical conflicts. If he succeeds to that the door is still open to Monaco Z.
As to the 2012 Mind Games Rona foresees no problems for the participation by Monaco Z.
Eric Laurant, the captain of the Dutch open team, found an amusing and a creative solution: “As an organizer of the world team championships Monaco automatically qualifies for the Bermuda Bowl.”
Jan van Cleeff for BridgeTopics.com
June 26, 2011
Source: BridgeTopics.com