June 2, 2014. The official English version of the Report of the Independent Committee is now available: click here »
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May 9, 2014. Last April in Kassel an Independent Committee of five German top players was set up to check the evidence (videos, hands, etc.) against Elinescu and Wladow. The German top players are: Christian Schwerdt, Jörg Fritsche, Michael Gromöller, Wolf Stahl, Peter Jokisch.
The Independent Committee’s conclusions have been published on May 6th, 2014.
The main conclusions are:
1) Under the assumption that all testimonies of the Americans, tournament director and BBO-Operator are true, the committee is, after examination of all hands, 100% convinced that unauthorized communication was exchanged. Even when looking only at the 14 hands for which video is available, the committee is still 100% convinced that information about shortages/shape was exchanged in each of these 14 hands.
2) After checking all boards of the quarter-final, semifinal and final, there are many boards with suspicious actions and only one board, which the defense may potentially use to argue that no code was in place. One board was not enough to undermine the committee’s 100%-conclusion.
As a consequence of the analysis of the Independent Committee, the German Bridge Federation (DBV – Deutscher Bridge Verband) released the following statement:
“Item 4 of the letter which had been sent by the DBV to the WBF Disciplinary Commission is now regarded as obsolete, considering the contents of the Independent Commission’s report”.
Item 4 of the letter was: “After internal investigation, considering all shown evidence, the suspicion of cheating was not confirmed. In addiction Dr Wladow and Dr Elinescu asseverated unmistakably to us that the allegations they are accused of do not apply and were not committed by them”. (Note 1)
Additionally, the DBV-prosecutor, Mr Christian Schwerdt, is now instructed to investigate and reach a final decision in the DBV Disciplinary Court. (Note 2)
Notes
1) On March 13th, 2014 DBV sent a mail to the WBF Disciplinary Committee to explain the reasons why DBV members could not take part in the WBF hearing in Dallas. It was the first document published by the DBV about the Elinescu-Wladow Affaire.
2) On April 7th, 2014 the DBV announced a provisional suspension of Elinescu and Wladow signed off by the DBV Disciplinary Court. Michael Elinescu and Entscho Wladow appealed to the District Court of Cologne against the provisional suspension decided by the DBV, but their request has been rejected.
3) On April 15th, 2014 the DBV appealed against the Ruling of the WBF Disciplinary Committee, after the hearing held in Dallas on 21st and 22nd of March.
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Documents:
Further documentation can be found in previous articles published in Neapolitan Club: click here »
Many thanks to Karl Junk for his precious help