Russia invading Ukraine

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EBL Statement 

Dear friends

We have been watching in horror the outrageous, unprovoked, invasion by Russia with the support of Belarus of the independent and sovereign territory and people of the Ukraine. There exists absolutely no rational justification, except possibly in the mind of mr. putin, for this aggression, which the EBL condemns in the strongest possible terms.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ukrainian people, who are fighting back so bravely against what one would expect being impossible odds. Their resilience shows that motivation, and fighting for a just cause, can at least partly compensate for raw power.

The EBL has been contemplating how we can show our support in more tangible ways than merely comforting words and proclamations. We have no illusions of what real impact we can possibly have in the bigger scheme of things but want to do something relevant to the Ukrainian bridge community. In this spirit, the EBL Executive Committee has today unanimously decided as follows:

  • The EBL waives the 2022 Annual Dues for the Ukrainian Bridge Federation (“UFSB”).
  • The UFSB can enter teams in all Categories at the European National Teams Championships (“ENTC”) on Madeira without paying the Entry Fee.
  • The EBL will organise an online Solidarity Pairs event, possibly including a “Pro-Am” element, later this month with all proceeds going to the UFSB.

The EBL EC also decided that, until further notice, no Russian or Belarussian participants will be invited to EBL events including, but not limited to, the ENTC on Madeira. We hope that those individual Russian bridge players affected, who may well be as outraged as the rest of us over what is happening, understand that this measure is not directed at them.

We hope and pray that sanity will ultimately prevail and this nightmare for the Ukrainian people, and really the whole civilized world, will soon end.

Lausanne March 3, 2022

Jan Kamras
EBL President