Minutes of the 25th General Meeting of the International Go Federation

Time:  16:00—17:30, Friday, 26 May 2006.
Venue: Conference Room 4, Utrecht, at Huis Ten Bosch (Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture)

Agenda

1. Opening address by Ms. SHIGENO Yuki, new Secretary General of the IGF.
2. Confirmation of the minutes of the 24th General Meeting.
3. Election of president and directors.
      Kudo Norio is standing as candidate for president
      Eight candidates complete their terms as of 31 May 2006. 
      A list of the candidates for the next term was attached.

4. Reports by Mr. Erik Puyt
      (i) Approval of the IGF as a full member at the GAISF General Assembly held in Seoul on 7 April 2006.
      (ii) Report on the 2nd meeting of IMSA, held on 28 and 29 October 2005 in Estoril, Portugal.
      (iii) The World Mind Sports Games (Intellympiad) project being planned by IMSA; 
      the visit by Mr. Jose Damiani, President of IMSA, in April 2006 to the Chinese Organizing Committee 
      for the 2008 Olympics, to have preliminary discussions concerning the possibility of the Intellympiad 
      being held before or after the Olympics. 

5. Operations Report and Financial Report for 2005 and Operations Plan and Budget for 2006.

6. 28th World Amateur Go Championship (2007).

7. Reports on operations
      (i) Participation in SportAccord convention organized by GAISF/IOC in Seoul in April 2006. 
      Setting up of a stand to publicize Go among the members of other international sporting bodies 
      in attendance (the other three mind-sports associations also participated).
      (ii) Production of IGF video.
      (iii) Refurbishing of the IGF’s website.

8. Other
 
Original Attachments
1. Candidates for directors for the 2006–2008 term.
2. Minutes of the 24th General Meeting of the International Go Federation.
3. Statement of Income and Expenses 2005.
4. Statement of Income and Expenses 2006, Budget.
5. Copy of GAISF membership certificate.

Minutes

      Because of a delay in the flight to Nagasaki Airport and because the Directors Meeting lasted a 
      long time, the GM started one hour 45 minutes later than scheduled. The time spent waiting for 
      members to assemble was used to show the video made to publicize the IGF at the SportAccord 
      organized by GAISF/IOC in Seoul in April.

1.  Address by Ms. Shigeno Yuki, new Secretary General of the IGF
      Ms. Shigeno Yuki, who succeeded Mr. Yamamoto Riichi in the post of Secretary General in 
      January 2006, gave an address.

2.  Confirmation of the minutes of the 24th General Meeting.
      The minutes were approved by the meeting.

3.  Election of president and directors (eight), election of vice-presidents.
      (i) The IGF president
      Besides Kudo Norio, the current president of the IGF, no one had announced his candidacy for 
      president; the IGF Directors Meeting had recommended him as candidate; he was so elected by 
      the General Meeting. Mr. Kudo gave an address after his election.

      (ii) Directors (eight) 
      The terms of office of eight directors expired in May this year. They are: Her Dong Soo, 
      Thomas Hsiang, Korsak Chairasmisak, Eduardo Lopez Herrero, Brad Melki, Erik Puyt, Martin Stiassny, 
      and Wang Runan.
      Five of these directors — Hsiang, Lopez Herrero, Puyt, Stiassny, and Wang — had announced their 
      candidacy for another term.  Concerning the remaining three posts, the Korean Baduk Association 
      nominated Han Sang-Yull as the successor to Her and the New Zealand Go Society nominated 
      Neville Smythe as the successor to Melki. The DM has approved the candidacies of these seven persons. 
      They were all elected by the GM.	
      Notification that Korsak would not stand for another term was received by the IGF just one month 
      before the DM, which did not leave enough time to find a candidate as his successor, so the GM 
      decided that this question would be carried over until the next DM. Until then, it was decided 
      that the IGF should be operated with ten directors.

      (iii) Vice-presidents
      On condition that they be elected as directors at the GM, Lopez Herrero, Puyt, and Wang had been 
      selected as vice-presidents at the 27th DM. As they had been elected, their appointment as 
      Vice-presidents became effective.

4. Reports by Erik Puyt
      Erik Puyt, IGF Vice-president, who is also the Secretary General of IMSA, attended, together with 
      IGF Secretary General Shigeno Yuki, the SportAccord organized by GAISF/IOC in Seoul in April 2006, 
      and attended the general meeting of GAISF. He made the following reports.

      (i) The IGF was approved as a full member at the GAISF General Assembly held in Seoul on 7 April 2006.
      We hope to make effective use of becoming a full member of GAISF to cooperate positively with the 
      other mind sports and to enhance recognition of mind sports. We plan to display the certificate of 
      GAISF full membership on the IGF web site.
		
      (ii) Report on the 2nd meeting of IMSA, held on 28 and 29 October 2005 in Estoril, Portugal.
      Three new points were discussed at this meeting and agreement was reached.
      (a) We will strive to include mind sports in the Olympic movement on an international and national level.
      (b) We will analyse and promote our joint interests.
      (c) The plan for the World Mind Sports Games (the Intellympiad), covered under the next item 
      
      (iii) The World Mind Sports Games (Intellympiad) project being planned by IMSA; the visit by Mr. Jose Damiani, 
      President of IMSA, in April 2006 to the Chinese Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympics to have preliminary 
      discussions concerning the possibility of the Intellympiad being held after the Olympics.
      A letter from the head of the GAISF secretariat expressed support for mind-sports activity and hinted 
      at the possibility of holding an event under the name of "Intellympiad". IMSA is examining the possibility 
      of holding this event in Beijing in 2008; Go events would include pair Go, team Go, and individual competition. 
      The members of IMSA plan to confer about the planned events over the next two months.
      Mr. Puyt also mentioned that it was necessary to review the activities and statutes of the IGF, bearing in mind 
      that next the IGF will be seeking IOC recognition.
      Thanks to the special fund created on the initiative of the late IGF President Kato Masao, IMSA has been 
      active and has secured GAISF recognition. Mr. Puyt expressed his gratitude to all the relevant bodies for 
      their cooperation.
  
5. Operations Report and Financial Report for 2005 and Operations Plan and Budget for 2006.
      Please refer to the attached documents.
      The amount carried forward from 2005 was 5,114,189 yen, and from 2006 it will be 5,167,289 yen. 
      One noteworthy point is that the supervision fee for the International Amateur Pair Go Championship 
      increased in 2005. New items in the 2006 budget are the annual membership fee for IMSA and the 
      preparatory fund (listed under miscellaneous).
      In May 2005, the 26th World Amateur Go Championship was held in Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture. 
      The IGF also supervised the 16th International Amateur Go Championship in November 2005.
      In 2006, the IGF is organising the 27th WAGC, which starts the day after this meeting, and 
      supervising the 17th International Amateur Pair Go Championship in November 2006. 
      The reports were approved by the GM.

6. 28th World Amateur Go Championship (2007).
      The venue and dates of next year’s WAGC have not yet been decided. As soon as they are decided, 
      members will be informed.

7. Reports on operations
      (i) Participation in SportAccord
      On the occasion of its participation in SportAccord convention organized by GAISF/IOC in Seoul in April 2006, 
      the IGF set up a stand to publicize Go and to make the activities of IMSA and its member organizations 
      among the members of the international sports organizations in attendance (the other three mind sports 
      associations also participated). As a tool for this purpose, we showed a video introducing Go and the IGF. 
      We also handed out IMSA publicity pamphlets in English and Japanese.

      (ii) Production of IGF video.
      Members wishing to acquire copies of the video mentioned above should contact their regional directors 
      or write directly to the Secretary General Shigeno Yuki. 

      (iii) Refurbishing of the IGF’s website.
      A proposal to move the IGF web site from the Nihon Ki-in site to an independent location was approved at the DM.
 
8. Other
      Eduardo Lopez Herrero presented an application for affiliation with the IGF made by the Costa Rican Go 
      Association; this was approved at the DM. At the GM, the measure was passed by a unanimous vote. 
      That means that the IGF now has 69 members. 

The meeting was declared closed at 18:30.
 
Shigeno Yuki
Secretary General, 
The International Go Federation