Tag: Polish Armwrestling Federation (PAF)

Poland leaves WAF

Poland leaves WAF and EAF

Poland leaves WAF

Poland, the 3rd country to leave WAF and EAF, after Sweden and Finland.

Anna Mazurenko on facebook:

” Decision on termination of membership in the structures of the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) and the European Armwrestling Federation (EAF).

The Federation of Armwrestling Poland conducted public consultations on June 14-21, 2019 among the Presidents of affiliated clubs, which resulted in a vote in the following matter. 21 out of 23 entitled voters voted “FOR” leaving the WAF and EAF structures and 2 holded off their vote.

Among the key aspects that influenced the decision should be mentioned:

1. Lack of transparency in the functioning of WAF and EAF management, including numerous suspicions of financial embezzlement.

2. Unsubstantiated suspension of the contract for the organisation of the World Championship (Katowice 2019).

3. The decisions to suspend the referees and players in a manner inconsistent with the WAF Constitution.

4. Unreasonable suspension of the official representatives and referees of the Federation of Armwrestling Poland and preventing them from performing their duties at the European Championships and other tournaments recommended by the WAF, without presenting official suspension decisions and preventing the appeal.

5. Restrictions on the freedom of athletes to choose tournaments by limiting participation in events only recommended by the management of WAF and EAF.

6. Violation of the constitutional principles of democracy by blocking the participation of individual national activists in the member countries’ assemblies and preventing them from expressing opinions and statements on matters directly related to them and on organizational matters of WAF and EAF.

In connection with the above allegations, the Federation of Armwrestling Poland terminates membership in the structures of the World Armwrestling Federation and the European Armwrestling Federation.

Thus, the Federation of Armwrestling Poland begins activities aimed at supporting new organizations that are transparent and are giving freedom to players and referees to choose sport events that are preferred by them to participate in. “

Polish Armwrestling Federation PAF response to WAF moving WorldArm 2019 from Poland to Romania

WORLDARM 2019, 41st World Armwrestling Championships 2019 (WAF) [The strikethrough was added by XSportNews, the original image is posted here]
This is the official statement of the Polish Armwrestling Federation regarding this article ► WORLDARM 2019 moved by WAF from Poland to Romania, 41st World Armwrestling Championships 2019

” The official statement of the Polish Armwrestling Federation.

In connection with the widespread statement of the Executive Committee of the WAF about the termination of the contract with the Polish Armwrestling Federation on holding the World Championship 2019, the Polish Armwrestling Federation declares the following:

We are overwhelmed, surprised and outraged by the statement spread.
This statement came as a complete surprise to us, as we did not receive any signals or invitations to the negotiations in connection with the accusations listed in the statement.
Moreover, all attempts to contact the President of the WAF on organizational matters ended in failure.
All the accusations listed in the statement are considered unfounded, unfair and based on personal motives and emotions, nothing more.
In particular, the officially published report of the WAF Inspection states the following:

“After concluding the inspection for the Worlds 2019 in Katowice, Poland, WAF is satisfied with the logistics and functional facilities offered by Polish Federation (FAP). FAP fulfill the requirements to host the 2019 World Armwrestling & Para-Armwrestling Championship in Poland, city of Katowice.”

Full report is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w-O7LV9FTu9OtDb7hUXes7zO2xhO7vzg/view?usp=sharing

In this regard, the Polish Federation requires:

Immediately provide a scanned copy of the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting with the signatures of the members of the Executive Committee in accordance with the Constitution of the WAF.
Within 3 working days, provide the original minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee with the signatures of the members of the Executive Committee in accordance with the constitution of the WAF.

The Polish Armwrestling Federation immediately starts working with lawyers to file a lawsuit against the WAF to compensate for financial and reputational losses due to an unreasonable decision.
The lawsuit will include financial commitments already made to sponsors, the administration of the city of Katowice, athletes, hotels, television partners, and the like.

The legal agency will contact the executive committee to obtain the necessary information.

Pawel Podlewski
Marcin Mielniczuk
Anna Mazurenko
Polish Armwrestling Federation.”

This is the official statement of the Polish Armwrestling Federation regarding this article ► WORLDARM 2019 moved by WAF from Poland to Romania, 41st World Armwrestling Championships 2019