Today, on 2 September, 2013, a meeting among the members of the European Armwrestling Federation [EAF] took place in Gdynia (Poland).
Almost all the teams have arrived in Gdynia, competitors, referees and coaches are resting after a long journey, which for many teams was very long and tiring. Everyone is in a good mood, despite the rainy weather. Representatives of various national, European federations met in a conference room at a hotel in Gdynia. They are to discuss many issues before the tomorrow’s WAF meeting.
Chaired by the President of the WAF and EAF, Hadjitodorov Assen, the meeting began with his brief speech in which he thanked individual delegates for such increased participation in the championships.
Subsequently, the participants went on to discuss the issues included in the agenda of the meeting.
The minutes of the EAF Congress held in May at the European Championships in Lithuania was approved.
The question whether Scotland should join the European Armwrestling Federation raised much discussion. It has been argued that Scotland is not an independent state, although there were also voices proving political independence of the country. After an exchange of views it has been decided to accept Scotland into “EAF Family”.
We’re happy to welcome Scots in EAF! The Scots will appear at the next European Championships.
Subsequently, the participants were informed about national federations’ candidacies for the organizer of the European Championships in 2016. Candidates include Georgia and Switzerland. Candidates are to provide a formal assurance that the national television will broadcast the event.
Much attention was devoted to the issue of twelve positive results of drug tests conducted after the European Championships in Lithuania. Alexandr Filimonov said, among other things, that such a large percentage of Russian athletes with positive results is treated as a serious problem in Russia, not only in terms of sports, but also in terms of criminal law in force in that country. Russian armwrestling has ensured close cooperation with state power ministries that deal with the prosecution of drug-related crimes. In Russia, the doping agents (steroids), their use, trade and production - are treated equally harshly as drugs. Apart from being disqualified and not allowed to compete, athletes may also expect legal consequences for the use of doping agents, including imprisonment, if they commit the crime again. That’s why there are special meetings organized, during which representatives of institutions combating the use of drugs and doping inform athletes about the consequences of using and possessing drugs. In short, the Russian athlete may pass the doping test, but if any steroids are found, for instance in his car, he will be in serious trouble. Thus, Russia, like many other countries nowadays, does not consent to the use of doping claiming that sport should lead to healthy life rather than to prison.
It was decided that each country, whose athlete will be tested positive - should pay for two additional tests at the next championship.
Much attention was also paid to the membership of our sport in SportAccord and all the formalities to be completed in order to join this organization. A few national federations have not completed the formalities yet, but we should deal with it by 2014.
At this time, the meeting is still in progress, but we wanted to keep you informed. This is not the official minutes of the meeting, but only a brief summary of the issues dealt with till 8.10 p.m., Polish time.

PeSzy/photo: Iza Małkowska