EBL PRESIDENT'S FAREWELL

Authorities, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

The curtain falls on the 45th Generali European Championships. Two weeks have passed since the start of this event. Two weeks that saw you as protagonists of a very hard competition, conducted with loyalty in an atmosphere of extraordinary fair-play and friendship. These are, in my opinion, the real characteristics of sport, of our sport, bridge. Success in a championship is very important and represents the objective of all competitors, but results can have high and low points, like in any other area of life. What is really important is friendship, serenity, the pleasure of being together, enjoying ourselves all together. In events like this one in Arona there are no losers. Tonight we will celebrate the victory of all of you. Congratulations to all of you players, the true protagonists of this event.

I hope you had a pleasant stay in this wonderful place, this magnificent venue which, let me repeat, almost seems to have been built specially for bridge competitions. During these last two weeks, behind the scenes, we have had to face many mistakes, many difficulties, and today we are still, and probably tomorrow we will be again facing problems. However, this our duty and the important thing is that you were able to fully enjoy the event.

To run the championships here and to see them through to the end, our staff, believe me, performed miracles, overcoming all the difficulties, often unexpected, and each doing the work of two people. I hope you will forgive our mistakes - we did everything possible, and also the impossible, to prevent them.

Is my pleasure now to introduce to you some extraordinary people, asking them to stand up to receive your applause, which is their greatest gratification.

My dear friend and colleague, the Chairman of the Championships, Jean-Claude Beineix; the Championship Managers, Ton Kooijman and Ghigo Ferrari; the I.T. Services Manager, Gianni Baldi; the Staff of Technological Services led by Gianni Bertotto; the Line-Up Staff led by Jan Louwerse; Grattan Endicott, the Manager of the Convention Cards Desk; Silvia Valentini, Maggie Pierce and Maria Luisa Bondia for the Information and Hospitality; Fulvio Colizzi and his boys from the Main Office (I think a system to measure the kilometres they have walked does not exist); Elly Ducheyne and her assistants of the Press Room; Mark Horton and all the journalists of the Daily Bulletin; Panos Gerontopoulos and the operators of the EBL Internet Service; the Rama Commentators, Jean-Paul Meyer, Jan van Cleeff and Eric Kokish, (Eric came from Canada to be with us); Annie Chekroun and the staff of Duplication who prepared more than fifty thousand boards; the EBL Secretariat: Christina MacEachen, Federica Zorzoli and Andrea Pagani - to work with me is very difficult, but here it was terrible; the Tournament Directors led by Antonio Riccardi, Max Bavin, and Dimitri Ballas for the Seniors; the Appeal Committee which has a thankless task because, of course, its decisions displease some people at the most intense moments of the competition, but this is its role and all the decisions must be accepted calmly. I thank also the Facilities Manager, Sebastian Jimenez, who always tried to solve our problems; and last but not least, the Lavazza Girls, who with kindness and charm offered us in these last two weeks, over seventy-five thousand coffees and teas, thanks to our great friend, the Lavazza Company.

I also wish to thank the I.B.P.A. Officers and journalists, who are always at our side and continuously motivate us with their suggestions, helping us in developing bridge.

Thanks also to the Canary Government, the Tenerife Cabildo, and the Alcalde of Arona, the owners and Management of Mare Nostrum Resort for their welcome, hospitality and support. In these Championships we encountered many problems with the organisers and I hope, and I am confident, that we will soon find the best solution, because I put friendship and loyalty over all business. However, I wish to thank one particular person, the only person, who every day, alone, rushed around trying to solve our ever increasing problems: Don Aureliano Yanes Herreros.

In any case, dear friends, I am confident that you appreciated the place, the venue and the championship and will go home taking with you a wonderful memory of the "Happy Islands". For all of us this would be the best gratification for our efforts.

Thank you, dear friends, for your patience and attention.