Content:

1. Minutes from the EPF General Assembly

2. Hall of Fame to Dietmar Wolf

3. Short report from the Open Europeans

4. Icelandic PF

5. New EPF members

6. Doping Controls at the Open Europeans

7. Warning to Xavier Puytorac

8. Morten Novum from Norway new Appeal  
    Committee chairman

9. Greetings from the President.            

1. Minutes from the EPF General Assembly 2010.

19 member nations and 6 EC members were present at the General Assembly while lifters from 25 nations took part in the European Championships.
All proposed amendments on the agenda were accepted by the delegates and will be in power from 1.1.2011 if not otherwise specified:

 

·          New Sub-Junior group will be introduced at the European Junior Championships from 2011.

·          All nominated nations must be represented at the Technical meeting prior to the European  championships. If not present, a fine of 250 Euro will be imposed.

·          Nominated nations must pay the participation and anti doping fee to the EPF bank account latest at the date of the technical meeting. If not, a fine of 500 Euro will be imposed.

·          European Youth and Junior championships will from 2013 be organized in the month of April each year.

·          All competitors in European championships must stay in the official hotel(s) for the championships to be permitted to take part.

·          Referees must decide in which categories they are available for refereeing. When the Technical chairman has finally made up the referee list (7 days prior to the championships), the referees can not expect to officiate in other weight categories than listed.

2. Hall of Fame to Dietmar Wolf.
At the General Assembly in Sweden, Dietmar Wolf from Norway was awarded EPF Hall of Fame for his long and dedicated work in international powerlifting. Wolf has served as EPF Secretary General for 5 years and is also a recognized international coach. The Hall of Fame is the highest distinction distributed by the EPF.

3. Short report from the European Open Championships.
The European Open Championships in Köping were one of the best organized championships in the history of EPF. The Swedish PF and the local organizer, Köping AK, made an impressive work prior and during the championship.
The venue was in a big sport hall with good space for all. Especially the warming up area was big and very well equipped. Also the venue was very well planned and gave a good atmosphere with exceptional quick and clever spotters and a computer system with informative result service.

It was a professional live internet broadcast from the competitions sent on the EPF web with 3 cameras of high quality. This system also included local TV distribution in some categories.
The meet director, Robert Ericsson, and his many crew members shall be very proud of this excellent organization and EPF hope to return soon back to Sweden for another Europeans.

 

4. Icelandic PF.
The Icelandic PF is accepted as full member of the Icelandic Confederation of Sport. This means the federation gets the same economical and other support as all Olympic sports at Iceland.
Congratulation to the leadership of the Icelandic PF for the good work.

5. New EPF members.
Two new member federations were accepted at the EPF General Assembly in Sweden. EPF is pleased to welcome the Romanian PF and the Israel PF as full EPF members.
Romania were represented by 2 lifters at the European Open Championships in Köping while the Israel PF is a newly established federation that need some time to organize for international representation. Contact details for both federations are listed at the EPF web (www.europowerlifting.org ).
 

6. Doping control at the Open European Championships.

List of doping tested lifters:

7. A warning issued to Xavier Puytorac.

Mr Puytorac from France was chief referee during the 125 kg category at the European Open Championships in Köping. He closed the scale in the weighing in room 15 minutes before the weighing in started.

Some lifters stood in a queue at that time to test their body weight prior to the start of the weighing in but they were denied access to the scale. Arguments from two senior EPF officials to open the scale were refused by Mr. Puytorac in the capacity as chief referee.
The EPF EC has issued a warning to Xavier Puytorac for his behaviour and lack of co-operation. It is no technical rule specifying to close the scale 15 minutes before the start of the weighing in. Contrary, it is a long time practise to let lifters test their bodyweight up to a few minutes before the weighing in starts.

8. Morten Novum from Norway elected new Appeal Committee Chairman.

Since half year ago, the EPF Appeal Committee has been without a chairman. At the General Assembly, Morten Novum from Norway was elected unanimously as the new chairman for this committee.

Morten Novum is Vice President in the Norwegian Powerlifting Federation and also an international category 1 referee.

9. Greetings from the President.

All proposals at the EPF Congress gained majority votes.

Most discussions cased the proposal to make it obligatory for all participants in European championships to stay at the official championship hotel(s).

The proposal was put forward due to complaints from many organizers that reservations of correct number of hotel rooms were difficult. Some time the hotels claim cancellation fees if not the rooms are cancelled long time in advance. Reserving a high number of rooms will also normally give lower accommodation prices which must benefit the hotel guests.

The conclusion of the discussion was that the proposal was slightly modified to make it obligatory for all competitors to stay at the official championship hotel(s) – otherwise they can not participate.

The argument for this change in wording from participants to competitors was that especially in Master championships, some referees travel by own cars or caravans to make refereeing and pay all expenses themselves. Then they should have the option to sleep in their own caravan.

However, this new rule is a big help for the organizer to make better planning but also a responsibility for the EPF administration to control that the hotel prices are no higher than normal rates for the hotel(s) and it is estimated that they shall be lower.

Preferably, both hotels of high standard and of economy standard should be provided.

/ Arnulf Wahlstrom