World Confederation of Billiards Sports
Abbreviation | WCBS |
---|---|
Formation | January 25, 1992 |
Founded at | |
Type | Sports federation |
Legal status | Nonprofit organization |
Headquarters | |
Coordinates | 46°31′01″N 6°38′51″E / 46.51708°N 6.647527°E |
Membership | 135 national associations |
Official language | English |
Secretary General | Diane Wild |
President | Ian Anderson (Australia) |
Website | www |
[1][2][3][4][5] |
The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) is the international umbrella organization encompassing the major
The confederation was formed in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, on January 25, 1992.[3][5][7] Its headquarters were previously located in Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium. Jean-Claude Dupont, of Belgium, served as WCBS' president from 2010 to 2015, followed by England's Jason Elliott Ferguson for 2015–2017.[3][7][8] Australia's Ian Anderson became the confederation's ninth president in 2017.[3][4][5]
The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) has 135 member national federations, as well as continental bodies for Africa, the
Role
The primary aim of WCBS is to establish billiard-type sports as medal events in as many multiple-sports competitions as possible, on both regional and world levels. The ultimate goal of WCBS is to have billiard sports included in the Olympic Games.[10]
The WCBS serves as platform for its associated groups: The Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB); the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA); and the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).[11][12][13][10] These groups work closely together, but the independence of each organization is maintained and respected. As a result, unlike other international sports organizations, the WCBS does not set the rules of the sports nor organize any international competition itself. Instead, these functions are carried out by the associated organizations.
History
Before the establishment of WCBS in 1992, there was no single organization representing all cue sports, which was necessary to meet the requirements of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Moreover, cue sports did not meet the official definition of a sport. These were the main obstacles to gaining approval for the inclusion of cue sports in the Olympic Games, despite many attempts to achieve Olympic recognition that have been made since the 1950s.[14]
In 1985, André Gagnaux, of Switzerland, became the new president of the UMB, the world governing body for carom billiards. In an attempt to achieve Olympic recognition, he contacted the WPBSA, the governing body of professional snooker, to discuss the possibility of forming a governing body for all cue sports. There was no world governing body for pool at that time. Nonetheless, his first attempt failed as he could not convince the WPBSA why it would be important for them to achieve IOC recognition, and what possible cooperation with the UMB could do to further their goals.
Founding and organization
Following the founding of the WPA as the international governing body for pool and their successful organization of the first WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1990, Gagnaux contacted the WPBSA again. This time he was more successful. In order to fulfill the conditions set by the IOC, the representatives of the governing bodies of the three main cue sports convened on August 30, 1990, at a meeting in Bristol, UK, with the WPBSA as the host.[14][15] This was the first time representatives of the three divisions gathered around one table. As a result, it was decided to form the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS), an umbrella organization encompassing all billiards sports, and a three-man committee (consisting of Gagnaux for carom, Jorgen Sandman for pool and Mark Wildman for snooker) was appointed to write the first constitution for the new organization. Eighteen months were spent devising a way to enable the various disciplines to work closely together, while maintaining their independence.[14] The inaugural General Assembly of the WCBS was held in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland on January 25, 1992.[15] A board consisting of nine delegates was elected with three representatives from each founding member: the UMB, the WPA and the new World Snooker Federation (WSF), formed by cooperation between the WPBSA and the IBSF.[15] The office of president rotated, so that all three divisions take a turn at heading the organization.[16]
Dissension
In September 2002, the WPBSA informed the IBSF that it was no longer interested in cooperating with the latter, and the WPBSA withdrew from the WCBS. For unknown reason, the IBSF failed to share this information with the WCBS board, and it was only due to rumors that the WCBS finally was informed of the situation.
Since the election of the sixth president, Pascal Guillaume of France, in late 2004, all parties have agreed to try and work constructively together for the future benefit of the sport. Guillaume has pledged a policy of unification.[18]
Accomplishments
GAISF membership
In 1992, the first goal for the newly formed WCBS was to gain recognition by the IOC and obtain membership in the
Meanwhile, the IOC had responded to their application for recognition by stating that the WCBS was too new, so any possible IOC recognition could not be granted immediately. The IOC also recommended that the WCBS should apply for membership with the GAISF, stating that "whilst this is not a prerequisite, the IOC would look favorably on a WCBS membership with the GAISF."[17]
In October 1995 the GAISF Congress and General Assembly was held in Seoul, Korea. André Gagnaux became ill and was hospitalized, so the WCBS delegation was led by Jorgen Sandman, who was accompanied by Nigel Oldfield (Great Britain) and Massimino Del Prete (Italy). The WCBS had learned from the failures of 1993 and 1994, and was better prepared to present its case. The main feature of their presentation was a glossy brochure entitled Right on Cue, a professional overview of billiards sports, which was distributed among the delegates. The WCBS also hosted a cocktail reception for the approximately 500 attending officials. At AGM, the WCBS finally became a provisional member of the GAISF. Any new organization entering the GAISF must first be a provisional member for two years before they are accepted as a full member with voting rights.[19]
IOC recognition and participation in the World Games
In July 1996, the IOC decided to grant the WCBS a provisional recognition for two years.[15][20] In September of the same year the WCBS became a member of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF). An application for membership with the International World Games Association (IWGA) was also filed shortly thereafter, and at the 1997 IWGA AGM it was decided that the WCBS would be granted membership as of January 1, 1998.[21][15]
On February 5, 1998, the IOC granted the WCBS full recognition, clarifying the status of billiards sports as true sports.
The WCBS also applied for the inclusion in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Among 15 other sports that had applied for inclusion, the Greek Olympic Committee decided to consider five, billiards sports among them. It selected two sports out of the five, with billiards sports ending up as their third choice.
Cue sports in other events
Apart from the 2001 World Games, cue sports have been included in many different important multi-sports events, such as the
Participation at the
The WCBS has also tried to get billiards sports included in the Commonwealth Games. While the WCBS has been accepted as a member of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), the attempt at inclusion has not yet succeeded.
Attempts from WCBS have also been made for inclusion into other events like the
References
- ^ "Sports Governed by International Federations Recognised by the International Olympic Committee: Billiard Sports". Olympic.org. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ "The World Games: Billiards Sports". TheWorldGames.org. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d "World Confederation of Billiards Sports: History". WCBS.sport. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ a b "World Confederation of Billiards Sports: Board contacts". WCBS.sport. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Association of IOC Recognised International Sport Federations (ARISF): WCBS World Confederation of Billiards Sports". ARISF.sport. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ WCBS official website, accessed May 12, 2007. It is sometimes called the World Confederation of Billiards Sports; the logo on the site uses the singular form of the name, while copies of the organisation's founding documents on the site use the plural version
- ^ a b c Organization information at IOC homepage
- ^ Members of the Board of Directors of WCBS
- ^ Englishblackball.com
- ^ a b Main role of WCBS, mentioned on the IBSF homepage Archived 26 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Structure diagram showing UMB, WPA and WSF as the members of WCBS on UMB's website
- ^ Constitution of WPA stating it is a founding member of WCBS
- ^ Details of WCBS on IWGA website showing that WPBSA as a member federation of WCBS
- ^ a b c d e f g Section named "WPA true global coverage" on WPA website
- ^ a b c d e f g Column written at AZBilliards.com by Yen Makabenta, the president of Raya Sports
- ^ a b c Section of "IOC granted the WCBS its outright recognition" about the history of WPA
- ^ a b c History of WCBS
- ^ Sportbusiness.com
- ^ List of members of International Sports Federations of GAISF
- ^ Smartsnooer.com
- ^ Member Federation of IWGA