Lausanne, 16th July 2014
On 23 March 2014 the Disciplinary Commission of the WBF found two German players, Mr. Michael Elinescu and Mr. Entscho Wladow guilty of cheating by exchanging Unauthorized Information, by coughing, during the final of the World Bridge Senior Teams Championship in Bali.
The sentence was: an interdiction for Mr. Michael Elinescu and Mr. Entscho Wladow to play bridge in any WBF organised championship or competition for ten years and a life-long ban on their participation as a partnership.
The decision was appealed by Mr. Michael Elinescu and Mr. Entscho Wladow and the hearing of the appeal was held on Wednesday 16th July at the WBF Headquarters in Lausanne. The appellants did not attend the meeting.
The WBF Appeal Tribunal (Mrs .Françoise Lejuste, Chairman, Mrs. Francesca Carnicelli and Mr. Ata Aydin, Members, Mr. Herman De Wael, Secretary) confirmed that Mr. Michael Elinescu and Mr. Entscho Wladow are guilty of an infraction against Law 73B of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge:
LAW 73 – COMMUNICATION – B. Inappropriate Communication between Partners: 1. Partners shall not communicate by means such as the manner in which calls or plays are made, extraneous remarks or gestures, questions asked or not asked of the opponents or alerts and explanations given or not given to them. 2. The gravest possible offence is for a partnership to exchange information through prearranged methods of communication other than those sanctioned by these Laws. This constitutes reprehensible conduct as defined in Article 3 of the Disciplinary Code.
The Tribunal, confirming the appealed decision of 23rd March 2014 of the Disciplinary Commission, confirmed the following sanctions: Michael Elinescu and Entscho Wladow shall be banned from playing together in any WBF organised championship or competition for life; Michael Elinescu and Entscho Wladow shall be each individually banned from playing in a
WBF organised championship or competition for a period of 10 years.
According to art.5 of the WBF Disciplinary Code the decision of the Tribunal is definitive and binding for the WBF and the appealing party.