EUROPEAN BLACKBALL
ASSOCIATION
COMMITTEE
STATEMENT ON 2020 NATIONS CUP
Up until this point
the thinking of the EBA Committee has been that it was best for all
if the UK government made a decision that events such as the Nations
Cup would be banned from happening . The reason for this was that we
had received advice that in the case of a government ban there was a
possibility that accommodation, boat fares and flights monies could
be reclaimed. We also have had to consider the possibility of
financial penalties being imposed on the EBA by the SPA if the event
was cancelled by ourselves, rather than by government. We thought
such a statement would have been forthcoming from the government
after the last meeting of their Cobra committee and like many others
we were amazed no such decision was announced.
Obviously we assume
such banning orders will be put in place soon by the government but
due to the uncertainty this policy is creating among our members we
now feel it is time the EBA officially cancelled the event and as a
result will have to accept any consequences of doing so.
We also have
considered the fact that even if the event were to go ahead the
numbers attending due to nations/teams and individual players
deciding not to attend would be of such a low number that the event
itself would no longer hold any credibility.
Finally and
foremost, this decision has been taken with the well being of players
and officials being of paramount importance to the EBA, to carry on
with the event would have been a total neglect of our duty of care
to every player.
We trust you will
understand this decision has been taken with great regret by the
committee, but we would encourage you to support us in that decision.
In regard to the 2020 AGM obviously it is no longer will be feasible
to hold it in Bridlington on the proposed date. A new date and venue
will be circulated when a suitable venue close to an international
airport has been secured. I imagine that the meeting will not take
place now for a few months when hopefully things will be a lot better
Yours in sport
Trevor Harte
EBA secretary on
behalf of the EBA committee
