Eventos - IFR 2.002
FROM : NICOLAS NOLF, France
TO : ALL ENGLISH-SPEAKING ROTTWEILER ENTHUSIASTS
SUBJECT :
THE TRUTH ABOUT
THE CANCELLATION OF THE 2002 IFR IPO CHAMPIONSHIP
IN FRANCE
Dear Rottweiler enthusiasts,
As you all know by now, the French Rottweiler Club (CFR) has announced the cancellation of the previously scheduled IFR IPO Championship 2002 in France.
This may or may not come as a surprise.
A good number of you had my name listed as the Main Secretary for the event, with my friend Eric Fayolle being listed as 2nd Secretary (IFR web site, ADRK "Der Rottweiler" Magazine). The cancellation of the event was not our decision, and I will now explain how it happened.
Until June 15, 2002, the organization was well under way, mainly conducted by Eric Fayolle who lived near the chosen site, while I took care of all communications with foreign delegates as well as Mr Spindler, President of the IFR. The reason for this, is that I am proficient in several languages (hence my name coming 1st before Eric's, so that I would be the one receiving the e-mails and phone calls from abroad), while Eric is not.
When I say "well under way", I mean that :
the judges had been chosen and contacted
the helpers had been chosen and contacted
the official site for the event had been booked with all proper administrative agreements
accommodations were available for all contestants and their dogs (hotels, camping grounds, B&Bs, etc)
potential partners and sponsors had been contacted and final agreements were only waiting for signatures
a team of volunteers had been gathered and briefed about the unfolding of the event
necessary technical and human resources had been identified and gathered for the making of programs, posters, schedules, handling of the competition's scorebooks, etc
translators had been found in order to insure smooth communications during the event
Then came Board elections, on June 15, 2002. After much political hassle which would be too long to explain, the partially renewed Board elected a new President. It so happens that this new President is a long-time enemy of ours.
For a better understanding, it should be stated that between 2000 and 2002, Eric, myself and a few others, created and set up from scratch in France, the 20 km AD test, the ZTP, the Körung, the first CFR IPO National Championship, a computerized database of all French dogs, an intermediary 18-24 class in Specialty Shows, and generally speaking, set up tougher criteria for the completion of French titles. All of those measures are of course aimed at making the French stock better than it currently is, and gradually bringing it to the overall level of some of our neighboring countries.
This new President belongs to a trend which exists here, of people wanting their life to be easier when it comes to dog-breeding. Extra tests and selection are things they are not crazy about.
This new President thus decided, out of the blue, to act tough and presidential, and to dismiss Eric and I from our functions as far as the IFR was concerned. He demanded that from then on all e-mails from abroad be redirected onto his e-mail account, and declared himself the sole person in charge.
This person has no previous experience of IFRs, neither do his fellow board-members. Ignoring the obvious, that the organization of the event was headed down the drain for lack of a competent team to run it, he made it a personal matter of principle, that Eric and I would no longer be in charge of anything.
We explained the situation to Mr Spindler, who tried to contact the President of the CFR and see if things could be worked out, all to no avail. The French President remained silent on the matter. When I called this person in mid-July, and told him we were still willing to organize the event for the Rottweiler's sake, he laughed at me on the phone and told me "Let me take care of my Presidential business, and you mind your simple club member's business." He also claimed that we were not to worry, because he had a perfectly competent team who would pick it up and organize a great IFR in France. I have been involved with the club for 7 years, Eric has been for 14 years, we know practically everyone in the French Rottweiler world, so we knew that there was indeed no "dream team" working for the new President... when I told him that, the President laughed at me again and said "You'll see."
Mr Spindler confirmed to me on several occasions, that under IFR regulations, only the Official breed club can be in charge of the event. Therefore there was no way for Eric and I to organize it by ourselves (which we were ready to do, given what we had already prepared). All we could do was wait for the inevitable to happen.
It officially happened on August 13, 2002, when the French Club announced the cancellation. The Club also started to undo what we had done, passing new regulations to cancel tests such as the AD, the Körung, loosening regulations around HD X-rays, etc.
Needless to say, Eric Fayolle and myself, are the first ones appalled by all this. Seeing months and years of hard, dedicated work being tossed out in a few weeks, is a nightmare for us.
Our thoughts go out to all contestants who had been actively preparing for this competition, and were looking forward to seeing years of work culminate into this International competition gathering some of the best working rottweilers in the world.
I hope that this letter will help you all understand what happened. We felt it was necessary for us to go into details about all this. All the more so, since the French Rottweiler Club is about to accuse us of wrecking the IFR on purpose, by withholding information about our previous organization scheme. This is of course totally false, as the President had been orally informed just after the elections, and received a written account in mid-July. Politically speaking, it is of course more comfortable for them to blame it on someone else.
Feel free to voice your opinion to the President of the French Rottweiler Club, Mr Pierrick BARBE.
snail mail address :
Pierrick BARBE
Club Français du Rottweiler
BP 58
54802 Jarny Cedex
FRANCE
We thank you for your attention and wish you all the best with your four-legged friends.
Yours sincerely,
Nicolas Nolf
Eric Fayolle.
