Statutes

STATUTES OF THE ASIAN CHESS FEDERATION

1: AIMS

The Asian Chess Federation (ACF) is an independent association which intends to safeguard the interests of chess in Asia. The ACF is established under FIDE for chess development in the Asian Continent. It will establish and coordinate the activity of its members and organize continental championships under the auspices of FIDE. The ACF will represent the interests of the members of ACF at FIDE and other international organizations.

2: Members

2.1 Any National Chess Federation on the Asian Continent as defined in FIDE statute Art. 2.1 or any other National Chess Federation belonging to an Asian Zone, are considered to be member of ACF.

2.2 New members are admitted to ACF by a decision of the Continental Assembly upon a recommendation of the Executive Board.

2.3 Only one federation of each country can be affiliated to ACF. In case of doubt the matter is solved by a final binding decision of the Executive Board .

2.4 Any Asian association related to chess can be accepted as an associate ACF member without the right to vote.

3: Institutions and Officials

3.1 ACF’s institutions are :

A, The Continental Assembly

B. The ACF Executive Board

C. The ACF Presidential Board

D. The Secretariat

3.2 The ACF Officials are:

A. The President

B. The Deputy President

C. The Secretary General

D. The Treasurer

E. The Vice President

F. The Zone President

3.3  Not more than two members per federation shall hold individual positions in 3.2 above except for single zone federations.

3.4 The ACF President may call a referendum for interim elections in case of incapacity of an elected official.

4. The Continental Assembly

4.1 The Continental Assembly is the highest authority of ACF, and shall have the power to decide upon any matters arising in ACF.

4.2 The Continental Assembly is composed of all member federations

4.3 Associate members do not have the right to vote

4.4 Each delegate represents only one member federation.

4.5 Each member federation has one vote

4.6 The Continental Assembly meeting is permitted to pass resolutions if it has been convened according to the statutes. A quorum of 50% of the affiliated federations is required for votes on elections. If the quorum is not fulfilled no actions can be taken.

4.7 Votes are made orally unless secret ballot is agreed to by the majority

4.8 Votes on elections are cast by secret ballot.

4.9 Resolutions are passed by a majority of the votes, without counting the abstentions

4.10 A majority of the votes cast, not counting abstentions, shall be required for the election of the officers, individually and collectively where necessary.

4.10.1 If three or more persons are nominated for the same office and no one person receives the majority on the first ballot then:

a) The candidate receiving the fewest votes on the first ballot shall be eliminated from the list before the second vote.

b) If there are still three or more candidates for the offices or office and no one candidate receives the required absolute majority on the second ballot, the process of eliminating one candidate at a time shall continue, until an absolute majority is achieved.

4.11 The annual meeting of CA is convened by the President with at least two months notice.

4.12 The agenda must be sent to member federations by emails, fax or regular mail at least one month prior to the meeting.

4.13 Proposals from member federations to be included in the agenda for the Continental Assembly should reach the ACF Secretariat not later than six weeks before the beginning of the Continental Assembly.

4.14 The annual Continental Assembly may delegate some of its duties to the ACF Presidential Board.

4.15 The annual Continental Assembly meeting has the following duties that cannot be delegated to another body:

a) Election of the ACF Presidential ticket – every 4 years

.b) Election of the FIDE Executive Board representatives –every 4 years.

c) President’s report, budget and the Financial report

d) Vote on Financial regulations

e) Change of the statutes

f) Vote on the new associate members

g) Other duties defined as non-transferrable by the Continental Assembly or the statutes.

4.16 The motion to add items to the agenda of the Continental Assembly must be adopted by a three-quarters (3/4) majority of the Member Federations present and eligible to vote.

4.17 The President upon request of one third of the member federations or majority of the Board convenes an extraordinary Continental Assembly to discuss a specific matter. The Continental Assembly shall convene within one month of such request. The agenda shall be sent out within two weeks of the request. No amendment and/or alteration of the agenda of an Extraordinary Continental Assembly is allowed.

4.18 Decisions and resolutions of the Extraordinary Ordinary Continental Assembly are adopted by a three-quarters (3/4) majority of the Member Federations present and eligible to vote.

5. The ACF Executive Board

5.1 The ACF Executive Board shall be convened, composed of:

a) The ACF Presidential Board

b) Zone Presidents ex officio

c) The Executive Director appointed by the ACF President

5.2 The quorum of the meetings of the ACF Executive Board shall be at least 50% of the members of the Board. The President shall chair the meetings.

5.3 The Executive Director shall act as the Secretary of the ACF Executive Board.

5.4 The ACF Executive Board shall have the powers to:

a) make decisions on all matters, which are not exclusive to the Continental Assembly or are not reserved exclusively for other bodies under the Statutes, insofar as they are not delegated to another body .

b) ensure that the Statutes are applied, and adopt bye laws and the executive arrangements required for their application;

c) Take all necessary measures to achieve the goals of ACF and promote Chess in the Continent and the observance by the Members of this Statute.

d) appoint the External Auditors

e) carry out all such other activities as may be incidental or conducive to the attainment of the Objects of the ACF;

5.5 The Executive Board may delegate some tasks arising out of its areas of authority to the President, Secretary General and/or the Executive Director.

5.6 In cases of great urgency, the President may take decisions normally taken by the Board. Any such decision taken by the President is subject to ratification by the Board at the next meeting.

5.7 The President shall be bound to convene special meetings of the Board if so requested by at least three Board members. In their request, which shall be in writing, the said members shall state the object for the convening of the meeting. The meeting shall be called and held not later than one month from receipt of the request.

5.8 Decisions of the Board require a simple majority of votes. The President has a second and casting vote to establish a majority.

5.9 The Board shall not discuss matters that are not contained in the Agenda except for any matter, which, in the view of the Board, is an urgent or important nature.

6. The ACF Presidential Board

6.1 Members of the ACF Presidential Board shall belong to different federations, with the exception of the President and Secretary General.

6.2 The ACF Presidential Board shall be composed of the following:

6.2.1 President

6.2.2 Deputy President

6.2.3. Secretary General

6.2.4 Treasurer

6.2.5 Vice President

6.2.6 Six Asian Presidential Board members in accordance with article 6.3

6.3 Asian Presidential Board members shall be appointed as Vice Presidents by the ACF President in consultation with member federations in different Asian zones for the same period as the Executive Board.

6.4 Where possible, the Board shall meet annually during Continental Championships and endorse the decisions of the President in between Continental Assemblies. The Board meets whenever the President finds it necessary or when at least half the Board members call for a meeting. Meetings of the Board are closed and by invitation.

6.5 Decisions of the Board require a majority of votes with at least half the Board members taking part in the meeting. In case of tie the President has a second and casting vote to establish a majority.

7. THE PRESIDENT

7.1 The President is the legal representative and Spokesperson of ACF and shall represent ACF before other organizations and sports federations and be responsible for the coordination and organization of all continental championships.

7.2  The President shall be the Chairperson of the Continental Assembly, the Executive Board and Presidential Board. He shall be ex-officio in all zonal meetings.

7.3 The ACF President shall be elected every 4 years. He shall also be the representative of the ACF as the FIDE Continental President for Asia (then confirmed by the FIDE General Assembly).

7.4 The President shall generally do all such other things as may be required for the fulfillment of the objectives of the ACF and the directives of the ACF CA, Executive Board and Presidential Board.

7.5 The President may delegate some of his duties and/or powers under this Statute to the Deputy President, Vice President , Secretary General  and/or the Executive Director

7.6 The President may appoint honorary titles such as Asian Chess Federation Ambassador, Honorary President, Presidential Advisers and other honorary titles

8. THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT

8.1 The Deputy President will carry out the duties and responsibilities as assigned by the President

8.2 Represent the ACF in lieu of the President and chair meetings in lieu of the President.

9. THE ZONAL PRESIDENTS

9.1 When electing a Zonal President, the Continental Assembly- apart from exceptional cases- shall agree in principle with the opinion expressed in the Continental Assembly by the majority of the representatives of the members belonging to the zone, or, if the zone consists of one member only, take into consideration the opinion expressed by the representative of this member. He shall be responsible for the zonal championships and coordination of chess activities in his zone.

9.2 When attending a meeting of the Zonal Presidents ex officio, the ACF President shall chair the meeting.

9.3 The Asian Continent shall be divided as the following zones for the purposes of allocations of places for the world Championships and other administrative matters.

Zone 3.1 (13) Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Yemen

Zone 3.2: (6) Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Zone 3.3: (17) Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

Zone 3.4: (6) Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Zone 3.5: (1) China

Zone 3.6 (8) Australia, Fiji, Guam, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands.

Zone 3.7: (1) India

Zone 3.8 (1) Russia

9.4 Notwithstanding the above, Article 9 should not contradict with Article 3.3

11. THE TREASURER

10.1 The Treasurer shall be responsible for the Finance of the continent in coordination with FIDE regulations and allocations.

10.2 The Treasurer shall be responsible for invoicing and collection of money from member federations for the services of he previous twelve months that shall include the annual membership fees.

10.3 The Treasurer shall also be responsible for preparing an annual budget based on FIDE allocations to the Continent and all revenues.

10.4 Entry fees and other allocations must be deposited in the ACF Accounts and maintained by the Treasurer. Further, he shall report to the President and Secretary General quarterly on the Financial activity of ACF.

10.5 Annual reports of the Treasurer shall be audited by an accredited accounting firm.

11. THE SECRETARY GENERAL

11.1 The Secretary General shall be responsible for the day to day administrative affairs of ACF.

11.2 He shall also be responsible for preparing an annual calendar and advising Federations on this Statute and FIDE regulations to the Continent.

11.3 The Secretary General shall be responsible for the recording the minutes of the Continental Assembly Meetings and the Presidential Board meetings and shall keep records of such meetings.

11.4 He shall implement decisions passed by the Continental Assembly, the Executive Board, the President and the Presidential Board in compliance with the President’s directives.

11.5 be responsible for the appointment, discipline and dismissal of ACF staff

11.6 assist and participate in the Continental Assembly, Executive Board and Presidential Board  meetings.

11.7 be responsible for all correspondence of the ACF.

11.8 The Secretary General is the link between all the institutions and Officials of ACF mentioned in Article 3 of this Statute and between ACF and Member Federations.

11.9 The Secretary General shall keep the Member Federations informed and shall execute the policies of the ACF as directed by the Continental Assembly, Executive Board, Presidential Board and the President.

11.10 The SECRETARY GENERAL may appoint an accountant to look after day to day accounting matters relating to the activities of ACF. The accountant shall provide the SECRETARY GENERAL and Treasurer with monthly financial statements and shall aid the Treasurer in preparing the annual budget of ACF.

11.11 The Secretary General shall perform all other work asked by the Continental Assembly, the President, the Presidential Board or the Executive Board.

11.12 The President may appoint six Assistant Secretaries from North and Central Asia, West, East, South and South-East Asia and Oceania to assist the Secretary General

12. THE VICE PRESIDENT

12.1 The Vice President will carry out the duties and responsibilities as assigned by the President.

13. ELECTORAL REGULATIONS

13.1 The President, the Deputy President, the Secretary General, the Treasurer and the Vice President are elected on a combined ticket, at least one of whom must be a woman. Nominations on the Presidential ticket shall specify the proposed nominees to run for the offices of President, Deputy President, Secretary General, Treasurer and Vice President.

13.2 Nominations for the Presidential ticket must reach the Secretariat at least three months before the opening of the Continental Assembly. Each ticket must be nominated by at least any five-member federations. The nomination of the federations shall be communicated to ACF by the federation’s President. A federation is entitled to nominate only one Presidential ticket. ACF is entitled to accept the authenticity of the nomination it receives and no nomination can be withdrawn once given, unless the number of the Presidential ticket become less than 5 persons for any reason.

13.3 Each Presidential Candidate shall present to the Secretariat the following documents within the deadline above: (a) the names of the persons included on the Presidential ticket with their positions (b) nominating letters by at least five federation Presidents (c) letters of confirmation of acceptance from each person on the ticket.

13.4 The Secretariat will announce the Presidential tickets on the ACF website the day following the deadline above and will ensure that the listing of all nominees is included in the agenda sent to all member federations prior to the Continental Assembly.

13.5 The elections for the Presidential ticket shall be held prior to all other elections.

13.6 On the day of the elections, the candidate for President of each Presidential ticket will have a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes on stage to present their program. The order of appearance shall be decided by the drawing of lots.

13.7 In case one member of a Presidential ticket becomes incapable to run for the election (death, illness or similar serious reasons), he/she can be replaced on the Presidential ticket within 20 days after the unexpected event, but at the latest until the day before the election. All other conditions concerning the nominations are applicable.

13.8 All positions are elected every four years.

13.9 If the post of the Deputy President, the Secretary General, the Treasurer or the Vice President becomes vacant for any reason, the President shall appoint the successor to continue the term of his predecessor.

13.10 If the President loses his post for any reason, the Deputy President shall assume the responsibilities of the President and shall call for new general elections within six months of the date of the loss of the President of his post.

14. Commissions:

The Commissions are:

a) Development Commission

b) Events Commission

c) Chess in Schools Commission

d) Academies Commission

e) Trainers Commission

f) Arbiters Commission

g) Women’s Commission

h) Commission for Disabled Players

i) Media and Web Site Commission

j) Marketing and Public Relations Commission

k) Online Commission

l) Ethics Committee

m) Disciplinary Committe

15. FINANCE REGULATIONS

15.1 The following financial regulations shall apply to ACF activities:

15.1.1 The Financial year shall coincide with the calendar year (1st January to 31st December)

15.1.2 The ACF budget and accounting will be based on the US Dollar.

15.1.3 The ACF’s revenues are generated through membership fees, entry fees from Continent Tournaments organized by member federations, allocations from FIDE, and other sources.

15.1.4 The annual membership fees from each member federation will be US$ 100. Any change to the annual fees shall be affected by a decision of Continental Assembly.

15.1.5 If any member is two years in arrears, their membership might be suspended by a decision of the Presidential Board.

15.1.6 All affiliated countries taking part in events held under the authority of ACF shall pay the entry fees of their players prior to the start of the tournament directly to the organizers failing which will result in a penalty of 10% charged on the entry fees.

15.1.7 The organizing country of youth events will be exempted from entry fees for their own players. These free entries are limited to seven players in each category of the youth events.

15.1.8 For all the continental events the organizing federation will pay 50% of the entry fees to ACF and the balance of 50% will be retained by the organizing federation.

15.1.9  ACF bank accounts shall be in the name of the Asian Chess Federation.

15.1.10  The President, Deputy President, Secretary General, Treasurer and the Executive Director shall have the signature rights. At least two of them must sign jointly.

15.1.11  The signature of the President is compulsory for any amount exceeding $30,000 (thirty thousand US Dollars).

15.1.12  The annual budget of (ACF) shall be done by the Treasurer before the annual Continental Assembly and is subject to acceptance by the Continental Assembly.

15.1.13  Each year at the annual Continental Assembly meeting the Treasurer shall present the Final balance account duly audited for approval by the Continental Assembly.

15.1.14  For extraordinary expenses, not contained in the budget, a request can be submitted to the Board. The Board may grant such expenses if they are in the interest of the ACF.

15.1.15 Members of the ACF who are excluded by FIDE due to non-payment of membership fees are also excluded from ACF meetings.

15.1.16  The officials working for the ACF have the right to have expenses reimbursed. The Board shall formulate guidelines. Reimbursement of expenses going beyond these guidelines must be approved by the Executive Board.

15.2 Notwithstanding article 16.1, allocations from the Country of the ACF Headquarter shall be deposited in a separate account under the exclusive authority of the President. The account shall be audited by accredited auditors accepted by the Government of the Headquarters country. The audited report is transmitted to the allocating authority only.

16. Governing Law:

16.1 The activities of ACF shall be governed by this Statute and bye laws enacted by the ACF Executive Board in accordance with Article 5.4.b of this statute, as well as the resolutions and decisions of Continental Assembly and Executive Board of ACF.

16.2 In cases not provided for in the above governing laws, the Rules of FIDE shall apply.

17. Compliance of ACF Statute with FIDE

17.1 ACF Statute will be in compliance with the FIDE Statute and Rules.

17.2 In case of any conflict between the FIDE Statute and the ACF Statute, the latter will prevail.

18. JUDICIAL BODIES OF ACF:

18.1  The judicial bodies of the ACF are: the Disciplinary Committee and the Ethics Committee;

18.2 The DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE

18.2.1 The Disciplinary Committee shall be composed of three members including its chairperson elected by the Continental Assembly upon a recommendation of the Executive Board.

18.2.2 The Disciplinary Committee shall apply the ACF Statute, bye laws and decisions and resolutions of ACF Institutions and Officials mentioned in Article 3.

18.2.3 Any Federation Member or individual member of a Federation may be sanctioned If the duties to ACF are not fulfilled, or in case of violation of the Statute, Rules, and / or decisions of the ACF Institutions. Sanctions are:

18.2.3.1 Warning

18.2.3.2 Fine

18.2.3.3 Suspension

18.2.3.4 Expulsion

18.2.4 Sanctions shall be imposed by the ACF Executive Board upon recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee.

18.2.5 Any Sanction imposed on a competitor or a person by the ACF Executive Board shall be recognized and complied with by all ACF Members.

18.2.6 Sanctions shall be in force immediately upon the decision being made unless the ACF Executive Board rules otherwise.

18.3 The Ethics COMMITTEE

18.3.1 The Ethics Committee shall be composed of three members including its chairperson elected by the Continental Assembly upon a recommendation of the ACF President.

18.3.2 The Ethics Committee shall apply the FIDE Code of Ethics

18.4 Members of the judicial bodies shall not belong to any Institutions and Officials of ACF mentioned in Article 3 at the same time.

18.5 Any Official of ACF or any Member of ACF federation may be sanctioned by a decision of the Ethics Committee if he/she after a hearing is proved to be in violation of any of the FIDE Ethics Code. The Sanctions are as follows:

18.5.1 Warning

18.5.2 Temporary Suspension

18.5.3 Life time suspension

19. Resolution of Disputes

19.1 Disputes relating to the interpretation and implementation of this Statute, bye laws, regulations or resolutions or decisions of ACF Institutions and Officials mentioned in Article 3 shall be resolved by a final and binding decision of the ACF Executive Board.

19.2 Disputes between the ACF and any of its Member Federation or individual members of Member Federations or between Member Federations themselves or between individual members of ACF shall be resolved by a final decision of the ACF Executive Board.

19.3 Decisions of the ACF Continental Assembly, or ACF Executive Board other than those issued in accordance with 20.1 or the sanctions imposed by the Ethics Committee may be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne.

19.4 The time limit for appeal is 21 days from the issue of the appealed decision.

19.5 Any dispute between ACF and contractors or sponsors shall be resolved by the Court of Arbitration for sports. Any agreement with a sponsor or contractor must include a provision to that end.

19.6 The Decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport shall be final and binding on the parties.

19.7 By accepting this Statute, Federations submit to the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for sport (CAS) and should amend their Statutes accordingly.

20. MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS

20.1 The Continental Assembly decides on the locations of a permanent office (ACF Secretariat) at the motion of the Board. Normally this is the seat of the ACF President.

20.2 The official language of the Continental Assembly is English. In documents containing versions in more than one language, the English version is the official one.

20.3 Communications within the ACF shall be by letter, fax or email.

20.4 The Continental Assembly may change the ACF statute. For changing the statute a two third majority of the votes cast is necessary.

This ACF Statute has been amended and adopted during the Continental Assembly which took place in Al Ain (UAE) on 28 February 2023.