I have today the great pleasure and opportunity to give you a report for my activities for the year 2009.

This season has been rich in sporting events and also in important decisions for the future of our Federation.

I have had the opportunity to attend various sporting events and also to establish contacts and participate actively in the development of our activities. I remain convinced that the IBSF has to make representations to make itself known and to permanently listen to its members while working at the same time to improve its logistics, its means of action and its effectiveness.

1.Representation Missions.

I first had the privilege to be invited to St Petersburg in Russia for the European Under 19 and in Moscow where I met the highest authorities of the Russian Billiards.

As every year the WSA invited me to Sheffield for the World Championship and I have had several meetings with IBSF partners (Strachan and Saluc).

For the first time I was able to attend the African Snooker Championship in Johannesburg and this visit gave the opportunity to participate in the creation of the ACCS (African Confederation of Cue Sports) constitution, an important and necessary step for the inclusion of Cue Sports in the All African Games in Mozambique 2011.

Invited by the EBSA in Belgium, I attended with great pleasure the AGM of EBSA and gave the European countries a report on the IBSF activities.

I have also attended the Mosconi Cup in St Petersburg which allowed me to see a very interesting demonstration of scoring management through interactive terminals.

Accompanied by several IBSF Board members I went to Bangkok for the Sam Song Six Reds where the IBSF had again the opportunity to witness the quality of the organisation and the growing popularity of this tournament so original – mixing the professional players with the amateur players.

16 Snooker players participated the World Games in Kaohsiung and the players selected by IBSF have achieved outstanding performances which have to be acknowledged.

These games were very successful and the team set up by IBSF to lead the tournament has shown once again and beyond any doubt tits professionalism, experience and expertise.

I also went to Kish Island for the Under 21 Championship and I must admit that the Iranian Federation has accomplished a wonderful job to give us a high quality tournament which unfortunately was not a success regarding the number of participating countries as no European country registered any player and referee.

I was deeply disappointed by such a situation as no one delegate had made any objection or reserve to the Iranian application during the AGM in Austria.

So Asia, Africa and Oceania took part in this competition and I think that the Iranian Federation did not deserve such a disrespect and lack of interest despite all the efforts put in by the Iranian Federation.

However the absence of European players did not prevent the standard and level of the competition to be very high and Thailand once more showed its growing supremacy in the game by winning the Championship.

I would like to put on record the performance of the young Iranian player and believe that more rewarding days are ahead for him.

2. Main IBSF Realisations for 2009.

IBSF has decided, for 2009, to work specifically on innovation, improvement of logistics, and the proper functioning of its management.

IBSF Board is coming ahead with a proposal for the organisation of an innovative competition inspired by the Sam Song 6 Reds.

Quick and Fast – 6 Reds in 6 Days – this dynamic competition proposes a new and original format with adapted specific rules to this new type of a game which today in growing and gaining vast interest and popularity all over the world.

Totally revised conditions will allow hosting countries to organize a World Championship at low cost, in a short week and particularly attractive and innovative.

I remain convinced that the IBSF as all other international sports federations has the responsibility and duty to be pro active, see further in the future and constantly reconsider its positions.

The IBSF Board intends to consider the appointment of a Media Officer who will be responsible to develop and maintain all official communications of IBSF with the media.

IBSF has to improve its communication with not only its members but with all its partners and media world wide.

Another more technical innovation is the IBSF website. Our Webmaster has developed a new system whereby member countries have been able to register its players online and this new possibility constitutes a consideration step ahead.

The website now offers a complete player profile which identifies all participating players in the World Championship.

Of course this is only a first step and during 2010 this process will allow a total control of the competition from entries to management of results.

It is also considered to develop a system for payment of annual affiliation fees which would save the IBSF treasurer a lot of time running after the numerous late countries paying their dues.

The IBSF Board is facing the situation where sponsorship contracts are coming to expiry at the end of this year for Wiraka and Strachan.

Negotiations are still underway to ensure IBSF its main source of income and find ways and means to increase significantly sponsorship revenues.

IBSF is now the only one representing Snooker in the WCBS which has adopted the new Anti Doping Code in line with the WADA regulations.

Each competition organised by IBSF will be systematically submitted to Anti Doping Tests and IBSF has the obligation and in conformity with the International Code to participate to the test out of competition by creating a testing players pool which is limited to 10 IBSF players.

IBSF Board has prepared selection rules to determine which 10 players might be tested out of competition at any time during the year by WADA.

The IBSF Sports Committee and the Board are working on an update of the Championship Conditions with the aim of increasing the monitoring and controlling role of all championships by the IBSF.

The competition format should be reviewed to ensure an attractive championship and spread over a shorter period.

Each World Championship is very instructive and it is logical that IBSF should draw lessons from acquired experiences to improve every year competitions proposed to member countries.

Finally this report cannot be totally optimistic as in spite of its efforts IBSF failed to organise the World Billiards Championship this year.

Several federations have expressed their interest and unfortunately a concrete proposal could not be finalised.

A true, real and in depth reflection work is required to review the future of the Billiards Championship which perhaps requires more financial support from IBSF.

If IBSF has to devote part of its budget to help the organisation of the Billiards Championship this must be investigated to define the parameters.

The IBSF Board is conscious of this problem and a decision will be taken to ensure that the IBSF will respect its objectives by organising such a competition.

I would not like to end my report on a sad note and therefore I am pleased to inform you that IBSF continues its growth and as you must all have witnessed, for the first time in its history, a South American player participated in the World Championship here in Hyderabad.

The Brazilian Federation is the first to join IBSF and no doubt other South American countries will follow.

This is the outcome of work done with the Pan American President who came to visit us in Wels in Austria.

Finally to end this report, I would like to thank all the Board members who have been available and spared time to help me in my task with the sole objective to give IBSF/, your federation, the status it has to day.

Pascal Guillaume