|
1.
|
IWuF's Secretary General, Mr. Li Jie's April 6th, 2001 letter (Attachment A)
At the invitation of the Chinese Wushu Association
I went to Sanya, Hainan to attend the First World Taijiquan and Health
Conference (March 20-27,2001). During the conference I had a very productive
meeting with the new IWuF President, Mr. Li Zhijian. Because of the
ongoing Board dispute, I was concerned that the U.S. might send two
competing teams, which would have disastrous consequences for the U.S.
athletes (see section 8 of this memo). So among other issues, I requested
that Mr. Li Zhijian issue a reminder that each member-nation, including
the U.S. can only send one team to the 6th WWC. The above-referenced
letter is a result of our discussions.
Please note Mr. Li Jie's letter stated the following:
|
A.
|
Mr. Li Jie, in his capacity as IWuF Secretary General, recognizes Mr.
Anthony Goh as President of USAWKF.
|
|
B.
|
Mr. Li Jie refers Mr. Jeff Bolt as the Vice-President of USAWKF.
|
|
C.
|
Mr. Li Jie confirms that there can be only one US Team to participate
in the upcoming 6th World Wushu Championships (WWC).
|
Without going into a lengthy discussion this letter concludes the
following:
|
|
The US Team sent by the Anthony Goh, and not Jeff Bolt, will be allowed
to participate in the 6th World Wushu Championships. The role
of the Vice-President is very clear, as specified in the USAWKF
Bylaws, Article VIII, Section 2:
| |
The Vice-Presidents shall act as assistants to the President
as he or she designates. If the President is not available
to act, a Vice-President shall act in his or her place.
The appointed Vice-President shall have seniority in the
President's stead.
|
IWuF recognizes Jeff Bolt only as the Vice-President of USAWKF. As such,
in the eyes of the IWuF he cannot legitimately organize a separate
team trial and can only assist the President in the business of
the Federation. Indeed, it was acknowledged during the Sanya discussions
that should Mr. Jeff Bolt take a team to Armenia it will not be
recognized and would not be allowed to participate in the 6th
WWC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
2.
|
Invitations from Armenia, the Organizer of the 6th WWC
was received at the Baltimore Headquarters
The Traditional Wushu Federation of Armenia is the
organizer of the 6th WWC. The official invitations to USAWKF and PAWF
were sent to me, as President of USAWKF and PAWF, in February 2001 at
the USAWKF and PAWF HQ in Baltimore, MD. (Please see attachment B-1
and B-2).
As each country is allowed only one team to participate in the 6th WWC,
and by invitation only, it is now confirmed that only the US Team sent
by USAWKF HQ in Baltimore, MD will be accepted by the Organizing Committee
of the 6th WWC.
|
|
|
|
|
3.
|
PAWF Position Regarding USAWKF Dispute
On or about September 12th, 2000 the Executive Committee
of PAWF has made an announcement on its position regarding the USAWKF
dispute. The announcement included the following:
|
A.
|
The PAWF Executive Committee meeting and Congress were held in Manaus,
Brazil in June 2000 in conjunction with the 3rd Pan American Wushu
Championships where the following new Executive Committee members
were elected for a term of four years: Anthony Goh, President
(USA), Sunny Tang, Vice President (Canada), Nereu Grabellos, Vice
President (Brazil), Chan Kam Fai, Vice President (Venezuela),
Edgar Fernandez Obregon (Colombia), Diego Rivera (Puerto Rico),
Leibert Mapp (Barbados), Manuel Chavez Saenz (Mexico), Patricia
Tung (Argentina). The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled
to be held in Caracas, Venezuela in 2002 in conjunction with the
4th Pan American Wushu Championships.
|
|
B.
|
PAWF is an independent, continental entity, with its own Executive Committee.
Its Executive Committee is solely responsible for PAWF's actions
and decisions. PAWF is fully aware of the recent illegal coup
attempt within the USAWKF. The PAWF Executive Committee unanimously
recognizes Mr. Anthony Goh as the current President of USAWKF,
and does not recognize Mr. Jeff Bolt's claim to the presidency
of USAWKF. This decision is based on the legal opinion of the
Baltimore, Maryland law firm of Whiteford, Taylor, & Preston among
other considerations. [The legal findings are that the actions
taken by Jeff Bolt and certain USAWKF Board members to unseat
its president were in violation of the Maryland General Corporation
Law, which governs USAWKF, and also conflicted with USAWKF's own
bylaws, and that Mr. Anthony Goh is its current President.]
|
|
C.
|
PAWF does not approve of the actions taken by Jeff Bolt and Tai Yim over
the past several months during which they sent letters, emails,
and made incessant phone calls to harass PAWF Executive Committee
members, in an attempt to influence the affairs of its Executive
Committee, outside of the proper channels and procedures. In addition,
they are making a false claim that their actions have the support
of IWuF and that the IWuF Executive Committee has a vacancy from
PAWF. There is no such vacancy as confirmed during the June 20th
2000 IWuF meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and it is also
stated in the minutes of that meeting.
|
|
D.
|
The PAWF Executive Committee has decided that PAWF will not recognize
or accept any member of the U.S. coup attempt group or their agents
as their actions in the U.S. as well as their approach toward
PAWF members are not acceptable and are contrary to the ethics
and values of the tradition of Wushu that PAWF has intended to
uphold.
|
What does this mean?
The IWuF, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since
June 1999, adopted IOC's hierarchical structure of governance to include
subsidiary continental federations, such as PAWF, which are composed
of national organizations, such as USAWKF. In the last several years
nominations of IWuF officials, including executive and technical committee
members, have been conducted through the continental federations. Continental
federations also are involved in handling disputes within its member
organizations. In the past PAWF has successfully settled disputes involving
two teams from a single country participating in the World Championships.
In this case, PAWF position is clear and firm that any US Team other
than the official team sent by USAWKF HQ in Baltimore, MD will not be
allowed to participate in the 6th WWC.
|
|
|
|
|
4.
|
IWuF Membership Fees paid by USAWKF HQ in Baltimore, MD
Attached please find the following:
|
A.
|
IWuF 2000 membership invoice (attachment C)
|
|
B.
|
Proof of payments made as 2000 membership fee to IWuF (attachment D-1
and D-2)
|
|
C.
|
Recent correspondences from IWuF (attachment E-1
and E-2)
|
Again, there is only one member per country, and only the member
recognized by IWuF pays the membership fee.
|
|
|
|
|
5.
|
Legal Documentation concluding that Anthony Goh remains the President
of USAWKF
|
A.
|
A report by Mr. Robert B. Curran of Whiteford, Taylor, and Preston, L.L.P.
Mr. Curran is the head of the firm's corporate law unit (attachment
F).
This reports conclusions on several points include the following:
|
a.
|
Anthony Goh is still the President of USAWKF
|
|
b.
|
All the actions that were taken by the members of the Bolt group to unseat
Anthony Goh from presidency since November 1999 were contrary
to the State of Maryland General Corporate Law, and as such
are null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever.
|
Whiteford, Taylor,
and Preston, L.L.C. is recognized as one of the most prestigious
law firms in the United States. Its members hold important positions
of leadership in the Maryland State Bar Association, the American
Bar Association, and other important legal organizations. The
firms website, www.wtplaw.com, explains the scope of its business
services and shows why this firm is respected within both the
legal community and the community-at-large. This law firm is also
extremely familiar with the laws of the State of Maryland, which
govern the operations of USAWKF, a non-stock corporation incorporated
in the State of Maryland.
|
|
B.
|
An intensive legal report by Mr. Sam Walters, Esq., a US attorney that
precisely describes each action of the Bolt group that violates
the US law, Bylaws and/or Constitutions of USAWKF, PAWF, IWuF,
and IOC (attachment G).
|
|
C.
|
A report submitted by Mr. David Feigelson, Esq., the Legal Counsel of
USAWKF, whose legal findings also conclude that the Bolt group's
actions were illegal and invalid (attachment H).
|
Please note that since November 1999 the Bolt group has never produced
any public legal document by a licensed legal counsel stating that their
actions had any validity.
|
|
|
|
|
6.
|
The myth of "the Board of Directors vs. the President/Anthony Goh"
|
A.
|
The above legal documents also conclude the following:
|
a.
|
Tai Yim, who had resigned in 1998, is not a member of the Board.
|
|
b.
|
Liu Yu and Jimmy Wong, who both resigned in November of 1999, are not
members of the Board (see Attachment I-1
and I-2).
|
The
above three persons continue to be falsely claimed by the Bolt
group as Members of the Board.
|
|
B.
|
James Yu, who recently resigned on March 4th, 2001, states that he has
not been associated with the Bolt group for over a year, shortly
after the Hong Kong coup attempt. Despite this fact, his name
constantly appears as a participant in the Bolt group's actions
without his awareness and permission. He also stated that his
vote in Hong Kong was conducted under high pressure and was the
most ridiculous vote in which he had ever participated in his
life.
|
|
C.
|
Mike Barry and Shawn Liu have raised concerns to me that their names were
used in the same way as James Yu, without their permission and
awareness.
|
|
D.
|
James Yu and Shawn Liu both agreed and responded in writing around February
15th, 2001, that the 2001 US Team Trials should be conducted in
Baltimore, MD on April 28th and 29th.
|
|
E.
|
Mike Barry has commented that the Bolt group's coup attempt in Hong Kong
were "hateful acts of trickery and deceit." During his
recent conversation with me in February 2001 he told me that he
knew I was right and informed me that he does not want to be involved
in any organizations, including USAWKF. He wrote to me on February
23rd, 2001 stating that he is no longer a member of the Board.
|
|
F.
|
Shawn Liu will be in charge of the US Sanshou Team Trials in Baltimore,
MD, and he states that he will not be involved in the Bolt group's
"Sanshou team trials" in Texas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
7.
|
The membership status of Board Members
The record shows that Jeff Bolt, Pat Rice, and Nick Gracenin have not
paid their membership dues since their expiration on March 27th, 1998,
April 21st, 2000, and June 1st, 1996 respectively. They chose not to
renew their memberships when they were reminded of the status (see
attachment J-1,
J-2, and J-3),
thus removing themselves from the Federation's membership rolls. Therefore,
according to the code of ethics adopted by USAWKF on February 23, 1997,
they are considered "unable to act" as officials of the Federation.
|
|
|
|
|
8.
|
The "Two Team" Theory
I have been attending IWuF Executive meetings regularly since 1992 and
I have attended every World Wushu Championship since the first one in
Beijing in 1991. To the best of my knowledge a second team from any
one country has never been allowed to participate since 1993. When a
second team shows up normally the continental federation will get involved
and proof of legitimacy will include: who received the invitation, who
is the IWuF and/or continental federation's recognized entity and contact
person, who paid the IWuF and continental federation membership dues.
I must also point out that the "Second Team" strategy has
been attempted unsuccessfully, and it will be swiftly rejected.
As a member of the IWuF Executive Committee, President of PAWF and
USAWKF, for the sake of the official U.S. Team members who will be selected
at the Baltimore Team Trials, it is my duty to make sure that any unofficial
team will not be allowed to compete at the 6th WWC. This will enable
our official team to focus solely on their training after their selection.
|
|
|
|
|
9.
|
The Special Advisory and Administrative Committee
Despite the difficulty the ongoing Board dispute has created, the work
of the Federation and wushu activities must continue to serve the members
and the wushu community. So following the advice of the members, in
November 2000, I called to establish a Special Advisory and Administrative
Committee (SAA) under Section 9, Article VI of the USAWKF Bylaws. The
SAA Committee will help to organize events such as tournaments and team
trials.
I am proud to report the following persons are now serving on the SAA
Committee: Malee Khow, Randy Li, Hu Jian Qiang, Lu Xiaoling, Carl Hyden,
C.P. Ong, Sun Anguang, Hong Chao Zhang, Yijiao Hong, Abdulmuhsiy Abdurrahman,
Sam Ng, and Paul Chu.
The SAA Committee has approved the Team Trials to be held in Baltimore,
MD. At the National Meeting March 2-4, 2001 the SAA Committee has committed
to raise a minimum of $10,000 and will attempt to raise the full $30,000
to fund the whole US Team to attend the 6th WWC.
|
