IMPORTANT: Serbia has Declined to Host the World Championships

[Ruth Bromer]

Region 1 IARU has decided that Russia and Belarus will not be banned from ARDF competition. ARDF is being considered just another part of the technical hobby that amateur radio is, not a sport. As a result, Serbia is concerned that not enough people will attend the World Championships this year and that they would lose money, so they have withdrawn.  The initial numbers from the Letters of Intent were already low and only South Korea in R3 have shown an interest in going.  Only 14 countries sent in a Letter of Intent, which is quite low. 

Bulgaria has offered a proposal to host the World Championships and World Cup on the same dates as Serbia was planning and they are not concerned with low turnout.  They also welcome Russia and Belarus. Bulgaria has made the only offer. 

The decision to accept Bulgaria's offer will be made in a couple of days.  With all of this in mind, I'd like for each of you who have been selected to compete for Team USA, as well as the alternates, to let me know if you are still considering competing for Team USA in Bulgaria with Russia and Belarus not being banned.  I need to get a better, more accurate count to report on an updated Letter of Intent.

Here are the invited people at this point. If anyone not on this list would like to compete, please let me know that as well. 

And again, please let me know if you would still like to go. 

Ruth 

**************

M21:

Will Allen

Gheorghe Fala 

Eduard Nasybulin

M40:

Joe Burkhead 

Imre Polik

Ken Harker for Sprint, 2m, 80m

Alex Myachin for FoxO

M50:

Vadim Afonkin

Ken Harker for FoxO 

Nicolai Mejevoi

Alex Myachin for Sprint, 2m, 80m

Matthew Robbins alternate 

M60:

Mike Minium

Gyuri Nagi (George Neal)

Bill Wright

M70:

Joseph Huberman 

Ian Shields 

Mike Schuh

W19:

Liza Afonkin

W21:

Alexandra Bondarenco

W35:

Lori Huberman

W45:

Alla Mezhevaya 

W55:

Natalia Leoni

Nadia Scharlau 

W65:

Ruth Bromer

****************

[Mike Minium]

Hi Ruth (and all)

I'm at least 50-50 on wanting to go.

Meanwhile, why aren't we collaborating on a very strong response to the ridiculous IARU assertion that ARDF, a timed competition, is not a sport.  (and their apparent reasoning for not following the lead of other international sport governing bodies)  Whoever's in charge at the IARU needs to know in no uncertain terms that the national ARDF teams will not stand for this decision, to the point of considering de-affiliating from IARU and joining a different international sport organization.

Mike

[Vadim Afonkin]

1. Our sport should be called Radio orienteering and not ARDF

2. It would be definitely better to go under IOF

With that said - what practical steps needs to be taken to make this move? It's sounds like a lot of societies agree with that.

[ian.b.shields]

I agree that the IARU seems to be quite out of touch with the sporting community. So moving under IOF, if possible, makes a lot of sense.

That said, two significant ARDF participating countries are currently engaged in some form of hostilities to the extent that a significant number of participants will not participate if at least one of those countries plus another are allowed to participate.

Much and all as I would like to participate, I do not feel right about participating during the current hostilities. Nor do I feel right about participating under the IARU interpretation, when most sporting organizations are banning two countries from international competition because of the hostilities.

Ian Shields

Sent by carrier pigeon from somewhere on this Galaxy.

Ian Shields

[Kenneth Harker]

      I have been wrestling with this ever since we left the forest in Virginia.  These are my personal thoughts, and not a representation of IARU Region 2 or the IARU as a whole.

      The change in venue from Serbia to Bulgaria doesn’t really change the fundamental reasons that attendance is expected to be very low for the World Championships this year.  Teams and athletes were not planning to attend or not attend just because it was being hosted in Serbia.  Region 3 societies (esp. China and Japan) are still going to be constrained by pandemic travel limitations.  There will still be no suspension of participation by Russian and Belarusian teams, by the IARU, the BFRA, or the Bulgarian government, so those teams and athletes who would not attend in protest to the war will presumably still not attend because nothing has changed in that respect.

      When I was in Virginia, I was leaning toward attending the championships if only because of my position in the IARU.  I was also holding out hope that maybe the suspension of the SRR and the BFRR would still happen.  There’s also the worry that I may never make the team again, given how strong our athletes are.

     As I’ve had time and space to reflect on the decision, however, I can no longer see myself attending with a clean conscience.  As of now, I am not planning to attend the 2022 World Championships unless something changes with regard to the status of Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams in the sport, or maybe the war comes to an end.

     While I am impressed at the Bulgarians’ enthusiasm to host the event on short notice and potentially at a financial loss, I am sure that the results of such a meet will forever be demarcated with an asterisk in the annals of radio orienteering history.  I personally think we should not host a World Championships this year at all.  That said, I will faithfully pass on whatever position the ARRL ARDF Committee arrives at to the Region 1 Working Group.

73 de Ken WM5R

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ARDF USA" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ardf-usa+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ardf-usa/CADo8mvcmgfzhV6i3HdXHwVHzgq0eGw_0AbYR2HqjY3z2b9AoSg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Vadim Afonkin]

Hi Ken,

I understand and respect your position. 

Just to note - if SRR and BFRR are not banned and present that means you(and some others) will never attend World Championships again.

Do you realize that?

If you do not come this year, and will come to the next WC - this will not be consistent with what you saying now...

I believe it's better to find a different way to show your disagreement.

73,

Vadim

[Ruth Bromer]

Hi Nicolai and Alla,

Thanks for letting us know.  Hopefully, we'll all go next year.

Ruth

On Tue, May 17, 2022 at 5:03 PM Nicolai Mejevoi <mej...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi Ruth,

Alla, and I gave a lot of thought to this change, and for many reasons we will not go to Bulgaria,

I understand all different opinions, and we want to go to the world championship, representing strongest and united team 🇺🇸 

So, please write us off.

Nicolai and Alla

Sent from my iPhone

On May 17, 2022, at 3:58 PM, Vadim Afonkin <Vadim....@gmail.com> wrote: