Amend ‘active member’ eligibility rule
So whips Polish GM, wrests 1-point lead
Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco yesterday welcomed the proposed amendments in the POC charter, including a clearer definition of the requirements that make one eligible to seek the positions of POC president and chairman.
GM Wesley So came out of a fourdraw run with a crushing victory over Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek to pull away from the pack after 10 rounds of the Tata Steel Masters 2017 in Wijk aan Zee Wednesday night.
So went on an attack mode early on and sent Wojtaszek to the defensive before carving out the 34- move victory with a passed b pawn in a knight vs bishop ending of their English duel.
The win hiked So’s total to seven points, a full point ahead of reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, world challenger GM Sergey Karjakin of Russia, GM Levon Aronian of Armenia, GM Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine and GM Wei Yi of China heading to the last three rounds of the top-level event.
Carlsen drew with GM Pentala Harikrishna of India; Karjakin trounced GM Dmitry Andreikin of Russia; Aronian blasted GM Richard Rapport of Hungary; and Eljanov and Wei split the point.
The victory also boosted So’s live rating to 2820.1, just few points behind No. 2 GM Fabiano Caruana of the US.
Carlsen still sits atop everyone with a world best 2837 rating.
After another break, So takes on Russian GM Dimitry Andreikin in the 11th, Wei in the 12th and another Russian GM Ian Nepomniatchi in the final round.
With his current form, So also hopes to get a crack at challenging Carlsen for the world title in the next championship cycle starting this year.
“That’s the most important,” said Cojuangco, referring to the ruling where an NSA (national sports association) head can only run for the top POC post if he is an active member of the general assembly the past two years.
“It caused some disagreement during the last elections. What does it really require to become eligible,” said Cojuangco.
Under the POC rules, a candidate for president or chairman must be a sitting president of a recognized NSA, and must be attending the general assembly the past two years, where physical presence is required in “50 percent plus one” of all meetings.
The rule caused great confusion during the POC elections last November, forcing boxing chief Ricky Vargas and cycling head Abraham Tolentino to seek redress from the court and called for the postponement of the elections thru a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO).
Vargas and Tolentino argued that there were gray areas on the rule on being an “active” member of the POC, and said the fact that their NSA had been represented in the meetings is proof that they are “active” members of the general assembly.
But the court denied the granting of the TRO, and the elections went on as scheduled. Cojuangco ran unopposed and won a fourth term as POC president.
The post of POC chairman remains vacant, and the POC executive board is not contemplating on leaving it that way.
Among the proposed changes in the POC charter is the putting of an age requirement on those seeking the presidency or a limit in the term.
Cojuangco, who’s now 82, said he might be agreeable to the age requirement, which may take effect in the next POC elections in 2020, but not with the limit on the term.
The equestrian chief, who became POC president in 2004 and then was re-elected in 2008 and 2012, said as long as the person is doing a good job running the POC, then there should be no limit on the length of his term, unless he or she gets past the age limit.
Jose Romasanta, POC first vice president, said the rule on being an “active” member will be clearer to everyone once the amendment is ratified and put into place.
“It caused problems during the last elections. And while its interpretation has always been clear to us, it wasn’t clear to others. Our lawyers will now frame it and put it in legal terms so it won’t cause any problems in the future,” he said.
The POC legal team, led by Atty. Ramon Malinao, will work with lawyers from the Arellano Law University in drafting the amendments.
“Once drafted we will present them to the POC executive board and then the International Olympic Committee to see if they conform to the IOC charter and provisions, for revisions and approval. Then they will be presented to the POC general assembly,” said Romasanta.
The POC vice president, who was also named chef-de-mission to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, said the changes in the POC charter should be put in place this year.