47th ICSD Congress Minutes - Verceia 2019

9 - 11 December 2019 | Saligari Hotel, Verceia, Italy

9 December 2019 - The session started at 14:00

ICSD Workshop

  1. ICSD Interim President Kang Chen welcomes all delegates to the ICSD Workshop and thanks the Italian Deaf Sports Federation (FSSI) for hosting it.
  2. FSSI President Guido Zanecchia thanked the Organizing Committee for their hard work.
  3. ICSD Anti-Doping
    1. ICSD Doping Control Officer Artem Buerov gives some updates.
    2. Netherlands asks about the decision by WADA to ban Russia for four (4) years and concerns if ICSD would follow this.
    3. ICSD will discuss this issue with WADA.
  4. ICSD Reform Commission

    Explains the progress, and they have had several meetings via online video conference to discuss several proposals and suggestions on ICSD Constitution, ICSD Bylaws, ICSD Regulations, and ICSD Rules.

  5. Deaf International Basketball Federation (DIBF) needs better communication between the Reform Commission and an Associate member for any amendments. The Reform Commission responds that their work will be referred to the ICSD Executive Board for their action first. Kang Chen apologized on behalf of the Board that there should be better communication between the Board and the Associate members.
  6. Slovakia asks why no progress has been made on the new name the International Deaflympics Committee (IDC). Kang Chen explains that the ICSD has asked the IOC a few times since 2001 as it takes a while due to their IOC Constitution and requests everyone to be patient as ICSD shall not give up.
  7. Slovenia asks what has happened to Option "C" of ICSD Reform passed in the 2013 ICSD Congress in Sofia and needs to be discussed during this Workshop or Congress. Slovenia points out that ICSD Reform should be done first before the constitution can be updated and not the other way around. The Reform Commission has formed not long ago, and it began to work only a year ago after Rebecca Adam, who started it.
  8. Hungary explains that this commission is working on it before checking with the IOC to ensure ICSD Reform begins.
  9. The ICSD Legal Commission has offered to assist on any legal matters.

    10. Break

  10. International Olympic Committee (IOC)

    ICSD CEO Dmitry Rebrov gives some updates on IOC matters. He explained that ICSD had an MoU with IOC in 2016 in recognizing ICSD in the role of the Global Deaf Sports, and because of Dr. Valery Rukhledev's situation, IOC was concerned by this has asked ICSD about this situation. ICSD had explained to IOC that Dr. Rukhledev was not involved in the ICSD financial as it was in the All-Russian Deaf Society of the Deaf (VOG), so this was how the IOC began to investigate the ICSD financial and had requested for a full audited report. They had also advised ICSD to update their constitution with reform soon, and they were pleased with ICSD's progress.

    1. Denmark explained that the Danish Paralympic Committee (DPC) is under the Danish Olympic Committee (DOC), and the Paralympics gets considerable funds from the DOC. The Danish Deaf Sports Federation (DDSF) gets nothing from the DPC. DDSF did not want to involve the DPC and had requested the DOC to move up to the same level as DPC, but the DOC was not keen to accept it. Denmark has asked ICSD to send a copy of the MoU from the IOC to show DOC that DDSF is to be treated equally as the Paralympics and Special Olympics.
      1. Dmitry Rebrov advises Denmark to rename the federation to a more appropriate name to obtain the fund.
    2. Russia responded to Denmark that the organisation had happened to them before and after Russia changed their name from "Union" to "Committee" and communicated more with their NOC. Now, the Deaf Sports Committee gets the same fund as their Olympics and Paralympics committees.
    3. Netherlands asked ICSD to apologise for not responding to their request to have an ICSD Extraordinary Congress.
    4. Kang Chen apologized on behalf of the ICSD Executive Board as they were focusing on Winter Deaflympics, but there will be one in due course.
    5. Slovakia asked why we do not get IDC as Paralympics got IPC.
    6. Dmitry Rebrov explained that the IOC offered Paralympics to get their status as IPC to parallel with IOC, whereas Deaflympics is an independent status.
  11. Office Management System (OMS)

    ICSD IT, Ralph Fernandez explained that he has worked on Office Management System (OMS) for several years. He built it with a huge data of approximately 12 million covering everything ICSD needs to avoid the paperwork, including the athletes' details, audiograms, and forms for the Deaflympics and World Deaf Championships. The OMS has been improvised and can be accessed by the ICSD Secretariat and ICSD Executive Board members, National Deaf Sports Federations, and ICSD TDs to obtain several details and archives. Ralph Fernandez explained that the details such as the athlete's surname have changed due to marriage can be amended via the ICSD Secretariat if requested.

    1. Hungary asked if it could obtain the past athlete's 1st to 6th places from the OMS. Ralph Fernandez confirmed that OMS had had the details since 1924 based on old book details.
    2. Spain requested all ICSD TDs to use OMS and not the paperwork for any Championships entry forms as some sports are different, which has caused some confusion.
  12. Audiogram

    Dmitry Rebrov explains that the new audiogram policy was set up on 1 September 2015, and the official form can be obtained online only. He has pointed out that no handwriting on the form is allowed. All details must be typed and printed out before going to an official hearing clinic for the form to be filled in entirely in the red boxes. The form will be rejected if it is incomplete. He pointed out that if the form is complete at least three (3) months before the competition, no fee will be charged, but if less than three (3) months and more than one (1) month, $40 will occur. If less than one (1) month, $100 will occur. He advises all member nations to use OMS to enter their athletes' details, including attaching the official ICSD audiogram form. He will automatically get an alert to enable him to process it quickly.

    1. DIBF raised their concern by one basketball player who competed in the EDSO competition and one (1) year later at the Deaflympics, the same player who had his audiogram tested by the official ICSD that failed. DIBF said that the player's past winning medal should have been returned to the ICSD instead of keeping it, and it should be treated the same as for failing the doping test.
  13. Proposals

    Dmitry Rebrov explains that there are two separate sets of proposals from the federations:

    • Good standings will be discussed during the ICSD Congress
    • Still owing ICSD will be rejected
    1. Hungary proposes that those countries still owe ICSD be settled before Congress commences to reinstate their proposals. Still, it must have votes from the floor for this to be accepted.
      1. Dmitry Rebrov responded that he would need to discuss this with the Legal Commission to see if this is viable or not.
    2. Germany opposed Hungary's proposal.
    3. Slovenia raised that they paid their due to ICSD but was unaware that it was due to their bank charges, which prevented their proposals from being used at the Congress. Slovenia has settled it after the deadline has passed and has suggested that OMS should have alerted them of the bank charges to prevent this from happening. Slovenia has requested for their proposals to be reinstated.
    4. Croatia raised a similar issue as Slovenia.
    5. Finland has overpaid to ICSD, so it should be surplus and was surprised that their proposals have been rejected as not in good standing because of the past 2014 that they were still owing ICSD.
      1. Dmitry Rebrov responded that it was due to America's bank system who did not state clearly who had paid into the ICSD bank account, and it was left to the office to check whose money was from. He pointed out that now ICSD uses a Swiss bank that clearly shows where the money is coming from.

  14. The Italian Deaf Sports Federation (FSSI) welcomes three district mayors.

The session ended at 18:00

10 December 2019 - The session started at 09:35

  1. Welcome by the ICSD Interim President and Host Country:
    1. The 47th Congress commenced at 09:35 with Kang Chen presiding. Kang Chen welcomed everyone at the Congress and expressed his wish to support the ICSD. He welcomed and thanked Guido Zanecchia, the President of the Italian Deaf Sports Federation (FSSI), for the hard work in hosting this Winter Deaflympics.
    2. Guido Zanecchia thanked everyone for coming to this ICSD Congress and thanked the ICSD for accepting FSSI to host the 19th Winter Deaflympics despite one-year notice. He thanked the Organising Committee for their hard work to achieve athletes' sake.
  2. Roll Call to present countries:
    1. The total number of ICSD members is one hundred and thirteen (113) plus four (4) Associate Members. Forty-three (43) ICSD members of good standing at present out of fifty-three (53) of one hundred and thirteen (113) good standing. Forty-three (43) good standing members present:
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Bosnia and Herzegovina
      • Brazil
      • Bulgaria
      • Canada
      • China
      • Chinese Taipei
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • Estonia
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Hungary
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kosovo
      • Kuwait
      • Latvia
      • Lithuania
      • Macau
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Poland
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Slovenia
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • Sweden
      • Turkey
      • Ukraine
      • United States
      • Venezuela

      Seven (7) not good standing members present:

      • Belarus
      • Cameroon
      • Cyprus
      • Iran
      • Korea
      • Slovakia
      • Thailand
    2. The ICSD Legal Commission explained the procedure of a good-standing ICSD member. At that point, forty-three (43) good standing ICSD members are present, which means over 50%, so this has passed.
    3. The ICSD Legal Commission explained that since five (5) members have just paid their dues so it means we now have forty-eight (48) good standing members are present.
      • Belarus
      • Cyprus
      • Korea
      • Slovakia
      • Thailand
    4. Four (4) Associate Members present:
      • DIBF
      • DIFA
      • ICCD
      • WDGF
    5. The ICSD Legal Commission pointed out that 75% or more of votes is required to allow those ICSD members who have paid their dues to have their proposals that have passed the deadline date to be reinstated.
    6. The United States is concerned that the ICSD Constitution has broken by allowing those ICSD members who have not paid their dues by 1 April 2019 to accept their proposal.
      • The ICSD Legal Commission responded that the current constitution is feeble.
      • Vote to remove "1 April" from the ICSD Constitution to allow the late payment members to submit their proposals and vote.

        • Vote required 75%:
        Yes = 25 | Abstain = 0 | No = 13
        Result - Not Passed

    7. DIBF pointed out that we currently have 48 members which means for 50% + 1 = 25 votes and 75% = 36 votes.
    8. The Netherlands proposed to vote to suspend "1 April" in the ICSD Constitution for this ICSD Congress only.
    9. Hungary supported the Netherlands to continue the ICSD Congress without wasting time.

      Vote required 75%:
      Yes = 38
      Result - Passed

  3. In Memoriam:
    • Abderezak Cherifi of Algeria - Federation
    • Chris Cooper of Australia - Golf
    • Hans Zingerle of Austria - Federation
    • Nikolay Nikolov of Bulgaria - Federation
    • Guitcho Zhelev Kanev of Bulgaria - Athletics
    • Heikki Sandholm of Finland - Basketball
    • Kirsti Niemelä of Finland - Bowling
    • Simo Kujala of Finland - Athletics
    • Sauli Isomäki of Finland - Bowling
    • Sulo Rannikko of Finland - Athletics
    • Tapio Laine of Finland - Athletics
    • Tero Tianen of Finland - Ice-Hockey
    • Katsaganis Konstaninos of Greece - Football
    • Noulas Fotios of Greece - Federation
    • Abolhassan Ilchi Kabir of Iran - Wrestling
    • Giuranna Armando of Italy - ICSD Board Member
    • Giovanni Calissano of Italy - Alpine Skiing
    • Gerrit Westerveld of Netherlands - Federation
    • Bas Naaktgeboren of Netherlands - Federation
    • Casparina van Beek of Netherlands - Badminton
    • Petter Sørensen of Norway - Skating and Handball
    • Odd Landehagen of Norway - Federation and EDSO Board Member
    • Diehl Kazimierz of Poland - Federation
    • Davronkhuzha Sharipov of Russia - Wrestling
    • Sergey Atamanenko of USSR (Russia) - Football
    • Vyacheslav Kalugin of USSR (Russia) - Gymnasium
    • Valentin Lebedev of USSR (Russia) - Javelin
    • Lidia Senina of Russia - Cross Country Skiing
    • Vladimir Felde of Russia - Coach
    • Roberto Pinilla Santibañez of Spain - Chess
    • Alfonso Pernas Sanchez of Spain - Federation
    • Inga-Britt Axelsson of Sweden - Athletics
    • Sivert Engdahl of Sweden - Federation
    • Lars-Åke Wikström of Sweden - Handball
    • Sten Ulfsparre of Sweden - Federation
    • Lars Kruth of Sweden - Federation
    • Leo Hermann of Switzerland - Shooting
    • Hanspeter Jassniker of Switzerland - Football
    • Hubert Kreuzer of Switzerland - Alpine Skiing
    • Erwin John Antoni, SR. of USA - Coach
    • Carol J Billone of USA - Director of 1985 WGD
    • Don Boyer of USA - Athletics
    • Tamara "Tammy" Marcinuk of USA - Alpine Skiing
    • Stan Mitkita of USA - Hockey School
    • Gary Mortensen of USA - Alpine Skiing
    • Roscoe Murray II of USA - Handball
    • John Charles "Bird" Perry of USA - Coach
    • Joseph Franklin Russell of USA - Athletics
    • Jeffrey Sauer of USA - Ice-Hockey Coach
    • James Maurice "Jimmy" Stern of USA - Team Leader
    • William Dean Swaim of USA - Wrestling Coach
  4. Appointment of Scrutineers:
    • Konstantin Dzougoutov (USA)
    • Simeon Hart (Great Britain)
    • Vanessa Migliosi (Italy)
  5. Approval of the Agenda: The majority of voters approved.
  6. Confirmation of minutes of 46th Congress in Samsun, Turkey:
    1. Canada raised that Charles Fectueau of Canada is still alive and removed his name from the Memoriam on the website.
    2. DIBF raised that information on the Memorandum of Understanding between ICSD and Associate Members is missing.
    3. Minutes of the 46th ICSD Congress had been approved.
  7. Finance Report for 2014 - 2018:
    1. Dmitry Rebrov explained that the finance reports from 2014 to 2016 were in the USA and 2017 to 2018 in Switzerland. He pointed out that the IOC has requested the Swiss auditors to carry out a full audit report for the past ten (10) years.
      1. Canada pointed out that the account of 2017 should have stated 2017 and 2016 in two columns, but it showed 2017 in CHF and USD instead.
      2. Canada was concerned that the auditor did not comment on the accounts, and there should have been an accounting policy.
      3. Slovenia pointed out that if the ICSD auditor did not give any comments, Slovenia could not approve it.
      4. Australia follows NOC's account policy, including the auditor's comments, but ICSD's auditor does not seem to have done this correctly. The NOC would request that this be looked into, and they would find this unacceptable, which will impact us financially.
      5. Spain noticed some federation members had not paid their dues in the Championships, which was wrong.
      6. Hungary was concerned by the lack of the auditor's comments and noticed that the account of 2015 showed a vast payment made to an auditor. Why?
        1. Dmitry Rebrov explained that it was due to the former CEO who sued ICSD, and we had to pay the legal costs.
      7. Hungary pointed out in the Swiss auditor's comments that it was due to the lack of account paperwork transferred from the United States to Switzerland and would like to know why.
        1. Dmitry Rebrov responded that the United States auditor did not require any receipts for the expenses of the ICSD Board members etc.
      8. Hungary proposed a full account report including the auditor's comments and approval from 2014 to 2018, ready to be questioned and approved at the next ICSD Extraordinary Congress. We cannot approve this finance report today.
        1. Dmitry Rebrov responded that it would be up to this ICSD Congress to proceed or not.
        2. Kang Chen pointed out that 2013 to Feb 2014 was before Dmitry Rebrov took over, and he began from Mar 2014 onwards. He understands that the accounts report of 2018 has not been accepted by this ICSD Congress but explains that IOC has requested that the account to be accepted by this ICSD Congress. Dmitry Rebrov explains that IOC has prepared to release the funds, including two (2) years backdated once they have received our accounts approval.
      9. Hungary asked the ICSD to obtain a full yearly account report from 2014 to 2018 ready for the next ICSD Extraordinary Congress.
      10. Germany asked if we wait for a further two (2) years for the account to be approved, will the IOC release their fund to ICSD?
        1. Dmitry Rebrov responded that the IOC would not.
      11. Slovenia pointed out that we should approve each yearly account and not just one (1) vote to cover all accounts.
        1. Kang Chen explained that IOC is prepared to release the funds to ICSD once this ICSD Congress has accepted the accounts. He suggested that we accept this, and the Board will prepare the full account report ready for the next ICSD Extraordinary Congress.
      12. Belgium pointed out that the account reports of 2017 and 2018 are unclear according to expenses and proposed limiting expenses to $1,000 a year until the accounts are approved.
      13. Croatia suggested ICSD have a reviser to look after the account.
        1. Dmitry Rebrov responded that it is normal for a national federation to use a reviser, but we use an auditor for the international.
    2. Kang Chen thanked them for the valuable comments, and the Board will investigate them. He asked this ICSD Congress to vote on Hungary's proposal to have the complete account reports of 2014 to 2018 at the ICSD Extraordinary Congress with the ICSD Reform Commission.

      Vote required >50%:
      Yes = 30
      Result - Passed

      3. Lunch Break

    3. Israel is concerned that if we delay approving the accounts, ICSD will not get any funds from IOC and might impact ICSD. Israel proposes that we disregard the recent vote proposed by Hungary and have the complete account reports ready for the ICSD Extraordinary Congress. In that way, IOC will release the funds to ICSD.
    4. WDGF pointed out that IOC is waiting for the account to be accepted by this ICSD Congress for the benefit of the staff to continue working, and the full accounts can be officially approved at the Extraordinary Congress.
    5. Germany pointed out that this ICSD Congress has not followed the correct procedure, and we are weak.
    6. The Netherlands suggested that ICSD talk with the IOC to see if they are happy with our account reports before accepting them at the ICSD Extraordinary Congress.
    7. Gustavo Perazzolo pointed out that ICSD and IOC are waiting for each other's acceptance before things can move on. If ICSD does not get the funds from IOC, how can we have an ICSD Extraordinary Congress without any funds available?
    8. Marijo Lusic explained that Dmitry Rebrov is the only person who can examine the account online and suggested appointing four (4) more people.
    9. Jack Lamberton asked the ICSD Legal Commission if there is in the ICSD Constitution that a proposer can withdraw its proposal after the vote has passed.
    10. ICSD Legal Commission responded that nothing is mentioned in the ICSD Constitution and Bylaws suggested that the proposer withdraw it.
    11. The United States understands that the IOC is aware that the auditor is currently working on the accounts and allowing them to become aware that we are ready to question the accounts. The United States suggested that we work with the auditor to resolve the issues. It will show the IOC that we collaborate with them on these matters.
    12. Brazil was concerned by the severe dispute and suggested that we all support the ICSD to continue accepting the accounts but approve them later.
    13. Gustavo Perazzolo would like to clarify that we should accept the account reports to allow the auditor to approve the accounts before officially approving them.
    14. The ICSD Legal Commission pointed out that the lack of the ICSD Constitution and Bylaws means that ICSD Congress can decide whatever is going on.
    15. DIFA pointed out that the ICSD Constitution has not changed for many years and requested all federation members should move on with the issue now and support the ICSD for the sake of athletes.
    16. The Netherlands pointed out that it is the responsibility of all federation members to ensure that ICSD is running correctly and not just the ICSD Board members. We need to continue with the voting procedure as we have not voted on the account reports yet. We will need to inform the IOC if we reject it; otherwise, we can move on.
  8. Dmitry Rebrov announced that Iran has just paid their due, so one (1) additional member. Forty-nine (49) members present.
    Vote required >50%:
    Yes = 29, Abstain = 3, No = 12.
    Result - Passed
  9. Reports from the Presidents of Regional Confederations & ICSD Commissions:
    1. EDSO - Iosif Stavrakakis explained that EDSO had several European Championships in 2018 and 2019 and will have upcoming EDSO Championships and EDSO Congress in 2020 in Denmark.
    2. PANAMDES - Pedro Bonnassiolle explained that PANAMDES had workshops in Brazil (2017) and again in Uruguay (2018). We had some PANAMDES Championships in 2018 and 2019 and congratulations to Brazil women who won World Deaf Futsal Championships. We had an ordinary General Assembly to discuss about the ICSD Reform that took place in Brazil (2019) and update the PANAMDES Constitution. We thanked Mark Kusiak from Canada who has helped us. We have some teams that have qualified for the World Championships in Futsal and Football and to the Deaflympics in Brazil. We will have some PANAMDES Championships in 2020. We have some youth competitions and we are trying to help some minority countries to develop their sports for the future.
    3. CADS - Mohamad Madoun explained that CADS has new Board members and it has been hard work. Africa has 54 countries but only 24 members with approximately 17,000 athletes, where 3,000 are women. We did not have any CADS Championships between 1997 and 2018 due to no financial support from several African governments. Recently we held the first Africa Deaf Athletics Championships in Kenya where 11 countries took part, and one Ethiopian broke a World Record of junior women 800m. In April 2018, CADS held its Executive Committee meeting and Congress in South Africa. There will be the first women in sports leadership in Botswana (2020). Some communication issues between some African countries and ICSD TDs, which did not share with the CADS Board members. We have planned to have some CADS Championships soon.
    4. APDSC - Mohammad Pargar explained that APDSC Games should have been held in Hong Kong recently. However, APDSC Games was canceled due to political unrest, so we are working on an alternative venue in either Jordan or Bahrain, which will, hopefully, take place in October 2020. We had some APDSC Championships. We had an additional sport of cricket that will be held in India (2020). We had some APDSC Board meetings to discuss some members' issues, and we are currently working with North Korea to join APDSC.
    5. ICSD Technical Commission (TC) - Martin Bogard explained that TC consists of 5 TDs (Martin as the Chair - Badminton), Tobias Burz (Tennis), John Knetzger (Beach Volleyball), Jonathan Guinta (Curling), and Bongyku Jeong (Taekwondo). Ballots from the current TDs have elected us. Our objective is to study and establish general Technical Regulations for the official ICSD competitions, including the Deaflympics and World Deaf Championships. We had video meetings several times working on several materials, including updating new Deaflympics and World Championships regulations for Reform, including changing from ICSD Technical Director to ICSD “Sport” Director. We created the World Championships checklist for the ICSD TD, ICSD representative, and OC to update several documents, including evaluation forms. All ICSD TDs need to use the OMS, and we have planned to hold a seminar and workshop for all ICSD TDs.
    6. ICSD Women Commission - Nadezhda Shakbazyan, as the Chair, explained that the commission consists of five (5) women, Rebecca Adam (Australia), Sonu Sharma (India), Shirley Keogile (Botswana), and Dawn Birley (Canada). We are to promote, advocate and increase the involvement of more women in World Deaf Sports and raise awareness about gender equality and diversity policy that the ICSD has approved. We have created a survey to help us know the percentage of women involved for statistical reasons. The figures show for 2017 and 2018 from 14 countries out of 113, which was too small. Please respond to the survey asap for the actual figure for the year 2019. We are concerned that only 1% of women athletes and coaches/leaders are from African countries. We know it is so hard for CADS to improve this. We had seminars in the past and will arrange for some more in the future. We need more members in this commission, especially from PANAMDES. We thank ICSD, Sonu Sharma, and Miriam Opondo for their support.
    7. ICSD Legal Commission - Robert Mather explained that he had discussed the ICSD Constitution, Bylaws, etc., and Rebecca Adam, who worked on Reform. He has studied the documents and noticed that the ICSD Constitution and Bylaws are suitable for a small association, but ICSD is quite big, so he plans to work on them within a year on three (3) issues:
      • Feedback with some ideas that need to amend them if needed
      • Make the lists of the amendments
      • Those amendments will be submitted to vote at the 2021 ICSD Extraordinary Congress.
      In the meantime, Robert Mather will accept the comments or feedback in either written English or sign language. He would like this to happen on OMS for all members to view the comments.
    8. ICSD Youth Commission – Jack Lamberton, as the Chair, explained that the commission consists of five (5) persons, Hannah Britton (Australia), Anna Polivanchuk (Sweden), Miriam Opondo (Kenya), and Julia Velasquez (United States). Participated in eight (8) online meetings focusing on Youth Games, and we need them for the future Deaflympics. The ICSD Youth Games had been canceled twice in Argentina in 2018 and again in Armenia in 2019. We are working on the bid for 2023 with six (6) possible sports events consisting of athletics, badminton, 3X3 basketball, futsal, swimming, and table tennis. We plan to have two age categories of 13 to 15 and 16 to 18. We also work on gender equality with the ICSD Women Commission.
    9. Comments:
      1. DIBF thanked all commissions for their hard work. DIBF pointed out that one (1) female coach in a male basketball team. DIBF requests to have a copy of the ICSD Women Commission presentation that would help him to promote more women involved.
      2. DIBF appreciated that the ICSD Technical Commission has referred to the ICSD Reform Commission to change the title of ICSD Technical Director to ICSD “Sport” Director that will look more professional. DIBF pointed out that it would be good if a female and a summer team sport ICSD TD in the commission. DIBF suggests having two (2) representatives from the Associate Members in the ICSD Technical Commission to keep both ICSD and Associate Members on the same track when organising any Championships.
      3. DIBF suggests having more details of the commissions on the ICSD website for better communication.
      4. Germany pointed out that the ICSD Women Commission only received 14 responses and GER seemed that they have not received it and has requested to resend it.
      5. Germany asks the ICSD Youth Commission if they are flexible on the ICSD Youth Games date as Germany would like to host it in 2024 only.
      6. Spain pointed out that they will obtain a fund from their government on European Women events and work with Nadezhda Shakbazyan on this project.
      7. Spain requests more clarification on 18 years old for the athletes in the ICSD Youth Games.
        1. Jack Lamberton responded that it is for up to 18 years old only.
      8. The Czech Republic asked the ICSD Youth Commission why there was no Tennis in the Youth Games in the survey.
        1. Jack Lamberton responded that there had been an insufficient number of youth players according to the survey. The Czech Republic pointed out that many youth tennis players have been in the recent World Championship. Jack Lamberton thanked the Czech Republic for the update. Germany pointed out that it would be better to enter as many sports as possible, and then we can reduce them afterward depending on the number of entries.
      9. Australia thanked the Regional Confederations & Commissions for their reports but nothing from the ICSD Board members. Australia believes it is vital for all members of the ICSD to know what the ICSD Board members have been doing for the past two (2) years.
        1. Kang Chen responded that this should have been on the agenda and will have one on the second day of Congress.
      10. The Netherlands pointed out that they have not received the survey from the ICSD Women Commission and have requested to resend it.
      11. The Netherlands pointed out that it would be helpful if all ICSD commission reports were sent to all ICSD members to read them beforehand.
        1. Kang Chen responded that all commission reports would be sent to all members after this ICSD Congress.
      12. The Netherlands requested two more names of the ICSD Legal Commission.
        1. Kang Chen responded that last July, when I took over as the Interim ICSD President, those three (3) original members of the legal commission had to leave due to a conflict of interest. One of them was Gustavo Perazzolo; he is a member of the Board. Last September, we received two (2) applications. One of them was Robert Mather, who is not involved in any deaf federation, and the Board has approved this. After this ICSD Congress, we will look for two (2) more independent persons in the ICSD Legal Commission.
      13. Croatia explained arranging an international sports camp of seven (7) days for the ICSD Youth Games for all genders. The details will be sent out to all members soon.
      14. Saudi Arabia explained that they now have sports for women, and at the moment, men that run for 24 deaf clubs and women run seven (7) clubs. They are working to achieve an equal number of each gender. At the recent APDSC Games in Hong Kong, we entered a few women athletes to participate in the Bowling competition. Still, unfortunately, the Asian Games were cancelled. The ICSD Women Commission needs to aware that Saudi Arabia has seven (7) women clubs.
      15. Kang Chen raised that ICSD has planned to set up ICSD Athletes Commission at the request of IOC and has referred this to ICSD Reform Commission and would inform all members of the progress.
  10. Admission and Recognition of New Membership Applications:
    1. ICSD CEO Dmitry Rebrov explained that there are two separate memberships: Full and Associate Members. These memberships are subject to the submission of their full relevant documents and review by the Legal Commission for confirmation before they are passed to the floor for the approval of the Congress for the Membership admittance. The Memberships vote requires 50%.
      1. Four (4) new Full Members are:
        • Lebanon
        • Palestine
        • Paraguay
        • Mozambique
      2. Two (2) new Associate Members are:
        • International Deaf Athletics Federation (IDAF)
        • International Deaf Ice Hockey Federation (IDIHF)

      3. The Legal Commission has reviewed and confirmed the prospective Full Members’ documents to meet the criteria for Full Membership. The votes of the Congress are as follow:

        • Lebanon: Yes = 45. Result - Passed
        • Palestine: Yes = 45. Result - Passed
        • Paraguay: Yes = 45. Result - Passed
        • Mozambique: Yes = 46. Result - Passed

        ICSD now has 117 active member nations.

      4. The Legal Commission has reviewed the prospective Associate Members’ documents and found them to be insufficient. They did not meet the criteria to be passed to the floor for the Congress’s approval. Kang Chen explained that the ICSD Executive Board needs to have the approval of the Congress to give them the authority to review the documents again and determine if these organisations should be given Associate Membership. 50% of the Congress’s votes is required to approve giving the Board authority. The results of the votes are as follow:

        • International Deaf Athletics Federation (IDAF): Yes = 28. Result - Passed
        • International Deaf Ice Hockey Federation (IDIHF): Yes = 29. Result - Passed

  11. Termination of Membership:
    1. Turkmenistan's government has closed its deaf federation.

      ICSD now has 116 active member nations.

      1. Hungary asked for an apparent reason for this with Turkmenistan.
        1. Dmitry Rebrov responded that their government has decided to use their deaf sports under the Paralympics.
    2. Dmitry Rebrov explained that several members had not paid their dues to ICSD for the past up to 12 years, and this needs to be discussed at this ICSD Congress:
      • Bangladesh since 2013
      • Fiji since 2014
      • Gambia since 2009
      • Guinea since 2009
      • Iceland since 2012
      • Indonesia since 2014
      • Jamaica since 2014
      • Mongolia since 2013
      • Peru since 2013
      • Senegal since 2012
      • Seychelles since 2014
      • Sierra Leone since 2011
      • Swaziland since 2009
      • Tanzania since 2007
      • Tunisia since 2012
      • Uganda since 2007
      • Zimbabwe since 2010
    3. Marijo Lusic suggests that those four (4) regional representatives sort out their respective regions to resolve it. These representatives can be decided at the next ICSD Congress in 2021 if they still fail to settle their dues.
    4. Guido Zanechhia explained that Iceland is still affiliated with EDSO and could not understand why this has happened. He also pointed out that ICSD should have stopped its membership if the ICSD member is failed to settle its due yearly.
    5. ICSD Legal Commission responded that according to Constitution #7, the ICSD CEO could remove a member and inform others afterward.
    6. CADS President Mohamed Madoun has noticed that about half are from African countries, and they never attend any ICSD Congress and World Championships, etc. He pointed out that Zambia gave him $100 for ICSD membership during the workshop in South Africa. Mohamed advised Zambia to settle their dues with ICSD first. Several countries have no money as their governments do not support them.
    7. The Netherlands is shocked to hear about several African countries and feels the regional representative must communicate with them to resolve it and suggests that any neighboring country should assist them with their advice.
    8. The Netherlands pointed out that only $100 for the African countries and $1,000 for the "west" countries. As the penalty fees are the same for all nations, and if a country from Africa is being penalised for failing to turn up, this will impact that country badly and may never recover it. The Netherlands suggested ICSD Reform Commission discuss this further.
    9. The United States supported Netherland's comments and pointed out that the ICSD Board members were voted by the ICSD Congress. The ICSD Board members must resolve those issues and not ask the members at the ICSD Congress.
    10. Germany suggests that there should be the same ratio for the penalty fees according to their memberships.
    11. Germany supports the United States' statement.
    12. Kang Chen responded that the ICSD Executive Board did discuss this and is grateful for the feedback from this floor and will work with the regional representatives to resolve them until the 2021 ICSD Congress. He thanked Germany for their suggestion on ratio fees, and the ICSD Executive Board will be discussing this.
  12. New Proposals for Adoptions:
    1. Proposal 1: Finland wanted to remove chess from the Winter Deaflympics.

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 9, Abstain = 11, No = 20.
      Result - Not Passed.

    2. Proposal 2: Finland proposed to have details of doping athletes on ICSD home pages.

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 39, Abstain = 0, No = 0.
      Result - Passed.

    3. Proposal 3: Finland proposed futsal for Summer Deaflympics.

      Finland withdrew it.

    4. Proposal 4: Finland and DIFA wanted futsal in the Winter Deaflympics. 11.4.1. ICSD Executive Board explained that futsal has been approved at the 2001 ICSD Congress but has not progressed. So, this will start at the Winter Deaflympics in 2023.

      Finland and DIFA withdrew it.

    5. Proposal 5: Finland wanted to remove chess from the Winter Deaflympics.

      Duplicated as Proposal 1.

    6. Proposal 6: Finland proposed to have details of doping athletes on ICSD home pages.

      Finland withdrew it.

    7. Proposal 7: Finland wanted to delete "the new auditory test system."

      Finland withdrew it.

    8. Proposal 8: Belgium proposed a maximum fee for technical packages for those who stay in a hotel apart from the official hotel recommended by the OC.

      This will be referred to the ICSD Reform Commission.

    13. The session ended at 19:15

11 December 2019 - The session started at 09:20

  1. Kang Chen welcomed all to the second day and explained that Isabelle Malaurie to be the facilitator to keep the Congress running smoothly promptly.
  2. Roll Call
    • Argentina
    • Australia
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Bosnia and Herzegovina
    • Belarus
    • Brazil
    • Bulgaria
    • Canada
    • China
    • Chinese Taipei
    • Croatia
    • Cyprus
    • Czech Republic
    • Denmark
    • Estonia
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Hungary
    • Iran
    • Israel
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Kazakhstan
    • Korea
    • Kosovo
    • Kuwait
    • Latvia
    • Lebanon
    • Lithuania
    • Macau
    • Malaysia
    • Netherlands
    • Nepal
    • Norway
    • Poland
    • Russia
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Slovakia
    • Slovenia
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Thailand
    • Turkey
    • Ukraine
    • United States
    • Venezuela

      • One (1) not good standing member present:

      • Cameroon

  3. Continued for New Proposals for Adoptions:
    1. Proposal 9: Belgium wanted an audiogram fee of $40 for non-national sports within one (1) month.

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 25, Abstain = 8, No = 5.
      Result - Passed.

    2. Proposal 10: Belgium wanted to change appointing an accountant.

      Belgium withdrew it.

    3. Proposal 11: Germany proposed to add futsal to the official Winter Deaflympics Program.

      Since this has already been approved, Germany withdrew it.

    4. Proposal 12: Germany proposed to add futsal to the official Winter Deaflympics Program.

      Duplicated as Proposal 11.

    5. Proposal 13: The United States proposed to add "Anti-Nepotism" in the ICSD Constitution.
      1. Anti-Nepotism

        1.1 Definition

        1.1.1 For the purposes of this article, “individual” means:

        1.1.1.1 An elected or appointed officer of the Executive Committee as defined in ICSD Constitution 9.3.1.

        1.1.1.2 An employee and/or a volunteer at the ICSD Secretariat.

        1.1.1.3 A Technical Director as defined in Bylaw 4.

        1.1.1.4 A participant in any of the Commissions defined in Constitution 11.

        1.2.2 A “relative” means a person who is related to the individual described in 1.1.1 as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, domestic partner, father-in law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, the spouses, or domestic partners of any of the above. All relationships shall include those arising from adoption.

        1.2 The relative(s) of any elected, appointed, or hired individual are disqualified from appointment, employment, and elected positions during a relative’s tenure.

        1.3 Whenever any individual becomes related, either by election, appointment, employment, marriage, domestic partnership, or adoption, to another individual in one (1) of the relationships previously mentioned in this section, the affected individual(s) must immediately disclose the relationship.

        1.3.1 The affected individual(s) shall be granted a grace period of thirty (30) days from the date on which the affected individual(s) became related, during which one of the affected individuals must depart their position.

        1.3.2 At the end of the thirty (30) day grace period, if no determination has been made by the affected persons, the affected person(s) with the lower rank shall depart their position. Should the affected persons be of equal rank, seniority takes precedence.

        1.4 If any individual fails to disclose a relationship described in 1.1.2, all affected individual(s) shall be immediately removed from their position(s) or be terminated by the Chief Executive Officer, Executive Committee, or Congress.

        1.5 This provision applies to all individuals and positions outlined in 1.1.1.

      2. Hungary suggested using more appropriate words to replace anti nepotism. The Board will decide this.

        3. Vote required 75%:
        Yes = 47, Abstain = 1, No = 1.
        Result - Passed.

    6. Proposal 14. The United States proposed to add “Role conflict” in the constitution.
      1. Effective immediately, except for 1.1, which shall be effective by the 48th ICSD Congress, the roles and interests of ICSD, Full Members, Provisional Members, and Associate Members must remain separate.

        1. Role Conflict

        1.1 An elected or appointed officer of the Executive Board as defined in 9.3.1 may not be an active athlete or hold a position with a Full Member, a Provisional Member, an Associate Member, or with any organization or business whose interests or activities interfere with the interests of ICSD.

        1.2 An employee at the ICSD Secretariat may not be an active athlete or serve with a Full Member, a Provisional Member or an Associate Member.

        1.2.1 An individual serving with a Full Member, a Provisional Member or an Associate Member may assist or be contracted to assist the Secretariat with specific office tasks (i.e. note taking, filing, etc) for limited terms, but shall hold no decision-making authority. No one with a personal or business interest in the issue under discussion should be involved in the decision process.

        1.3 A Technical Director as defined in Bylaw 4 may not be an active athlete, or serve as an officer with a Full Member, a Provisional Member or an Associate Member

        1.3.1 A Technical Director must seek recusal in the event of a protest during competition involving a relative as defined in the section "Anti-Nepotism."

        1.4 Any individual who is an active athlete or holds a position with a Full Member, a Provisional Member, or an Associate Member as defined in 1.3 cannot serve in one of the following Commissions defined in 11.1:

        1.4.1 Legal

        1.4.2 Audiology

        1.4.3 Anti-Doping

        1.4.4 Appeals

        1.4.5 Medical

        1.5 If a role conflict described in this section arises and the individual does not relinquish their additional role(s), the individual shall be immediately removed from their position(s) or be terminated by the Chief Executive Officer, Executive Committee, or Congress.

      The United States requests for this to be referred to the Reform Commission to review and complete it.

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 33, Abstain = 8, No = 3.
      Result - Passed.

    7. Proposal 15: The United States proposed to update the language in ICSD Constitution 11.1 to require the ICSD Executive Board to establish and maintain the structure and continuous oversight of ICSD Commissions.
      1. 11.1. The ICSD Executive Board must establish and maintain any of the following ICSD Commissions, which shall be responsible to the Congress:

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 43, Abstain = 0, No = 0.
      Result - Passed.

    8. Proposal 16. The United States proposed to Expand DG12. Team Sports to clarify ICSD's role in determining qualifying competitions and allocations to minimize confusion and conflicts.

      1. DG12. TEAM SPORTS

        1. The preliminary registration for team sports must be made two and a half years prior to the Summer Deaflympics and one year prior to the Winter Deaflympics.

        2. Only one team per National Federation shall be admitted.

        3. The number of teams for the final round, in each sport and gender will, as a rule, be up to sixteen (16) teams, to be determined by the EC, based on the recommendation of the Technical Director and the nature of sport.

        4. Where there is less than allocated number of teams registered according to DG12.3, additional entries may be accepted until a maximum number allowed is reached six (6) months prior to the opening date of the Deaflympics. The entry of team sports will be made upon the date of receipt of the application with the ICSD office. Should the ICSD office receive more than one team on the same day, a ballot will be held to determine the order of entry.

        5. Qualification for participating in the Deaflympics should automatically follow the results of championships within the regional federations unless a regional federation chooses to have qualifying rounds.

        6. The most current World Champion team in that sport will be automatically qualified and seeded number one if the team meets the DG12.1 requirement. There will be no carry over to second (2nd) place winner if the World Champion team cannot attend. A fair draw method will be applied according to the relevant International Sports Federation rules. If there was no World Championship in that sport since the last Deaflympics, a previous Deaflympics Champion will be automatically seeded number one.

        7. If more than the number of teams in DG12.3 register, the Technical Director shall announce qualifying competitions, including World Championships and Regional Championships, and regional allocations within thirty (30) days of preliminary registration.

        8. Technical Directors must serve as ex officio members on the Organizing Committee of qualifying competitions.

        9. ICSD Executive Board must approve dates of qualifying competitions and take every precaution to minimize scheduling conflicts.

        10. A fine will be levied for the withdrawal of a team from the final round as well as from the qualifying rounds. The amount of this fine is to be determined by the Congress that is conducted four years prior to the date of the Deaflympics.

        11. When a team is entered and is not required to participate in qualifying rounds before the date of the deadline for final registration entries, the team may withdraw without incurring a penalty from the ICSD.

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 41, Abstain = 3, No = 0.
      Result - Passed.

      9. Break at 11:15 / The session started at 11:50

    9. Proposal 17: Cameroon proposed to have an election for a new ICSD President be carried out at the upcoming ICSD Congress in Italy.

      Cancelled.

    10. Proposal 18: Cameroon proposed that the ICSD Executive Board improve its representation from its regions. It is proposed that the ICSD Constitution be amended to ensure that a minimum of one seat on the Board is allocated for a representative from the African Deaf Sports Confederation.

      Cancelled.

    11. Proposal 19: Cameroon proposed that old debts on Deaflympics non participation fees for ICSD members in Africa be waived.

      Cancelled.

    12. Proposal 21: Italy proposed the Deaflympics Event separate from the ICSD Congress.

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 30, Abstain = 7, No = 10.
      Result - Passed.

    13. Proposal 22: Italy proposed to have Futsal in the Winter Deaflympics sports program.

      Since this has already been approved, Italy withdrew it.

    14. Proposal 23: Canada proposed to modify DG2.6:

      Rules to change by adding these items:

      • Flat rate for each sport discipline
      • Effective immediately for the next Deaflympics, for a period of 8 or 12 years
      1. Canada pointed out that the current cost of the Winter Deaflympics is greater than the summer according to the number of sports in both Deaflympics. Canada proposed between $1,000 and $2,000 per sport for both Summer and Winter Deaflympics and should be decided by the ICSD Executive Board as soon as after this ICSD Congress.
      2. Germany suggested increasing in accreditation fees to cover the license fees.
      3. The United States supported Canada on ratio fees and suggested fixing the fees once a country has bidden and cannot change afterward. If the bidding country withdraws, the new fees can be changed until a new bid has been approved.

        Vote required 50%:
        Yes = 28, Abstain = 5, No = 6.
        Result - Passed.

      4. Vote on Germany's amendment:

        Vote required 50%:
        Yes = 24, Abstain = 11, No = 3.
        Result - Passed.

        This will be referred to the ICSD Reform Commission to work on the fees.

    15. Proposal 24: Slovenia proposed that the whole ICSD Executive Board be dismissed.

      Slovenia withdrew it.

    16. Proposal 25: Slovenia proposed to elect an ICSD President for the remainder of the 2017-2021 term.

      Slovenia withdrew it and requested an explanation of why this happened.

      1. Kang Chen explained that when Valery Rukhledev resigned, he replaced him as the Interim ICSD President for a short time before a difficult situation was between the Chinese Taipei Olympics Committee and the IOC. At that point, the IOC was considering suspending Chinese Taipei, which would impact him. So, he felt that it would be sensible to step down from the Interim ICSD President and Rebecca Adam took his place with the approval of the Board. When the situation was restored between the Chinese Taipei and IOC, the ICSD Executive Board knew that the ICSD Constitution had been breached. The ICSD Board had decided that Kang Chen should return as the Interim ICSD President.
      2. Rebecca Adam explained that during a Board meeting in Armenia, Valery Rukhledev appeared on a video link due to his house arrest and she had asked him to resign as the ICSD President which he had accepted it. He suggested Rebecca Adam to replace him but Rebecca said that she would need to get 100% support from the Board members. She felt that it was due to her speedy tasks that needed to be met during her time as the Interim ICSD President and she had met three times with an Australian person who worked within the IOC and had some discussion regarding the issues with the accounts and the Board members that must be resolved. Rebecca pointed out that the Board members began with some problems when they were discussing on reform and had admitted that she may be wrong for being pushed too hard on them with some communications were broken. Rebecca said that the Board members suggested to remove her she had accepted this in good faith.
      3. The Netherlands asked Rebecca Adam for the clarification to whether she would be removed from the Board or not.
        1. Rebecca Adam explained that after the April 2019 Board meeting there were some disputes between the Board members' opinions on reform and she did not attend the next meeting in Turkey and during that meeting they had discussed in removing her. This had split the Board members into 2 groups involving Marijo Lusic and Rebecca but since they had discussed on this recently and they all had agreed to restore it to 1 group. Rebecca confirmed that she was still on Board as a Member at Large.
        2. Kang Chen explained that during the Board meeting in July 2019 in Turkey was an emergency to discuss on reform issues and they had agreed to keep Rebecca on the Board and Kang to take the position as the Interim President.
    17. Proposal 26: Slovenia proposed deleting the ICSD Constitution 9.3.8.11 from the ICSD Constitution.
      1. Kang Chen said that that proposal would be a part of the reform package.
    18. Proposal 27: The Netherlands proposed to elect a new ICSD President. 3.18.1. The Netherlands suggests referring this to the ICSD Reform Commission to improve this in Bylaws and explained that if the ICSD President resigns, this must be done in writing and not verbally.
      1. The Netherlands requested this to be referred to the ICSD Reform Commission.
    19. Proposal 28: The Netherlands proposed to add in the constitution "Functioning and communication of the Executive Committee and the staff."
      1. Rafael Pinchas, is he an official ICSD archivist?
        1. Kang Chen explained that Rafael Pinchas is not the official ICSD archivist, and the ICSD Executive Board had a meeting after Samsun, Turkey but has planned to discuss this later.
      2. ICSD Athletics Commission - Unresponsive by emails and no details mentioned on the ICSD website.
        1. Kang Chen pointed out that the commission ended after the Deaflympics and will make sure this (WHAT this?) will be explained more clearly.
      3. ICSD has two locations, one in the United States and one in Switzerland, established in 2015. Nothing was mentioned in the last 2017 ICSD Congress in Samsun, Turkey.
        1. Kang Chen explained that the office in the USA no longer exists and has already moved to Switzerland.
      4. The Netherlands requests a communication policy to ensure all communications are answered.
        1. Kang Chen responded that ICSD would improve the communication policy.
        5. The Netherlands withdrew and left this to the ICSD to work on this.
    20. Proposal 29: The Netherlands proposed to add in the ICSD Constitution to have a finance/account.

      The Netherlands withdrew it as this has already been discussed.

    21. Proposal 30: The Netherlands proposed "Option C - Deaf Sports Reform."

      The Netherlands withdrew it but notably ICSD Reform Commission to work with all four (4) regions to comply with the reform policy.

    22. Proposal 31: The Netherlands proposed "Anti-Doping & Audiogram irregularities."
      1. The Netherlands explained that Russia won so many medals and proposed to add this in the regulations that all medal winners should automatically have their doping and audiogram tests again.
      2. Hungary supported this proposal and pointed out that all Olympics and World Championship winners have their tests done too. This will show fairness in all sports.
      3. Germany supported this proposal and pointed out that FINA's regulations state that the medal winners or World Record swimmers must have their doping tests done. Germany came 7th place in the Deaflympics and had his doping tested and not the winner, which was incorrect.
      4. DIFA supported this proposal and pointed out that Russians have trained hard daily and suggested ICSD have a Commission such as WADA, and the ICSD Board members should not be responsible for this.
      5. DIBF pointed out that it is the responsibility of the ICSD representative to have their anti-doping knowledge and procedure, and some sports had their process differently, which was not standard. DIBF requests that all ICSD representatives working with the Organizing Committee ensure the correct operation is adhered to.
      6. The United States pointed out that the UKDS wrote the wordings, meaning that all past tests will have to be retaken.
      7. Hungary pointed out that their five (5) curling athletes had their hearing tests taken on two separate occasions before their accreditation. Still, all Russians got their accreditation without having their hearing test taken. Hungary felt that the system was not correct.
      8. Kang Chen explained that about 500 athletes did not have "Verified" (V) audiogram tests done in Samsun, Turkey. Those swimmers who took part in several events, and only a swimmer won one, will have their doping test done and will not be required for another test for the rest of the competition. ICSD will be happy to investigate this further.
      9. The Netherlands responded:
        1. To the United States, UKDS is not here and could not comment on this.
        2. This proposal is for the future, not the past, and it needs to be added to the ICSD Regulations.
        3. Supports DIFA's suggestion to have the WADA Commission neutrally and professionally.
        4. Agrees that the ICSD takes care of the anti-doping medal winners' procedure.
        5. To Hungary, about the hearing tests, they suggest having the same ratio number of each country's athletes in fairness to everyone.
        10. The Netherlands withdrew it and requested the ICSD Executive Board to work on this.
    23. Proposal 32: The Netherlands proposed "Hosting Deaflympic Games."
      1. The Netherlands explained that at the ICSD Congress, there was no bid for the next Summer Deaflympics, and H3 interviewed Valery Rukhledev, who said that there were possible bidders who were wrong. All information must come from the ICSD Congress only.
      2. Kang Chen explained Valery Rukhledev's comment and not the ICSD Board members. ICSD knows that the ICSD Constitution must be followed. In exceptional circumstances, the ICSD Executive Board must approve the decision, if not before the next ICSD Congress, due to a brief time left. Kang Chen pointed out that ICSD has already planned the future Deaflympics well in advance.
      The Netherlands withdrew it and left this to the ICSD Executive Board to work on the Deaflympics regulations.
    24. Proposal 33: The Netherlands proposed to have the "Athletes Commission."

      The Netherlands withdrew it as this has already been discussed.

    25. Proposal 35: Kenya proposed adding the ICSD Constitution 9.3.3. in addition, "they must be nominated in writing by the National Deaf Sports Federation. They shall also be disqualified upon expulsion by a National Deaf Sports Federation which nominated them."

      Cancelled.

    26. Proposal 36: Sweden proposed that there should have an equal gender split among the ICSD Board members. We the federation members propose to have a percentage breakdown of the sex into a distribution of 60% to 40%, where the chairman is not included in this division. Suppose there are no candidates for women representation of the ICSD Executive Board. In that case, the ICSD President appoints or chooses two deaf women from the number of titled women athletes, sports functionaries, officials, managers, technical members of the executive bodies of the National Deaf Sports Federations or ICSD members. The ICSD Executive Board should approve the candidates.
      1. Hungary supported it, but it would not be possible for all members to follow it if this is a must and suggests allowing the time for this to be achieved.
      2. Canada supported this proposal and pointed out that they have a Diversity policy. Canada suggests referring to the ICSD Reform Commission.
      3. Jack Lamberton pointed out that ICSD should follow the ICSD Women Commission.
      4. Brazil explained that some countries have difficulties having women in their National Deaf Sports Federation Board's positions and suggested having at least a woman to represent at the ICSD Congress.
      5. Sweden responded that it meant the percentage of the ICSD Board members, and this can be achieved if the proposal is accepted and requested to have the vote added in the constitution.

      Vote required 75%:
      Yes = 31, Abstain = 11, No = 1.
      Result - Not Passed.

      Kang Chen suggested referring this to the ICSD Reform Commission. All accepted.

    27. Proposal 37: Sweden proposed that two delegates (one (1) male and one (1) female) from each country will represent at the ICSD Congress. If any male delegates are prevented, then another male will replace him, and the same in the situation for females, another female should replace the female delegates.

      Sweden suggested referring this to the ICSD Reform Commission.

    28. Proposal 38: ICCD proposed that the Deaflympics - Regulations DG.9, Article 3 add a subsequent edition: one (1) coach for one (1) athlete on a Winter Deaflympics.

      Vote required 50%:
      Yes = 18, Abstain = 13, No = 12.
      Result - Not Passed.

    29. Proposal 39: ICCD proposed renaming ICSD into the International Deaflympic Committee and developing a new statute, similar to the statute of the International Paralympic Committee.

      1. Kang Chen explained that this proposal has already been approved during the 2013 ICSD Congress in Sofia, Bulgaria. ICSD Executive Board are still working with the IOC.

    30. Proposal 40: Croatia proposed Marijo Lusic to be a candidate for the ICSD President.

      1. The ICSD Legal Commission explained that Marijo Lusic would be in the election, so there is no need for this proposal.

      Croatia withdrew it.

    31. Proposal 41: Croatia proposed the current ICSD members of the ICSD Board members be removed.

      Croatia withdrew it as this has already been discussed.

    32. Proposal 42: Croatia proposed a new ICSD President to fill the vacancies on the ICSD Executive Board.

      1. Kang Chen thanked and suggested this to be referred to the ICSD Reform Commission.
      2. The Netherlands pointed out that ICSD Congress must approve each nominated member.

      Croatia accepted it.

    33. Proposal 43: Croatia proposed to have a new ICSD CEO.

      Croatia withdrew it.

    34. Proposal 44: Croatia proposed to nominate Marijo Lusic to the Office of President of the ICSD for the 2019-2021 term.

      Croatia withdrew it as it will be done during the election.

    35. Proposal 45: Norway proposed "Discussion subject for the workshop - The future of the Deaflympics - Is it time for the Deaflympics to join the Paralympics."

      1. Germany pointed out that there was a lack of support to bid for it in the past, but now ICSD has planned this in good time.
      2. Hungary explained that it was due to the system that has impacted Deaflympics compared to Olympics and Paralympics where they get the funds from their governments, especially the levels of media.
      3. Denmark opposed this as Deaf people have their communication and culture and would not work with Paralympics. The United States suggests having Deaflympics after the Paralympics have taken place as the sporting venues would be available.
      4. The United States explained that Deaflympics is independent and would not work with Paralympics due to communication and more work for the ICSD Executive Board.
      5. Germany opposed this as Paralympics and Deaflympics both have different worlds, and if Deaflympics involves the Paralympics, several sports will be lost.
      6. Hungary explained that this is not a proposal but to discuss for the future.
      7. DIFA pointed out that it is up to the deaf federation to promote their government to improve their deaf awareness. Russia has achieved it by equally recognizing the Olympics and Paralympics and advising ICSD to work with the IOC to achieve it.

      Norway responded that this should refer to ICSD Workshop one day.

    36. Proposal 46: Australia proposed that the status of all Commissions, including but not limited to the ICSD Athletics Commission, be reinstated.

      Australia withdrew it as this has already been explained earlier.

    37. Proposal 47: Australia proposed that Rebecca Adam be nominated for ICSD President until the 2021 Summer Deaflympics, where a formal election will occur.

      Australia withdrew it as this has already been explained earlier.

    38. Proposal 48: Australia proposed that all audited ICSD annual financial statements from 2011 to 2018 be fully released and submitted to all ICSD members.

      Australia withdrew it as this has already been explained earlier.

    39. Proposal 49: Australia proposed that ICSD Reform Commission tasks and timeframe be adhered to as a matter of priority.

      Australia withdrew it as this has already been explained earlier.

  4. Final Report from 2017 Summer Deaflympics Organizing Committee in Samsun

    1. Dmitry Rebrov gave a summary report of their expenses of $38 million, including building some venues.

  5. Progress Report from 2019 Winter Deaflympics Organizing Committee

    1. OC President Pier Samueli gave a progress report:

      • 4 locations:
        • Location 1 - Sondrio for Opening Ceremony
        • Location 2 - Santa Caterine for Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, and Snowboard
        • Location 3 - Chiavenna for Congress, OC/ICSD Office, Closing Ceremony, Chess, and Ice Hockey
        • Location 4 – Madesimo for Curling
      • 34 Countries
      • 1,187 Participants:
        • 506 Athletes (377 Men and 129 Women)
        • 150 Coaches
        • 108 Delegates
        • 12 Guests
        • 6 ICSD Association Members
        • 11 ICSD Executive Board
        • 11 ICSD Staff
        • 6 ICSD TD
        • 56 Interpreters
        • 29 Media
        • 136 Team Leaders
        • 54 Doctors
        • 102 OC Staff
      • OC thanked FSSI and several sponsors.

  6. Selection of the venue for 2021 Summer Deaflympics:

    1. Kang Chen explained that it had been a challenging time for the ICSD Executive Board and Gustavo Perazzolo, who has worked very hard to make this happen.
    2. Dmitry Rebrov explained that some countries have dropped out, and only Brazil has continued working on it.
    3. Brazil explained that Gustavo Perazzolo began this, and then they continued working with their new government to see which venues to have the Deaflympics, so they will work on plans A (Brasilia) and B (Caxias do Sul). Brazil is also working on the 1st Youth Games in 2023 to work both when they have already prepared for this. Once they get approval from their government, depending on the venue, a definite date will be announced.
    4. Gustavo Perazzolo explained that he was concerned by the lack of willingness to host the Deaflympics, so he had to step into progress and thank Brazil for accepting this.
    5. Kang Chen thanked Brazil and ICSD for working with them for more details before announcing the exact venue and dates.

  7. World Deaf Youth Games 2023:

    1. Dmitry Rebrov explained that four (4) countries had expressed their interests in hosting it. The ICSD Executive Board is currently in discussion with them, and it is in progress. He pointed out that the deadline to declare this is by the end of March 2020.
    2. Germany pointed out that there will be Winter Deaflympics and ICSD Youth Games in the same year and wondered if the countries could afford to pay the expenses.
    3. Kang Chen thanked Germany, discussed this with the ICSD Executive Board, and approved it at the next ICSD Congress.

  8. Selection of the venue for 2023 Winter Deaflympics:

    1. Dmitry Rebrov explained that ICSD had received a complete bid material from one country, and everything was in good order and approved by the ICSD Executive Board. Still, that country has recently asked him not to reveal this yet because an additional sport, Futsal, added in this Congress, is not a part of their Winter Deaflympics plan and budget. The country has requested to wait for three (3) months to allow their government to approve it.

  9. Selection of the venue for 2025 Summer Deaflympics:

    1. Japan explained that the Olympics would take place in Tokyo in 2020, and they are working with them to have Deaflympics held in Tokyo, too, as the sporting and hotel venues should be available. They will work with their government to get their support, and they are willing to use another city if possible.
    2. Kang Chen explained that Japan and ICSD had discussed this for the past two (2) years, and ICSD has shared the past Deaflympics materials with Japan. Japan is ready to host it in 2025. He pointed out that as soon as the ICSD has the details, they will be shared with all members.

  10. 2027 and beyond Deaflympics and World Championships plan:

    1. Dmitry Rebrov explained that we need to plan for ten (10) years to avoid last minute preparation. Any interests should inform the ICSD Secretariat of the necessary documents.
    2. Turkey plans to host 2027 Winter Deaflympics.
    3. Greece is offering to host 2025 Summer Deaflympics as their government is willing to support this, but it will be required to wait for up to 5 months before Greece can announce it.
    4. DIBF needs clarification on the time before a bid host is approved.
    5. Kang Chen explained that for Deaflympics, it must be approved by ICSD Congress six (6) years beforehand, but for the World Deaf Championships, it is two (2) years ahead. He pointed out that there is more information on the website.
    6. Hungary asks if there will be a vote to approve the Summer Deaflympics 2025 at this ICSD Congress.
    7. Kang Chen responded that Japan must wait for the Olympics 2020 to be complete before their government can approve their budget plan.

  11. Awards:

    1. Best Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award (2017 - 2019)

      • 2017 Women - Asya Khaladzhan (RUS) Athletics
      • 2017 Men - Andrei Zhivaev (RUS) Swimming
      • 2018 Women - Katrin Neudolt (AUT) Badminton
      • 2018 Men - Matthew Klotz (USA) Swimmer
      • 2019 Women - Miyu Kita (JPN) Tennis
      • 2019 Men - Prithvi Sekhar (IND) Tennis

    2. Rubens-Alcais Award:

      • 2017 Turkey for Summer Deaflympics - Samsun
      • 2018 Brazil invited North Korea to their football competitions and arranged other international sports competitions on short notice.

    3. Medal of Honour Award:

      • No award this year.

  12. Election of the ICSD President for the 2019 – 2021 term:

    1. The ICSD Legal Commission Robert Mather explained that according to the ICSD Constitution, the legal is responsible for dealing with the election procedure. He pointed out that ICSD Constitution 9.3.3 states that "The Executive Committee shall consist of persons who are members of the National Federation of their country of residence admitted to Full Membership under this Constitution." He pointed out that the ICSD Board member was looking for the persons to join the ICSD Legal Commission and found me who had no conflict of interest and asked him to come to this ICSD Congress. Robert Mather found that the election proposal had already passed the deadline and did not correctly follow the ICSD Constitution. He pointed out that we have five (5) nominations:

      • Rebecca Adam
      • Kang Chen
      • Marijo Lusic
      • Gustavo Perazzolo
      • Rafael Pinchas

      However, there is a problem as we have not complied with the ICSD Constitution as the forms were not submitted to the ICSD Legal Commission by the due date and suggested either we follow this ICSD Constitution. It would mean all nominations would be rejected, or we suspend the ICSD Constitution, which requires a 75% vote to approve it before continuing.

    2. Hungary has pointed out that Robert Mather has made a correct comment by explaining that it is essential to vote for the ICSD President. Kang Chen has been the interim ICSD President since Valery Rukhledev's resignation as the ICSD President during this ICSD Congress. Those five (5) nominations for the ICSD President are not valid. It would mean there will be no ICSD President after this ICSD Congress. In the meantime, Kang Chen remained as the ICSD Vice President and asked if the Interim ICSD President could be continued to the 2021 ICSD Congress.

    3. Robert Mather responded that the interim ICSD President cannot be continued and must have an election for a new ICSD President by order of IOC up to 2021.

      Vote required 75%:
      Yes = 41.
      Result - Passed.

    4. Robert Mather explained that there are many options to offer from the floor to nominate a person that requires a proposal and a second.

    5. Belgium proposed to reveal a petition letter.

      1. Robert Mather responded that he had read it and no need to reveal this, but Belgium can propose to nominate one a time from the floor to be voted. If the vote fails to pass the 50% majority, nominate another candidate until it has passed the 50% majority. This proposal requires a 75% vote.

        Vote required 75%:
        Yes = 42, Abstain = 2, No = 2.
        Result - Passed.

      2. Belgium proposed Kang Chen to be the ICSD President.

      3. The United States proposes to accept Kang Chen, and no further discussion.

      4. The vote was conducted by ballot.

      5. Kang Chen has 37 votes out of 48, more than 50%, so he is the ICSD President.

    6. Kang Chen thanked everyone and is looking forward to working with the ICSD Executive Board in the future.

    7. Robert Mather pointed out that at the next ICSD Executive Board meeting, they will pick an ICSD Vice President until the next ICSD Congress in 2021.

  13. Belgium proposed to have ICSD Extraordinary Congress focusing on reform and finance reports from 2014 to 2018. Robert Mather explained Belgium already collected the petition from at least 1/3 of members from two (2) different regions to call ICSD Extraordinary Congress at any time within at least three (3) months' notice. It must be after 11 March 2020, and no vote is needed as it has already been approved. The ICSD Executive Board must send out the relevant papers two (2) months before the ICSD Extraordinary Congress.

The ICSD President declared the 47th ICSD Congress closed.

The session ended at 21:20

ICSD