January 20, 2020
The ICEA’s Letter of Reply to the CBSA’s Malicious Slander
Chinese Billiards & Snooker Association:
Recently, your association issued a “Statement on the suspected illegal activities of the ICEA in Chinese territory” (the “Statement”), claiming that many of our recent activities are “illegal” or “in violation of relevant regulations.” After its release, the Statement has caused great concern among the Chinese Pool public and adverse impact on our brand image. After research, we would like to clarify matters to set the records straight. In the meantime, we condemn and protest against the malicious slander from the CBSA, an act that goes beyond its authority as a National Association and against the operational norms of the world bodies.
I. On the legitimacy of the International Chinese Eight-Ball Association (ICEA)
ICEA was launched in London in 2012 by the Chinese company JOY Billiards Promotion Co., Ltd. The ICEA has now 40 national members and was officially recognised as the worldwide governing body of Chinese Pool by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) in 2017.
The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) is one of the three major sub-organizations of the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS), which has jurisdiction over the billiard sports as a whole. The WCBS is a member of the International Olympic family. That is to say, via the correlation with the WPA, the ICEA is part of the International Olympic family and has independent authority over the sport of Chinese Pool.
II. On the legitimacy of the “Chinese Pool Global Promoters Summit”
According to the Statement, ICEA is suspected of being “involved in a global conference” in China, which is purportedly “illegal.” We ask the CBSA to check up on the facts before any official release: Since 2018, the Chinese Pool Global Promoters Summit has been consecutively held in Qinhuangdao, China for three years, and has become a cutting-edge summit in the Chinese Pool industry. The event is presented by the JOY Billiards Promotion Co., Ltd, a legally operated company in China. For this year’s summit, they invited some ICEA member units and the board of directors to the conference, as they are simultaneously their worldwide agents. ICEA on its own has not participated in the “hosting or preparation” of this conference. Therefore, we refute the statement that “ICEA is suspected of hosting a global conference in China”, which is merely a subjective conjecture.
III. On the rationality of CBSA’s disciplinary actions towards Wang Baitao and other Chinese referees
We are deeply sorry and puzzled to hear that your association has decided to revoke Mr.Wang Baitao’s national referee title, as well as the national titles of the other ICEA-awarded referees, simply based on them receiving referee titles within the ICEA system.
As mentioned above, ICEA, an affiliate of the World Pool-Billiard Association, has the solemn right to establish an international referee network of Chinese Pool. Lately, we have qualified two referees including Mr.Wang Baitao as the “ICEA International Gold Award Referee” based on their skill level and contribution to the sport. Your actions have sabotaged what should be a memorable event for Chinese Pool. ICEA has no right to concern ourselves with the internal affairs of your association, but we must state that your unjustifiable resolution poses a challenge to the authority of the WPA and the ICEA as world governing bodies.
At a time when Chinese Pool continues to grow its international ground, it seems more inappropriate. It should be noted that our association is classified in China as a non-governmental oversea organization, not an illegal organization. In the context of China’s increasing opening up to the outside world, how to unite all the forces that can be friends in the world and do a better job at home and abroad should be a matter of reflection for your association.
IV. On the Chinese Pool World Cup matters
The Chinese Pool World Cup will be the highest form of international Chinese Pool tournaments. It is presented by the ICEA following the consent of our board of directors. We have sent a letter to you in October 2019 to inform the official date and place of the tournament and invite you to send a team to participate. In the letter, we reserved the right to entrust other units in China to form a team if you do not wish so. According to the laws and regulations in China, this team will not be considered a national team and may not be named as “Team China.”
As we received no official reply from you within the due date, we entrust China’s Qinhuangdao JOY Billiards Promotion Co., Ltd. to form a team, in the name of the “China Dragon Team”, the only non-state team among dozens of participating teams in the world. We express our regret over it. However, it needs to be emphasized and clarified that if Chinese athletes participate as non-state teams, your association has no basis to punish them. In the Statement, your association threatened to “deal with the players involved seriously,” which only seems to be an abuse of power, and the ICEA will continue to pay attention to this. If they are penalized in the future, we will see it as a boycott of a lawfully presented tournament and will report to WPA according to international practice.
And finally, we urge your association to review the trend of international sports development and abandon your previous prejudices. It is not a shame, but an honor of Chinese Pool that an international federation can be started by the Chinese people. If possible, we are always willing to work together with the CBSA to promote and prosper Chinese Pool throughout the world, and to build a great cause together.
Regards,
International Chinese Eight-Ball Association
January 20th, 2020
关于针对中国台球协会涉嫌恶意抹黑
中式台球国际联合会（ICEA）的抗议函
中国台球协会：
近日，贵协会发布了“关于境外非政府组织ICEA在华涉嫌违法违规问题的通报”（以下简称《通报》），声称我协会近期多项活动“违法”或“违反有关规定”。《通报》发布后，在全世界范围中式台球相关人群中引起较大关注、影响较坏，经研究，现对《通报》内容予以澄清，还事实以本来面目；同时，对于中国台球协会不顾世界体育组织运行规范、超越国家级协会权限对世界台球总会体系内分支协会进行恶意抹黑的行为，予以谴责和抗议。
一、中式台球国际联合会（ICEA）的合法性问题
世界撞球协会(WPA)是世界台球总会(WCBS)的三大组成协会之一，在WCBS内拥有对撞球类运动的管理权。中式台球国际联合会(ICEA)，是由中国秦皇岛乔氏台球运动推广有限公司发起并于2012年在英国注册的机构，其主旨是在全世界推广中式台球运动、开展相关工作。随着ICEA的持续成长与发展，2017年ICEA与WPA达成一致，ICEA成为WPA下设的分支机构，拥有WPA体系内撞球-中式台球领域业务最高管理权限。
通过与世界撞球协会的合作，中式台球国际联合会已经进入国际奥林匹克大家庭，这对中式台球的传播普及来说无疑是重大利好。
二、“中式台球全球推广者大会”合法性问题
《通报》称中式台球国际联合会在华举办全球推广者大会，涉嫌违法，我协会提请中台协在正式发文之前查清事实：自2018年起，中式台球全球推广者大会已成功在中国秦皇岛举办三届，并成为中式台球行业的年度尖端峰会。三届大会的主办单位皆为秦皇岛乔氏台球运动推广有限公司，该公司为中国境内合法经营之企业。我协会一部分会员单位、董事会成员因同时具有主办方境外代理商的身份，受到主办方邀约赴中国参会。我协会未参与到大会的筹备或举办相关的境内工作中。贵协会在《通报》中所称“ICEA涉嫌在华举办中式台球全球推广者大会”不符合事实，属主观臆测。
三、处罚王柏涛等中国裁判员的合理性问题
对于贵协会仅仅因为王柏涛接受我协会“国际金章裁判”称号，即撤销王柏涛国家级裁判员等级称号，以及责成中国地方协会对于其他接受我协会认证的裁判员进行处理的决定，我协会深表遗憾和不解。
如前文所述，作为世界撞球协会旗下子协会，我协会有权在全球建立中式台球国际裁判员管理体系。根据对中式台球运动贡献、裁判执裁水平等因素，目前我协会对王柏涛等二人进行了“国际金章裁判”的资格认定，这本是中式台球运动的一件喜事，未料却遭贵协会以此为由对王柏涛等人进行无端处罚，我协会对于贵协会内部事务无权过问，但此举似有挑战世界撞球协会（WPA）及中式台球国际联合会（ICEA）在国际上权威性之嫌，时值中式台球在全球推广势头正旺之际，更似欠妥。须知，我协会在中国境内归类为境外非政府组织，并非境外非法组织，在中国对外开放日益加强的大背景下，如何团结国际上一切可以团结的力量，搞好国内外的体育事业，应是贵协会三思之事。
四、关于中式台球世界杯问题
中式台球世界杯，是中式台球国际联合会经全体董事投票同意开展的最高等级国际锦标赛事，我协会已于2019年10月发函给贵协会，知会比赛正式日期和地点，并邀请贵协会派队参赛。函中，为避免贵协会因各种原因无法派队，导致中国作为中式台球开展最为普及的国家无法参赛的窘境，我协会保留了贵协会不派队情况下另行委托其它中国境内主体组队的权利，但根据中国境内法律法规，该队非国家队，可不冠以中国队名称。
在贵协会于规定日期内未正式答复的情况下，我协会委托中国秦皇岛乔氏台球运动有限公司代为组队，队伍名称为“中国龙之队”，这也是全球数十支参赛队中唯一一个未以国家队命名的队伍。我们在深感遗憾的同时，也期待贵协会有朝一日能以中式台球全球推广大局为重，抛弃成见，共兴大业。
但需要强调和廓清的是，如果中国运动员以非国家队身份参赛，贵协会无任何依据对此进行处罚，在《通报》中贵协会威胁将对参赛运动员严肃处理，似有滥用协会权威之嫌疑，我协会对此将持续关注；日后一旦予以处罚，则涉嫌对我协会正常举办之赛事进行抵制，我协会将根据国际惯例报请WPA进行严肃处理。
最后，我们也希望通过这份公开发表之函件，敦请贵协会重新审视国际体育发展大势，抛弃以往成见。中国人发起举办了中式台球国际联合会，并非中台协之耻，而是中式台球之幸。如有机会，我们愿意与中台协携手一道，为在全世界范围内推广和振兴中式台球事业而不懈奋斗！
此致
中式台球国际联合会
2020年1月20日