An official invite has now been sent out to all FIR member countries to invite them to an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Saturday 24th November in Vienna, during the Austrian Open. The official invite to the EGM can be seen HERE
The FIR have called the EGM in order to vote on moving the official FIR Seat address from Austria to Switzerland. All member countries are requested to send a representative to the EGM OR to assign their vote to another country.
Below is a message from FIR President Duncan Stahl explaining the decision.
The changes made to the Council and the leadership roles within the FIR at the last AGM in August this year has meant that it is now necessary to move the FIR seat away from Vienna. Austrian law says that for the FIR to maintain its official address in Vienna then it requires an Austrian national to hold one of the main leadership roles within the FIR. This is also the case if the FIR is to be able to have its bank account based in Austria. So a move away from Austria is necessary and this needs to be done by the end of this year at the very latest.
It makes no sense to have to potentially change the seat every time the make-up of the FIR leadership changes – this would be the case both in Austria as well as in a number of other EU countries.
So my priority has been to find a long-term and stable address for the FIR seat as changing the seat is an extremely complicated, time consuming and often expensive process.
Graham King has done a lot of research which has included taking legal advice and it has shown that Switzerland offers the best, simplest option to provide the FIR a long-term, stable base for its official seat address. Switzerland is the home to many International Sport’s Bodies and Federations and so they have a system in place which makes such a move far easier compared to most other countries that we have looked at as possible options.
Furthermore, having the FIR seat based in Switzerland, along with so many other sport’s federations will also, over time, present many other numerous benefits and contacts.
I think this represents an important step and an exciting opportunity for the FIR that will help enhance Racketlon’s credibility and standing within the international sporting community.
We need to get this move approved by a member country’s vote which requires us to call an EGM and doing this at the upcoming Austrian Open is our best opportunity.
Duncan Stahl / FIR Executive President
