The Congress meeting went very well and followed the agenda as it was laid out. Our adherence to the agenda was great and we all have to agree it makes for a much more constructive and pleasant meeting to attend. My congratulations to all who participated in such a well-mannered and respectful way.

The 2004 championships were awarded to South Africa under the leadership of Armand DuToit. We remind everyone that when applying for visas to South Africa please remember to apply as a sporting team. This will avoid a lot of problems and unnecessary costs to countries that have to apply.

One of the highlights of the event was the agreement between the 2 world bodies to unify as 1 at the 2005 World championships to be held in Japan. The Congress voted to extend the Executives position till 2005 when a unified election will be held. There is much work to be done yet and it shall get done.

Several other great strides were completed in the formation of 2 committees, the Committee for the Disabled and the Anti-doping Committee. The committee members will form the guidelines that WAF will require as we pursue our quest for sport recognition.

The new elastic pin pad was used very successfully and there were many comments on how well it has cleared the table top to be able to allow better visibility.

The continental bodies are becoming stronger and better organized with a strong commitment to become more unified in the promotion of our sport of armwrestling.

The Asian continental body had an inaugural meeting in which some direction has been discussed as to how to proceed to form a strong foundation to better represent them.

The NAWF didn’t have a formal meeting but the organizations within the United States are working out the differences to become one as well.

The EAF showed their unity by their representation at the tournament and commitments in the Congress meeting.

The new I.D. system worked very well besides a few computer clichés and it has been a well used asset. It was used in Europe at the EAF championships in Germany, The World Youth championships in Poland, the International tournament in Belgium and the African championships in Morocco. It shows the consistency we are striving for.

The enforcement of the rules on stage infractions was a success as well as the protest procedure, which was well administrated by the Referee-in-Chief.

The XXV World Championship was filmed by 2 different film crews as well as many local TV, paper and radio crews. The Pulling John crew did an awesome job and we’re looking forward to see the end results.