BOLZANO - The international players union, founded in 2008 in Sluiskil during a World Cup tournament, expects to gain more influence on the regulations, under the new UMB board led by Farouk Barki. Marco Zanetti, one of the MBA's initiators and its current chairman, has sent members, organizations and followers a letter to keep them informed about the developments.
It was mostly dissatisfaction with UMB decisions that were made without the players being heard, that sparked new life into the MBA. When the renowned Agipi team and tournament ended, and - as expected - former UMB president Jean Claude Dupont resigned, the players union had to make a fresh start and renegotiate. At a general meeting in Porto, the seat of the union was moved from Schiltigheim to Lausanne, with the help of Diane Wild and Alfred Zehr.
Marco Zanetti has seen turbulent days since the MBA was founded. Under his chairmanship, the organization managed to have prize money in World Cups raised from 30.000 to 35.000 euro. A few months later though, things went sour between the warm-blooded Italian and (then) sports director Farouk Barki, during a World Cup in Korea. An escalated conflict in the arena got Zanetti severely sanctioned: he was penalized with a permanent deduction of 50 ranking points. It was the beginning of a period of silence from the MBA, but the Italian would be rehabilitated in 2012, and the penalty lifted.
It took a few more years before he managed to become a full-fledged partner of the UMB, but in the end Farouk Barki's appointment as UMB president turned out to improve the negotiations.
The less than satisfactory prize money in World Cups is high on the agenda, and at the same time it is a first result of the collaboration between UMB and MBA. Since the World Cup in Bursa, Turkey, the prize money has been raised by 5000 euro, and as of early January there is a 24.000 euro bonus for the top half of the ranking.
The willingness to talk and UMB's recent record of kept promises create a climate of trust. The UMB is open to further suggestions and ideas that can help grow the popularity of the sport.
As mentioned, Zanetti is the chairman of the MBA, and Torbjörn Blomdahl - who is a policy advisor to the UMB - is also a member. Secretary is Salman Gökhan from Turkey, Frédéric Caudron and Dick Jaspers are members.
The MBA is convinced that further cooperation is a realistic goal. Marco Zanetti invites players, at an annual fee of 70 euro, to join the MBA and support the players union in their endeavors.
The MBA has succeeded in getting a rule reversed that was controversial among top players. Two years ago, the ranking rules were changed in such a way that only the past six World Cups were counted, in addition to national, Confederational and world championships. In the eyes of the top players, that gave too much weight to the championships, and not enough to the World Cups. Young and supremely talented Korean Haeng Jik Kim proved, when he returned to the circuit, that only three results could put him back into the top-twelve. He won the Korean Nationals, the Asian (Confederational) championship, and was runner-up in the WC of Luxor, Egypt. As of 1 September, eight World Cups will again be counted for the world ranking, and World Cups will be upgraded by 25 %.
Another issue of the MBA is the equalizing inning: the union wants to make an adjustment to that rule. It is opposed to shootouts. That rule however, will not be reversed before 2017.