Quote:
|
Originally Posted by CEngelbrecht
I didn't realize that spearfishers as well were displeased this much. I remember that some Danish rugby players a few years ago were considering other options than Danish CMAS
|
The same also goes for UW target shooters, an UW sport with a big following in Eastern Europe.
Spearfishers have been displeased for a long time. The last drop was when CMAS general assembly banned spearfishing from its sports roster in 1999--a vote proposed by the Netherlands, if I recall well. Where were then the CMAS officers to block this proposal that went against their own by-laws? The decision was later reversed only by appeal to the International Sports Tribunal, in Paris.
One of those appealants, France, had internal troubles of their own later that led to a huge secession in their own ranks. Yes, the very crib of CMAS and one of the birth places of modern spearfishing. All of their top divers are now under FNPSA (and freedivers are at AIDA for a good reason, aren't they?). IMHO, they're quite right, why remain in a schizofrenic body that insists on "owning" a sport that the "majority" of its members want to see out? Could it be income from license fees or plain politic clout? Both? Or else? You tell me.
Some haven't showed their displeasure on federation level due to their own conveniences. I can promise you that 90% of important federations policy do not reflect the thinking of their own athlete-divers.
I agree, it's hard to change something that has been around for so many years. It's easier to go diving and let someone do the hard and/or boring bureaucratic work for you. But when the going gets tough only the tough gets going.
