St. Albans Bridge Club Appeals Procedure -Adopted at the AGM 7/7/25
St. Albans takes pride in being a friendly, welcoming Bridge Club where new players and those with greater experience can have an equally enjoyable decision. As a club affiliated to the EBU we adhere to the standard rules of Bridge and have experienced and trained Tournament Directors to ensure things run smoothly on our evenings.
Where any player is unhappy with anything at the table, or an obvious error is made, a call of ‘Director Please’ is required to summon the evening’s TD. The TD will then use their best knowledge of the EBU Laws of Bridge and the facts presented to make a decision. Whilst not all players involved will always agree with that decision it should be recognised that the TD is acting in good faith, and, it is to be hoped that all players involved will accept the decision as such.
That said, the Club is required to have an Appeals Procedure and has had a number in place for many years. It is apparent that this is not completely satisfactory as it causes large amounts of stress and work for both the TD and the members of the Appeals Committee if things cannot be settled amicably at the table. In the end this results in fewer people being willing to act as TD or on an Appeals Committee which is a pretty thankless task for an unpaid volunteer. This risks damaging the Club. It also needs to be remembered that we are playing in low key, local, club events rather than the Gold Cup and it is reasonable for the unpaid, volunteer, members of the Club to not expect to be involved in ongoing disputes.
As of the AGM of 7th July 2025 the Club’s process changed to the following, broardly in-line with EBU events:
Any player may call the TD by raising their hand and asking ‘Director Please’
The TD, or their deputy, will attend the table, establish the facts and make a ruling. If they are unsure they may consult other experienced TD’s in the room.
The players will proceed based on the TD’s ruling.
At the end of the hand/round/evening if any player is unhappy with the ruling then they need to make a written appeal to the TD stating the facts of the case and their precise reasons for an appeal. This could be in the paper or electronic form BUT in must be concise and specific and constitute the entirety of their Appeal. A charge of £20 must also be paid before the Appeal is accepted by the Club. The above must be completed within 24 hours of the event. The charge will be refunded if the Appeal is successful but not otherwise.
If that procedure is followed then the TD, or Club Chairman, will pass the details of the Appeal to the players Opponents to give them the right of reply. They will have 24 hours to respond. The original Appeal, and any response from the Opponents will then be passed to a qualified TD not involved in that evening at the Club and ideally not a player at the Club. It is anticipated that the Club may need to pay for this service. The independent TD will then rule on the issue and that ruling become final. Any scores will be adjusted based on that ruling.
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