CAIRO/BOTTROP/ANDERNOS - The ranks within the UMB, the world billiards federation, are closed again. The future, the media attention, the search for new (main) sponsors are central in the new policy. The newly elected president, Farouk Barki from Egypt, already expressed his optimism for the future in Viersen at the World championships for national teams, facing the Kozoom cameras. He accentuated it more elaborately in an interview, in which he exposes important matters, such as the World Cup cycle, the calendar for the next few years, the new composition of the board, the cooperation with the CEB after the death of Wolfgang Rittmann, the care for young talents in Europe, improving organizations, increase the prize money, looking for a big, multi-national sponsor for the World cycle, the new media contract with Kozoom and other issues.
UMB President Farouk Barki, in the week after signing the contract with Kozoom, about his organization and the billiard sport in general.
Kozoom/Frits Bakker: The new UMB board, elected at the General Assembly in Cairo, has been installed and has had its starting period. How do you look back on these months? What were the first decisions of the new board, what are your first impressions?
Farouk Barki: I'm very comfortable working with the new elected members in Cairo, especially that the first decision was to appoint Mr. Rainer Selgrath as UMB Secretary General, and with Mr. Santos Chocron as UMB Office Manager, in my opinion, we have an excellent team.
Kozoom/FB: What did you and your board see as the spearheads with regard to the near future?
Farouk Barki: Players! We all have noticed the very high technical quality the players are showing us these last years, I think they deserve a way of appreciation, we will do our best to improve the quality of organizations, and increase the prize money as much as we can with the support of UMB. As for UMB work, the priority is transparency on all levels, finance, sponsorship, sports, etcetera. We will have our books audited by an external professional office, TMA 'Administratieve Diensten' [Bert Kregmeier (bc)]. As for sponsorship, we are reviewing all contracts to get the best conditions for UMB, taking into consideration that the UMB will be a partner for our sponsor. We are on the same boat, and will always be a trustworthy partner.
Kozoom/FB: Have all the tasks and positions been assigned within the board? What has changed, other than the fact that you are the new president?
Farouk Barki: All tasks and positions are distributed among elected board members and UMB office, financial matters are under the responsibility of Mr. Fernando Requena and Mr. Rainer Selgrath, Mr. Requena is also in charge with communications and the UMB website. Mr. Steve Lee will open the door for UMB sponsors in Korea, Mr. Santos Chocron will handle all UMB administrative work.
Kozoom/FB: What was the importance for the UMB to sign the new contract with Kozoom for the next three and a half years? What will change in terms of media coverage compared to recent years?
Farouk Barki: The new agreement signed between UMB & Kozoom International has a completely different concept and target than the old one; it's not only much better financially, but also Media coverage wise, our target now is for our sport to be covered by the maximum possible TV stations around the whole world. As I said on the UMB Website "This agreement marks a new era of ambitious UMB event broadcasting that will significantly contribute to the professional promotion of our sports. I am sure it will be to the satisfaction of players, the general public, organizers and sponsors. It will provide the promotion that our sport deserves, bringing it - in conjunction with the spectacularly high technical skills - to a higher level of professional sports exposure, thereby hopefully opening doors to new sponsorships.
Mr. Farouk Barki at the Guri World Cup in 2015
Kozoom/FB: The World Cup cycle for this year is known, are there negotiations with new organizers? What can we expect from (South) America as an organization, can we expect a new World Cup there? Which contracts for World Cups are a certainty for the next years?
Farouk Barki: For this year's World Cup circuit, we have seven World Cups on the UMB Calendar, as for next year we have four confirmed, I'm negotiating other possibilities and I'm quite sure that we will not have less than six. South and North America are amongst our targets, and I hope to have one there, next year or the year after. The board in Cairo decided to support World Cups prize money with 5000 euros for eacht tournament, applied since the Bursa World Cup. I'll do my best with our organizers to have a stable Sports Calendar for the next three years, with a minimum of six World Cups annually. In my opinion, a stable sports calendar for a minimum of three years is a must for selling our sport to TV stations and accordingly attract a main sponsor from outside billiards, such as a Multinational company.
Kozoom/FB: The European federation (CEB) is a major confederation. The death of Wolfgang Rittmann has forced a changing of the guard on top of the board. You were at the special meeting last weekend. How do you see the further cooperation with the new CEB board?
Farouk Barki: No doubt the death of Mr. Wolfgang Rittmann is a great loss for Billiards, but life will have to go on. Since the Cairo UMB General Assembly, we are working very close with CEB, it's an important partner for us. For sure our cooperation will remain the same, the new CEB President, Mr. Bennie Deegens, as well as all board members, are very good friends. We worked together for many years, and it's a great pleasure for me to work with Mr. Deegens as CEB President.
Kozoom/FB: Will you tell us something about your future vision for the billiards world? Are you worried about the declining (media) interest, lesser television interest, in the traditional European countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, but also the lack of young talents? How do you see the developments of countries like South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey, where there is a huge rise of youth and the billiard sport, in particular three cushion, faces growth and flourish?
Farouk Barki: With the new UMB/Kozoom Media Agreement, I'm very optimistic for Billiards concerning media and TV, not only in Europe, but also in all continents. I'm very happy that France is now on the 3C UMB Calendar. Last year we had the World Championship in Bordeaux, this year we will have the La Baule World Cup and the World Championship in Bordeaux again, and I hope that the three cushion organizations in France will continue in the next years. Germany has organized the World championship three cushion for National Teams for many years and will keep doing so for the next 4 years. What we are really missing is professional organizations in Belgium and the Netherlands.
As for Juniors, except for Turkey, Spain and France, I'm very disappointed in the European players' level! Juniors are the future of billiards, therefore, UMB will have a good budget for promotion. I'm sure that the bigger part of this budget will go to juniors rather than ladies!
Farouk Barki in an interview with Kozoom
Kozoom/FB: Do you see a possibility to improve the World Cup system, because many of the European and American players from the second echelon stay away from the tournaments. Should a system be implemented with a type of satellite tournaments within the confederations, as a selection for the main World Cups?
Farouk Barki: I'm aware of this problem, it's a financial reason, but this will be my target on long term and not before 2018.
Kozoom/FB: And last question: can you look ahead with a positive view to refute too much gloom?
Farouk Barki: I worked for many years on the international level. The UMB Presidency was never my target, but it seems that it was my destiny! I'll do my best to take our beloved sport 'BILLIARDS' to the highest level possible!
Farouk Barki speaking about the future of billiards in Viersen
Mr. President in his homeland during the Luxor World Cup 2016