LIER - The much discussed lawsuit between Kurt Ceulemans, manager of the billiard café Mr. 100 in Lier, and the Belgian billiard federation on the use of special billiard cloths has turned into a total victory for Ceulemans and his club. The billiards federation must rework all matches, around 100 in the various leagues, that were declared 8-0 losses for Mr 100 teams by the federation. The Belgian Arbitration Court for Sport (BAS) ruled on the case this week. "We have won on all fronts," assures Kurt Ceulemans, which means that it caused a significant loss to the Belgian federation.
The lawsuit was started by Kurt Ceulemans, because the Belgian federation prohibited the clubs from using other cloths in the league matches than the cloths prescribed by the KBBB (Simonis, one of the sponsors of the KBBB). Kurt Ceulemans was the only billiard room owner of 148 clubs in Belgium to ignore those rules and put Royal Pro cloths on the billiard tables in his Mr. 100, which are not homologated by the federation. "They are stronger, faster and cheaper," was Ceulemans' defense.
The federation, which has a sponsor contract with the cloths manufacturer Simonis, then penalized the Mr. 100 matches, in all the home games of the 9 league teams, with an 8-0 loss score. Kurt Ceulemans, in turn, went to court with his lawyers and won the dispute on all fronts. The federation is forced to review all the league matches, about a hundred in total, of all Mr. 100 teams.
Ceulemans: ''The arguments of the Belgian federation have been rejected completely by the arbitration court. This is a great victory for us and a breakthrough for all billiard clubs, not just in Belgium, but throughout Europe, because this is a European statement. From now on, all clubs can play on other cloths than woolen cloths. "
The Belgian billiards federation comments by chairman Benny van Goethem with some restraint, ''I have congratulated Peter Ceulemans, the cousin of Kurt Ceulemans, on their victory. The European law has failed us. Most of all, we have been declared the loser, because our regulations do not state that we can punish the clubs with 'wrong cloths' by forfeit scores. That is an omission in our rules and we will of course rectify this in our regulations."
Van Goethem in particular regrets the consequences for the other clubs in Belgium. ‘'This is very bad for the other 148 clubs that have been disadvantaged, because they have followed the rules. For the federation itself, it is not a big loss. We are not against synthetic cloths, we only have to adjust the rules and the sanctions."
Kurt Ceulemans, ‘'In a newspaper, Benny van Goethem makes statements that are far from correct and that we can regard as slander. We will not accept this. The Belgian federation can expect more action. Moreover, Benny van Goethem may adjust as many regulations as he wants, nothing will changes in the ruling of the BAS for present and future. We have won all that could be won. It is time for the Belgian federation to deal with this clear statement."
The ruling of the BAS (Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport), which relies in particular on European competition law, states among other things the following passages:
"Incompatible with the internal market and prohibited to the extent that trade between Member States is affected thereby, is that one or more undertakings abuse a dominant position in the internal market."
"Defendant (the Belgian billiard federation) has a monopoly position in its capacity as umbrella federation of billiard sport in Belgium."
"Defendant (the Belgian billiards federation) does not teach any document that should show whether woolen cloths should be better than synthetic cloths."
"In comments, Mr Raymond Ceulemans, multiple world champion, states that the new cloths (like in the Mr. 100) are better or no worse than the old sheets, at least in regards the discipline of three cushion."
"The admission of woolen cloths does not seem objectively justified. The defendant cannot state an objective reason why wool cloths would be necessary."
"The applicants (Kurt Ceulemans and Mr. 100) sufficiently assure that countless official matches are being played abroad on synthetic sheets."
The arbitration costs amount to 1,674.74 euros, the total costs are a multiple of that amount. The defendant (the Belgian billiards federation) is the losing party to the dispute. He is therefore ordered to pay the costs of the arbitration proceedings.