European Cornhole Association
EChA 2024

Contents

Article   1  -  Title - Membership - Legal Seat 3

Article   2  -  Objectives and Duties. 3

Article   3  -  The Legislative Body. 4

Article   4  -  The Executive Bodies. 4

Article   5  -  The General Meeting. 4

Article   6  -  The Board. 6

Article   7  -  Membership. 7

Article   8  -  The Auditors. 8

Article   9  -  Committees. 8

Article 10  -  The Disciplinary Authorities. 8

Article 11  -  Treasurer. 8

Article 12  -  The Head of ECHA Administration (General Secretary) 9

Article 13  -  Competitions and Rules. 9

Article 14  -  Television and Sound Broadcast Transmissions. 9

Article 15  -  Penalties and Disciplinary Measures. 10

Article 16  -  Appeals. 10

Article 17  -  Financial Year. 10

Article 18  -  Finances. 11

Article 19  -  Official Language. 11

Article 20  -  Correspondence. 11

Article 21  -  Honorary Membership. 12

Article 22  -  Disputes. 12

Article 23  -  Loss of Membership. 13

Article 24  -  Withdrawal 13

Article 25  -  Dissolution of ECHA. 13

Article 26  -  Adoption. 13

Interpretation. 14

Article 1  -  Title - Membership - Legal Seat

1. The name of the association is European Cornhole Association (EChA). The association is non profit making.
2. An association may only be admitted into membership by the General Meeting. The Board may, however, grant provisional membership which will be submitted for ratification to the next General Meeting. Article 7 provides the procedure to become a member association. The Board needs to make a decision on the provisional membership within two months of receiving the application.
3. The legal seat of the association is in Log pri Brezovici, Slovenia. It cannot be transferred to another country without the decision of at least three quarters of all the members of the association present at the General Meeting. It is registered at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
4. ECHA is a seperate legal entity and its members, officers and employees shall not be responsible for its debts or obligations.
5. ECHA shall consist of the national associations of Europe recognized by it as controlling Cornhole in their respective countries. Only one association shall be recognized in each country. This association shall be recognized by ECHA as the only governing body for Cornhole in its country. Current members of ECHA will be deemed to be the appropriate body for their country.

Article 2  -  Objectives and Duties

1. The objectives of ECHA shall be:

1. to consider all matters relating to Cornhole and to promote  the sport of Cornhole. ECHA believes in amateur sports and pursues only and directly non-profit objectives in the sense of tax sheltered purposes of the “Abgabenordnung”. ECHA is operated altruistically. The main objective of ECHA is not the pursuit of economic self interest. All funds of the member clubs shall only be used for statutory purposes. Members of ECHA are not given any contribution of the funds of the member clubs. No person shall benefit from payments that are outside ECHA’s purpose or by compensation which is disproportionate to the effort.
2. to promote the development of friendly sporting relations in the spirit of peace and mutual understanding, and to safeguard the interest of Cornhole;
3. to assist in promoting the sport of Cornhole in Europe in any way, without racial, religious or political discrimination;
4. to carry out administrative organization of the competitions and tournaments mentioned in Article 13 and such other competitions as may be considered desirable;
5. to organize courses and conferences for judges, coaches and officials of member associations;
6. to develop a website giving information about the work and activities of ECHA and containing news of general interest;
7. to appoint the Board to carry out the duties of ECHA;
8. to endorse appropriate international competitions if requested;
9. to represent the best interests of Cornhole;
10. to introduce and supervise the anti-doping-program of ECHA according to the IOC Anti Doping Code

Article 3  -  The Legislative Body

The General Meeting is the legislative body.

Article 4  -  The Executive Bodies

The Executive Bodies of ECHA are:

1. the Board;
2. the Disciplinary Committee and Appeal Committee;
3. committees set up by the Board;
4. the administrative secretariat;

Article 5  -  The General Meeting

1. An Ordinary General Meeting shall be held every year by the end of February. At each meeting a chairman is elected.
2. The Board shall, by written notice, no later than 4 months before the General Meeting notify the member associations of the date and place of the General Meeting.
3. The agenda of the General Meeting shall be prepared by the Board and shall be dispatched to the member associations at least four weeks in advance.
4. The General Meeting will:

1.     appoint a chair, secretary and two scrutineers; hold a roll call and check proxy votes;
2.     approve the report of the Board;
3.     receive the auditors’ report, approve the annual statement of accounts and the budget;

set the membership fee for the following year;

1.     elect the President, Vice President, Secretary and Board of ECHA in accordance with the

provisions of Article 5, paragraphs 8 and 9, and Article 6, paragraph 3;

1.     appoint auditors in accordance with the provisions of Article 8;
2.     conduct any other business on the agenda.

5. If the Board considers it necessary, or if one third of the member associations not in debt submit a request in writing, an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) shall be convened and held not earlier than four weeks, not later than eight weeks after receipt of the request or the Board’s decision. The EGM will start as in 4a then decide the business before the meeting.
6. The travelling and subsistence expenses of delegates are not paid by ECHA. The cost of the venue will be paid by ECHA unless the host waives payment. The venue will be the same as for that year’s ECC or other such venue as the Board shall determine.
7. Any member association wishing to propose an item for inclusion in the agenda of the General Meeting shall submit such proposals to the Administrative Secretariat at least two months before the date of the meeting. The proposals have to be in accordance with the existing Statutes unless they are proposing a change to the Statutes. The proposals may be accompanied by a concise statement of the reasons for their submission. Late business may be added to the agenda or discussed under any other business, so long as it does not involve a change of Statutes or Rules, if a 2/3 majority of members agree.
8. All candidates are eligible for election if they have been proposed by a national federation not in debt. If the same number of votes are cast for two or more candidates a second ballot including only these candidates shall take place. If the votes are still equal the Chair has the casting vote. Candidates must be nominated 4 weeks in advance of the General Meeting and should be accompanied by a brief biography of the candidate. Later nominations will only be accepted if there are insufficient candidates for any post.
9. Only two people from any country can be on the Board at any given time.
10. The official minutes shall be sent to the member associations within thirty days of the General Meeting. Unless notification to the contrary is received within 14 days of the sending of the minutes, approval will be assumed. If a member disagrees with the minutes,  they must notify all members within 14 days of  their proposed amendments. If no objections are received to the amendments within 14 days the minutes will be changed. In case of disagreement between members, the matter will be included in the agenda of the next General Meeting. The official minutes must be signed by the chairman of the meeting, the president of ECHA (if different) and the scrutineers.
11. Each member association has the following number of votes:
12. national association equals 30 votes,
13. individual Cornhole associations registered as Cornhole equals 10 votes,
14. national associations that are registered as priority behind other sports equals 5 votes,
15. individual associations or clubs registered as Cornhole equals 5 votes,
16. individual player or group of players with each equaling ½ vote.

Each member country is allowed to participate in the general meeting using only one of the above mentioned methods. At the beginning of the meeting each country should make it clear who will exercise its vote. Members that are in arrears with their fees or are suspended (and have thus lost all rights of membership during any period in which they are under suspension) may not vote.

12. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes cast, unless specifically indicated otherwise in these Statutes. In the event of a tie no majority has been achieved and the proposition fails.
13. Proposed amendments to the Statutes, dissolution of the ECHA, acceptance of late business and expulsion of members may only be adopted by a majority of 2/3 of the votes cast. Such proposals shall neither be discussed nor voted upon unless at least half of the member associations entitled to vote are present at the meeting or represented by proxy.
14. Elections and other voting shall be by secret ballot if one country requests it in the General Meeting. Otherwise voting will be by a show of hands counted by the scrutineers.
15. Decisions taken by the General Meeting shall be binding on member associations. They shall come into force immediately (except in the case of Rules and fees, which come into force on 1st January following the meeting) unless the General Meeting decides that they shall become operative at a later date.
16. The Chair may limit the number of speakers or the number of times a speaker addresses the meeting. The Chair decides when the matter is put to the vote.

Article 6  -  The Board

1. The Board, elected by the General Meeting, shall consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of seven members (including the President and Vice President). The President, the Vice-President and the Head of Administration (General Secretary) are the emergency Board. Either of them is allowed to represent ECHA.
2. If the President is absent from any meeting or other ECHA function the Vice President shall deputise. If the President is unable to continue, or ceases to hold office for any reason, the Vice President shall assume the role of President until the next General Meeting. If the Vice President becomes President or is unable to continue or ceases to hold office for any reason, the Board will elect one of their members to be Vice President.
3. The term of office of the members of the Board, including the President and Vice President, starting in 2024 shall be four years. The retiring members and the President and Vice President shall be eligible for re-election.
4. If a vacancy arises during the term of office, the General Meeting shall appoint a new member at the next meeting. His term of office shall be limited to the remaining period of the person vacating. The Board may co-opt a replacement until the next meeting.
5. A member of the Board shall not be present during a discussion about any matter concerning his association, a club of that association or a matter where he has a commercial or personal interest, nor shall he vote when a decision is being taken.
6. The Board shall meet at least twice a year. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes of the members present. In case of a tie, the President shall have the casting vote. Decisions of the Board shall be binding on member associations and shall come into force immediately unless they specify a later date. A secret ballot may be held at the request of any one member.
7. The reasonable expenses of Board members for attending ECC, General and Board meetings will be paid by ECHA.
8. If any disputes or appeals are brought before the Board, a meeting of the parties concerned shall be convened. They shall not be under any obligation to attend. They may instead forward a detailed report to the Administrative Secretariat. The Board will attempt to resolve the matter on the oral and written evidence before it.
9. In case of a member of the Board seriously failing in his duties, the Board shall be entitled to suspend such member until the next General Meeting. If a member of any committee is seriously failing in his duties, the Board shall have the right to dismiss him and replace him.
10. The President may only be suspended or removed by a vote of 2/3 of members at the General Meeting or at an EGM.
11. The President, the Vice-President and the ECHA Head of Administration (General Secretary)  are forming the Managing Committee. The Managing Committee is in charge of the daily operation of ECHA and empowered to take decisions between the meetings of the Board.

Article 7  -  Membership

1. ECHA is open to all recognized national federations controlling Cornhole at a national level along with other federations, associations, clubs or individuals. Only one member from each country may be affiliated, and that member shall be recognized by ECHA as the only national governing body for all amateur Cornhole in their country. Current members of ECHA at the date of the adoption of these statutes are deemed to be the appropriate organisation in their respective countries.
2. An association applying for membership shall address a written request to this effect to ECHA and fill in any form required.
3. The application for membership shall contain a declaration in which the applicant association undertakes:

1.     to conform at all times to the Statutes, Rules, regulations and decisions of ECHA;
2.     to submit any disputes concerning ECHA matters to the ECHA court of arbitration in

accordance with Article 22 of these Statutes.

4. New alliances or members - The applicant association shall forward a copy of its own statutes (plus a certified translation in English) and regulations upon request by ECHA. Those statutes must, without exception, contain a mandatory clause stipulating the restraints and obligations contained in Article 22 of the ECHA Statutes.
5. The applicant association shall submit to ECHA a file containing details of its internal organization and the sports infrastructure in its country even for individual applicants. It is for the internal use of ECHA and otherwise confidential.
6. Any new applicant which applies for full membership must provide evidence regarding the number of members in the federation, association, club or any other form of organized play. Any new applicant has to ensure that their internal constitution stipulates that their federation is organized and conducted democratically and without any racial, religious, political or gender discrimination. They must undertake to hold an annual national competition open to all their teams.
7. Each new applicant must ensure that their internal constitution states that their federation is organized and governed democratically and without racial, religious, political or gender discrimination. It is recommended that that the federation organize a national competition every year in which all the teams of his country can participate.
8. During the General Meeting at which its application for membership is to be decided, the applicant association in question may, through its delegates, address the General Meeting in support of its application. If the application is accepted, the delegates of the association which has just been granted membership shall immediately be allowed to take part in the meeting and vote on payment of that year’s membership fee.
9. An association which has been granted membership must pay the annual subscription fee as laid down in Article 18 of these Statutes for the year of its admission.
10. Payment of the annual membership fee must be made within 30 days of acceptance of the association's membership by the General Meeting. Failing this, the provisions of Article 18, regarding suspension of membership, shall be applied.
11. Once an association has been accepted as a member or a provisional member, it shall be entitled to enter immediately for any of the competitions organized by ECHA, provided that the entry deadline has not passed.
12. Any decision taken by an outside body to suspend an association's executive body shall not be binding on ECHA.

Article 8  -  The Auditors

Two internal auditors shall be elected by the General Meeting at each Annual General Meeting. The Board or General Meeting may authorise an external audit if it considers it necessary.

Article 9  -  Committees

1. The Board will decide what committees it needs to assist it in the efficient running of ECHA.
2. Members of committees shall be appointed by the Board. As a rule, the Chair of these committees will be members of the Board.
3. Committees will make recommendations to the Board but will not generally make decisions unless specifically authorised by the Board.
4. The Board shall determine the nature and scope of the activities of the committees.
5. The Board will appoint people to the committee for whatever period it thinks fit and has the absolute discretion to remove anyone from the committee.

Article 10  -  The Disciplinary Authorities

1. The disciplinary authorities of ECHA are

1.     the Disciplinary Committee
2.     the Appeal Committee

2. The chairman and the members shall be appointed by the Board, but Board
   members shall not belong to that committee.
3. The Disciplinary Committee and the Appeal Committee shall consist of a
   chairman and two members. The members shall be completely independent of the
   parties in dispute.
4. The committees will be appointed whenever there is a need for a hearing and will
   remain in place only to conduct that hearing.
5. The committees will make their decision on the basis of written or oral evidence
   submitted by to it.

Article 11  -  Treasurer

The Board shall appoint one of its members other than the President to be Treasurer. They are responsible for the accounts and preparing the following year’s budget, with the assistance of the Secretariat.

Article 12  -  The Head of ECHA Administration (General Secretary)

1. The Head of ECHA Administration (General Secretary) shall be appointed by the Board. The Board will define what functions are delegated and the Head of ECHA Administration shall perform these functions unpaid. It shall require a resolution of the General Meeting for the Board to be authorised to appoint a paid Head of ECHA Administration.
2. The Head of ECHA Administration shall be the head of the Administrative Secretariat, and shall keep the accounts and the minutes of the Board and the other committees. He shall deal with the routine correspondence of ECHA and is responsible to the Board for the appointment and work of the staff of the Administrative Secretariat.

Article 13  -  Competitions and Rules

1. The competitions organized by ECHA are
   -    European Cornhole Championships (ECC) which includes the Junior European Cornhole

Championships (JECC)
-    ECHA competitions organized or taken over after the coming into force of the present statutes

and such other competitions that come into existence

2. These competitions shall be open to the representative or club teams of all the member associations. Teams and athletes shall be admitted to each of these competitions on the basis of the conditions set down in the Rules. The Board or members may propose amendments to the Rules of these competitions. Amendments to the Rules must be passed at the General Meeting by 2/3 majority and take effect from 1st January in the following year.
3. In exceptional circumstances a Rule may be changed outside a General Meeting if all members intending to participate in the next ECC agree in writing.
4. Associations which are participating in ECHA competitions, or whose clubs are participating, shall undertake, on their own behalf and on behalf of their clubs, to observe the regulations.
5. The Board may endorse appropriate international competitions in Europe organized by member associations or by other international organisations. The rules shall be submitted for approval to the Board and must not conflict with ECHA statutes. The approval of such competition shall only be valid for that particular competition.

Article 14  -  Television and Sound Broadcast Transmissions

1. ECHA and its member associations hold all intellectual property rights (IPR) in its competitions, including the exclusive rights to authorize the broadcasting and distribution by whatever audio-visual, computer and sound broadcasting media, whether the transmission be live or deferred or of full length or in excerpts.
2. The Board may license the ECC host to exercise these rights whether for payment or not.

Article 15  -  Penalties and Disciplinary Measures

1. Any association, club, athlete, member or official bound by the Statutes and Rules of ECHA, may be penalised in case of violation of the same.
2. The Disciplinary committee shall be competent to impose penalties and disciplinary measures, except termination of membership.
3. Possible penalties and disciplinary measures are:
   A caution
   •    A censure
   •    A fine of 100 EURO up to 10,000 EURO
   •    A ban from taking part in any current and/ or future competition.
   •    Suspension from membership
4. In imposing a penalty the committee must have regard to the nature of the offence and the member’s previous conduct. If imposing a fine their financial position must also be considered.
5. Where a complaint is made to the Board, or the Board of its own motion decides there has been a disciplinary breach, against anyone referred to in para 1, the Board will within 4 weeks appoint a Disciplinary committee in accordance with Article 10.
6. The committee will set a hearing date within 4 weeks of its being appointed at which it will decide the matter upon written or oral evidence submitted to it. The decision must be published to all members within 2 weeks of the hearing being concluded. If a party to the proceedings wishes to appeal they have 2 weeks from the publishing of the decision.

Article 16  -  Appeals

1. Appeals may be lodged against decisions of the Disciplinary Committee, except in cases where an appeal is excluded.
2. The Appeal Committee shall decide on the appeal on the basis of the evidence considered by the Disciplinary Committee and any further evidence submitted to it.
3. The Board will appoint an Appeal committee within 4 weeks of receiving an appeal. The committee will set a hearing date within 4 weeks of its being appointed at which it will decide the matter upon written or oral evidence submitted to it. The decision must be published to all members within 2 weeks of the hearing being concluded.
4. The decisions taken by the Appeal Committee shall be final and binding on all parties concerned.

Article 17  -  Financial Year

The financial year of ECHA shall commence on January 1st and end on December 31st.

Article 18  -  Finances

1. The income of ECHA consists of the following member contributions, levies, fees and other revenues:

1.     the annual membership fee set by the General Meeting which shall be paid to the ECHA

account;

1. 1. Account Number: ?????                                              IBAN: ?????
2.     the revenues from ECC/JECC as determined by the agreement with the host country;
3.     other competition entry and sanction fees;
4.     broadcasting revenues;
5.     sponsor revenues.
6.     any fines imposed

2. The budget shall be submitted by the Board to the General Meeting for approval.
3. Payment of the annual membership fee is due on 1 January. In case of non-payment by that date, the Treasurer is obliged to send a letter to the member within 14 days. If the member association does not pay at or before the AGM it shall lose its voting right and its teams will not be eligible for any competition until the fee and any arrears has been paid.

Article 19  -  Official Language

1. The official languages of ECHA are English and German. All communication shall be in English. German will only be used where legally required.
2. All documents circulated to the member associations, such as the minutes of the General Meeting, the decisions of the Board, communications from the administrative secretariat and between member associations, shall be in English.
3. German will be used if needed for correspondence with the legal court or court of registration.

Article 20  -  Correspondence

1. Each member association shall inform ECHA of the postal and email address of the association office and any changes to them.
2. Each country should nominate a country representative to whom all correspondence will be sent. An email address must also be provided for the country representative.
3. Each member association shall send to ECHA its official Statutes and regulations and any other document upon request.
4. Any requirement to give written notice is satisfied by email or other electronic communication in writing.

Article 21  -  Honorary Membership

1. The General Meeting may grant the title of Honorary Member to any person who has rendered meritorious services to ECHA. The Board shall submit the name of any such person to the General Meeting for approval.
2. An Honorary Member shall be permitted to attend the General Meeting and take part in the discussions, but shall not be entitled to vote.

Article 22  -  Disputes

1. In case of a dispute between ECHA and a member, or between two members, the parties concerned will try to find an amicable solution. The negotiations are to be headed by the President or his representative. Only if agreement is not reached may the dispute be submitted to the Arbitration committee of ECHA.
2. Member associations, clubs or members of clubs or other individual members may not bring before a court of justice such disputes unless the matter has been referred first to the Arbitration committee.
3. The following procedures will apply:

1. the Arbitration committee shall sit at the ECHA office;
2. within 30 days of the request to submit the matter to the committee being received by the Head of Administration, the parties to the dispute shall appoint one arbiter each;
3. within 30 days of their appointment the arbiters designated by the two parties concerned shall, by mutual agreement, appoint the head of the arbitration committee;
4. if one of the parties concerned fails to appoint an arbiter within 30 days, or if the arbiters do not agree upon the appointment of a head of the Arbitration committee, the arbiter or the head, shall be designated by the Board. Such person must be completely independent of the parties in dispute;
5. Slovenian law shall apply in all matters relating to the Arbitration committee;
6. reference may not be made to the arbitration committee unless use has already been made of all other machinery provided in these Statutes;
7. The decision of the committee shall be final, and no appeal may be lodged in connection therewith.

4        Matters which have been dealt with by the Disciplinary Committee and the Appeal Committee, or

the Board (see Article 6, paragraph 7), may not be brought before the Arbitration committee.

5        In matters of dispute between member associations with which ECHA is not competent to deal, the parties concerned may request ECHA to use its other offices towards reaching a mutually acceptable solution.

Article 23  -  Loss of Membership

1. A member may forfeit its membership:

1.     for non-payment of annual fees or other money owed to ECHA
2.     for infringement of the Statutes and Rules or other regulations.

2. Expulsion may only be decreed by the General Meeting. Any resolution to expel a member association may only be adopted by a majority of 2/3 of the votes cast. Such resolution shall neither be discussed nor voted upon unless at least half of the member associations, entitled to vote, are present or have appointed proxies.

Article 24  -  Withdrawal

1. A member association wishing to withdraw from ECHA shall notify the Board accordingly by registered letter. The letter shall include the minutes from the Meeting of the member association where it was decided to withdraw from ECHA.
2. A request for withdrawal shall only be accepted and become effective when the Board is satisfied that the association has fulfilled its financial and other obligations towards ECHA and its members.
3. On withdrawal, the Board may appoint and recognize any other competent authority within that country and such appointment shall continue until the next General Meeting.
4. The member remains liable for that year’s membership fee; is not entitled to any part of the ECHA’s assets; and forfeits any future rights in respect of those assets.

Article 25  -  Dissolution of ECHA

1. A dissolution of ECHA shall become effective only by the decision of a 2/3 majority of all member associations either at the General Meeting or EGM.
2. If  ECHA is disolved or abolishes its tax sheltered purpose, the net assets of ECHA shall be transferred to public foundations or other corporations eligible for tax relief for the promotion of sports. The GA which decides on dissolution has to decide by 2/3 majority of votes of those present to which organisation(s) the money shall be donated. If the GA does not take any decision or not with the necessary 2/3 majority or in case that the tax sheltered purpose is abolished the American Football Verband Deutschland e. V. shall receive the net assets
3. The dissolution procedure shall be supervised by the Managing Committee as liquidators.

Article 26  -  Adoption

 These Statutes were adopted by the General Meeting in its meeting in Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia, on June 22, 2024.

Interpretation

In the interpretation of these Statutes

1. "ECHA" means European Cornhole Association.
2. “ Member” or "Member Association" means a national association affiliated to ECHA.
3. "The Board" means the Board of ECHA for the time being, as constituted in accordance with these Statutes.
4. "Cornhole" means all activities of Cornhole.