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1.         AIMS

1.1       The Asian Chess Union (ACU) is an independent association which intends to safeguard the interests of chess in Asia. The ACU is established under FIDE for chess development in the Asian Continent. It will establish and coordinate the activity of its members and organize continental championships under the auspices of FIDE. The ACU will represent the interests of the members of ACU at FIDE and other international organizations.

2.         MEMBERS

2.1       Any national Chess Federation on the Asian continent as defined in FIDE Statute Art 2.1 or any other National Chess Federation belonging to an Asian FIDE Zone, are considered to be members of ACU.

2.2       Any Asian association related to chess can be accepted as an associate ACU member without the right to vote.

3.         INSTITUTIONS AND OFFICIALS

3.1       ACU’s institutions and officials are:

A - The Continental Assembly

B - The Board

C - The President

D – The Deputy President

E - The Zonal Presidents

F - The Elected Executive Board Members

G - The Treasurer

H - The General Secretary

I - Elected Office Bearers of FIDE Presidential Board Belonging to Asian Federations

J - The Players Representative

4.         THE CONTINENTAL ASSEMBLY

4.1       The Continental Assembly (CA) is the highest authority of the ACU.

4.2       The CA is composed of all member federations.

4.3       Associate members do not have the right to vote.

4.4       A permanent delegate or proxy represents every member federation.

4.5       A representative may have a proxy from only one additional federation beside their own.

4.6       Each member federation has one vote. 

4.7       The CA meeting is permitted to pass resolutions if it has been convened according to the statutes. A quorum of 50% of the affiliated federations (including proxies) is required for votes on elections. If the quorum is not fulfilled no actions can be taken. 

4.8       Votes are made orally unless a secret ballot is agreed to by the majority.

4.9       Votes on elections are cast by secret ballot. 

4.10          Resolutions are passed by a majority of the votes, without counting the abstentions.

4.11          A majority of the votes cast, not counting abstentions, shall be required for the election of the officers     individually and collectively where necessary. If three or more persons are nominated for the same offices or office and no one person receives the absolute majority on the first ballot then:

a)      The candidate receiving the fewest votes on the first ballot shall be eliminated from the list before the second vote.

b) If there are still three or more candidates for the offices or office and no one candidate receives the required absolute majority on the second ballot, the process of eliminating one candidate at a time shall continue, until an election by absolute majority is achieved.

4.12     The annual meeting is convened by the President with at least 2 month notice.

4.13     The agenda must be sent to member federations by email, fax or regular mail at least I month prior to the meeting. 

4.14     Proposals from member federations to be included in the agenda for the CA should reach the ACU Secretariat not later than six weeks before the beginning of the CA.

4.15     The President upon request of one third of the member federations or majority of the Board convenes an extraordinary CA. The CA shall convene within one month of such a request. The agenda shall be sent out within two weeks of the request.

4.16     The annual CA meeting has the following duties that cannot be delegated to another body.

a) Election of the Board - every 4 years

b) Elections of the Executive Board representatives - every 4 years

c) President’s report, budget and the financial report

d) Vote on financial regulations

e) Change of the statutes          

f) Vote on the new associate members

g) Other duties defined as non-transferable by the CA or the statutes

5.         THE BOARD

5.1       The ACU Board shall comprise of the following:

a)      President

b)       Deputy President

c)       6 Zonal Presidents

d)      4 Elected Executive Board members

e) General Secretary

f) Treasurer

g) Elected Office Bearers of FIDE Presidential Board from Asian Federations

h) Players Representative

5.2       Where possible, the Board shall meet annually during Continental Championships and endorse the decisions of the President in between Continental Assemblies. The Board meets whenever the President finds it necessary or when at least half the Board members call for a meeting.

5.3       Decisions of the Board require a majority of votes with at least half the Board members taking part in the meeting. In case of tie the President has a second and casting vote to establish a majority. 

5.4       The Treasurer and Executive Secretary should not be the same persons.

6.         THE PRESIDENT

6.1       The ACU President shall be elected every 4 years. He shall also be the representative of the ACU as the FIDE Continental President ASIA (then confirmed by the FIDE General Assembly).

6.2       The President shall be responsible for the coordination and organization of all continental championships.

6.3       He shall also be Chairperson in all Continental Assemblies. He shall be ex-officio in all Zonal Meetings.

7.         THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT

7.1       The Deputy President shall be appointed by the President from the Asian member federations for the same period as of the ACU’s Executive Board. He shall have a vote on the board.

7.2       The Deputy President will carry out the duties and responsibilities as assigned by the President.

8.         THE ZONAL PRESIDENTS

8.1       When electing a Zonal President, the CA - apart from exceptional cases - shall agree in principle with the opinion expressed in the CA by the majority of the representatives of the members belonging to the zone, or, if the zone consists of one member only, take into consideration the opinion expressed by the representative of this member. He shall be responsible for the Zonal Championships and coordination of chess activities in his Zone.

8.2       The Asian Continent shall be divided as the following zones for the purposes of allocations of places for the World Championships and other administrative matters.

9.         THE ELECTED EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS

9.1       The Continental Assembly shall elect four (4) Executive Board members every 4 years. Where possible the Executive Board Members should represent the cultural and economic diversity of the entire continent

10.         THE TREASURER

10.1     The Treasurer shall be appointed by the President for the same period as of the ACU’s Executive Board. Treasurer shall not have a vote on the board.

10.2     The Treasurer shall be responsible for the finances of the continent in coordination with FIDE regulations and allocations.

10.3     The Treasurer shall be responsible for invoicing and collection of money from member federations for the services of the previous twelve months that shall include the annual membership fees.

10.4     The Treasurer shall also be responsible for preparing an annual budget based on FIDE allocations to the Continent and all revenues.

10.5     Entry fees and other allocations from FIDE must be deposited in the ACU Accounts and maintained by the Treasurer. Further, he shall report to the President quarterly on the financial activity of ACU.

11.       THE GENERAL SECRETARY

11.1     The General Secretary shall be appointed by the President for the same period as of the ACU’s Executive Board. The General Secretary shall have a vote on the board.

11.2     He shall be responsible for the administrative affairs of the continent in coordination with FIDE regulations. He shall also be responsible for preparing an annual calendar and advising Federations on FIDE regulations to the Continent.

11.3     He shall be responsible for the preparations of minutes and the agenda for Board and Continental Meeting.

12.       THE PLAYERS REPRESENTATIVE

12.1     The CA shall elect a Players Representative every 4 years.

13.       FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

13.1     The financial year shall coincide with the calendar year. (1^st January to 31^st December)

13.2     The ACU budget and accounting will be based on the US dollar

13.3     All ACU bank accounts shall be in the name of the Asian Chess Union.       

13.4    The President, the Deputy President and the Treasurer shall have the signature rights. The signature of the President is compulsory for any transaction

13.5     Each year at the annual CA meeting the Treasurer shall present the final balanced account duly audited for approval by the CA.

13.6     The ACU's revenues are generated through membership fees, entry fees from Continental Tournaments organized by member federations, allocations from FIDE and other sources.

            a) The annual membership fee from each member federation will be US $ 100.

            b) Annually in January the Secretariat shall bill all the affiliated federations for the services of the previous twelve months and shall include the annual membership fees. Any Federation failing to settle all outstanding amounts by the following 15 March shall be charged a ten percent (10%) per annum interest fee on the total outstanding. If any member is two years in arrears, their membership will be temporarily suspended.

            c) All affiliated countries taking part in FIDE events held under the purview of ACU shall pay the entry fees of their players prior to the start of the tournament directly to the organizers. Failure will result in a penalty of 10% charged on the entry fees.

            d) Organizing country of FIDE events will be exempted from entry fees for their own players.

            e) For all the continental events the organizing federation will pay 50% of the entry fees to ACU and the balance 50% will be retained by the organizing federation.

13.7     The annual budget of ACU shall be done by the treasurer before the annual CA and is subject to acceptance by the CA.

13.8     For extraordinary expenses, not contained in the budget, a request can be submitted to the Board. The Board may grant such expenses if they are in the interest of the ACU.

13.9     Members of the ACU who are excluded by FIDE due to non-payment of membership fees are also excluded from ACU meetings.

13.10   The officials working for the ACU have the right to have reasonable expenses reimbursed. The Board shall formulate guidelines. Reimbursement of expenses going beyond these guidelines have to be contained in a CA approved budget.  

14.       MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS 

14.1     The CA decides on the locations of a permanent office (ACU Secretariat) at the motion of the Board. Normally this is the seat of the ACU President.

14.2     The official language of the CA is English. In documents containing versions in more than one language, the English version is the official one.

14.3     Communications within the ACU shall be by letter, fax or email.

14.4     The CA may change the ACU statutes. For changing the statutes a two-thirds majority of the votes cast is necessary.