America’s Cup, il Golden Gate Yacht Club promuove una nuova azione legale
America's CupOracle Team USAVela 27 Ottobre 2009 Zerogradinord 0
America’s Cup – New York – Il Golden Gate Yacht Club ha avviato una nuova azione legale contro la Société Nautique de Genève. Questa volta lo yacht club statunitense accusa il defender di aver agito in contrasto con il ruolo di fiduciario dell’America’s Cup tipico del defender.
Gli avvocati del Golden Gate Yacht Club hanno chiesto che lo yacht club svizzero venga privato del titolo di fiduciario e venga sostituito da un soggetto terzo che dovrà sovraintendere allo svolgimento del match in programma nel febbraio del 2010.
Gli statunitensi sostengono che il defender:
– avrebbe offerto i diritti di svolgimento delle regate sulla base di accordi commerciali segreti;
– avrebbe tentato più volte di modificare le regole per assicurare ad Alinghi la vittoria;
– avrebbe tentato di squalificare il Golden Gate Yacht Club nonostante avesse assicurato alla Corte Suprema dello Stato di New York che ciò non era nelle sue intenzioni;
– avrebbe scelto Ras al Khaimah come sede della 33ma America’s Cup sulla base dei suoi meri interessi, esponendo il Golden Gate Yacht Club a pericoli non necessari.
Il nostro punto di vista
Ci troviamo davanti ad un’azione legale, l’ottava promossa dal Golden Gate Yacht Club, dai contenuti “tecnici” piuttosto deboli: nella documentazione presentata dai legali di parte statunitense non c’è nulla che non sia stato già dibattuto davanti ai giudici della Corte Suprema dello Stato di New York. Un azione che, tentando di stigmatizzare azioni e atteggiamenti tipici di ogni defender, serve solo ad alzare ulteriore polvere su una Coppa America ormai totalmente priva di riflessi affascinanti.
Per leggere il documento originale clicca qui.
AMERICA’S CUP, GOLDEN GATE YACHT CLUB FILED A NEW MOTION
America’s Cup – New York – Golden Gate Yacht Club has filed a breach of fiduciary duty complaint against Société Nautique de Genève in the New York Supreme Court for reckless and repeated disregard in its stewardship of the America’s Cup:
“Reckless and repeated disregard in its stewardship of the America’s Cup by the Société Nautique de Geneve has prompted the Golden Gate Yacht Club to ask the New York Supreme Court to remove the Swiss yacht club from its position as Trustee in a Breach of Fiduciary Duty complaint filed today.
In its place, Golden Gate Yacht Club – the Challenger of Record the 33rd America’s Cup – has requested the Court to appoint a faithful, fit and proper substitute to oversee the next Match to be sailed in 2010, starting 8 February.
A new Trustee would provide equitable terms for both competitors, something Société Nautique de Genève has denied Golden Gate Yacht Club by its orchestration and manipulation of the rules and processes designed to ensure that the defending sailing team, Alinghi, can not lose.
Golden Gate Yacht Club, and its sailing team, BMW Oracle Racing, remain committed to sailing the Match on the dates in February 2010 set by the Court. There is no desire by this action to change Alinghi’s role as Société Nautique de Genève’s sailing team and defender.
Foremost among a catalogue of failures of Société Nautique de Genève and listed in a Breach of Fiduciary Duty complaint are:
– offering the America’s Cup hosting rights in order to extract secret commercial deals;
– epeated attempts to seize control of the rules and officiating processes to ensure that Alinghi can not lose;
– moves to disqualify Golden Gate Yacht Club’s yacht despite assurances to the New York Supreme Court that this would not happen;
– selecting Ras Al Khaimah for the 33rd Cup to further its own business interests whilst exposing GGYC to unnecessary danger;
“Winning the Cup brings not just honor and pride, but responsibilities too. The honor may have gone, but the responsibilities remain – said Russell Coutts, Skipper and Chief Executive of GGYC’s challenging team, BMW Oracle Racing – The America’s Cup is meant to be hard to win, not impossible to lose” added Coutts.
The complaint also states that the America’s Cup was used as a powerful bargaining chip to extract enormous commercial benefits through secret and complex side deals in selecting Valencia and Ras Al Khaimah as host venues for the 32nd and 33rd Matches.
It is clear that entities associated with Ernesto Bertarelli leveraged the America’s Cup for gain.
“Société Nautique de Genève says it has the right to change the rules for the America’s Cup races at any time and select all the umpires. It’s like letting the Phillies change the rules for the World Series after it starts and select all the umpires,” said David Boies, chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
“Basic fairness and sportsmanship require that a contest be played with set rules and judged by umpires free of interference. The Courts have already had to stop Société Nautique de Genève from negotiating unfair rules with a sham competitor orchestrated by SNG. We hope that Société Nautique de Genève will now abandon its efforts to win with rule manipulations and back-room deals. Let the best boat win on the water,” added Boies.
Golden Gate Yacht Club is also contesting Société Nautique de Genève’s choice of Ras Al Khaimah in a separate case before the New York Supreme Court because it is in direct contravention of the Deed of Gift’s clear stipulation that the Cup can only be sailed in the Northern Hemisphere between 1 May and 1 November.
Nevertheless as Trustee, and in breach of its duty, Société Nautique de Genève did not consult Golden Gate Yacht Club at any stage in selecting Ras Al Khaimah, a location it knew did not meet the clear language of the Deed of Gift and one which exposes the American challenger to unnecessary danger.
Société Nautique de Genève’s actions since winning the America’s Cup in 2003 and defending it 2007 has brought a clamor of complaint from the sailing community around the world.
“Ernesto Bertarelli has taken advantage of the Cup holder’s inherent competitive balance in the Deed of Gift to absurd and obscene levels. By his actions on land he has tried to make sure that he can not be beaten on the water,” commented Bill Koch, whose America 3 team was the successful defender of the America’s Cup in 1992.
Italy’s Vincenzo Onorato, a three-time challenger, said of Alinghi’s proposed rules for the next Cup: “This is the most unsporting document ever done.”
The America’s Cup has prospered for 158 years, despite the American Civil War, two World Wars and several economic depressions.
The oldest international trophy in sport is now in peril because of the selfish and self-serving acts of the Swiss yacht club, its representative sailing team Alinghi, America’s Cup Management (both controlled by Ernesto Bertarelli) and other affiliates.
To read the document click here.
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