Portugal - who's to blame???

[wee mouse]

Portugal was very disappointing in many ways - toilet facilities were totally inadequate, netting was unsafe, marshalling was not up to scratch on a number of fields, catering was too expensive, and many products for sale were too expensive, ( "Trade stands" suggests that products are for sale at trade prices, but this was not the case). Scheduling fell very much behind and there was a strong feeling that the event was done 'on the cheap'.

As a player, I felt that I did not get value for my significant outlay.
But my question is.....Who is responsible for this?

I know that promoters have responsibility for running their own event, but to whom are they accountable? Do they have to provide assurances to the Millennium Committee that they will deliver on things such as netting, players' tent, toilets, catering, etc, etc?

If so, were these assurances provided and did the committee check them?

The Millennium Series has had a number of successes, but I think this tournament will be remembered as one that did not meet the players' and spectators' (important!) needs.

Portugal has now gone and there's nothing we can do about it now. However, I would like to be reassured that lessons will be learned by those who can influence the quality of future events, and that when I pay my money for other Millennium events, I can expect a better product than I enjoyed in Portugal.


John

 

[Robbo]

Who's To Blame ?

I think it's better to ask two questions here rather than one, who is to blame and who is responsible because in this case, they are not the same body.
The Millennium board for all their faults lately have a book of requirements that each and every promoter has to adhere to otherwise a fine is levied against them for each infringement.

Now when Pedro agrees to run a tournament, it is incumbent upon him to adhere to those requirements; he obviously did not in many areas and elected to cut costs at the expense of the player and vendor.
Not only this but also Pedro's own business interests, that of Tomahawk paintball, seemed to be impinging upon his ability to adhere to other paint manufacturer's rights with regard to promotion at this event....and this is something that is also unforgiveable.
This tournament was basically a joke and sounded like some of the world cups I used to go to Stateside where a lack of attention to detail and a lack of thought to basic amenities seemed to be the order of the day.

Pedro is 100% to blame for this debacle and as such should never be allowed to run a Millennium event again.
In one fell swoop he managed to even scuttle the X-Ball boat, which was floundering anyway leaving X-Ball grounded upon the rocks of incompetence.

As for who's responsible ?
Well that obviously lies at the feet of the Millennium board and as such, they will be endeavouring to make things right in Germany (which I am pretty sure Manfred will do and is capable of doing) and also dealing with Pedro.

At the end of the day, what the players want is to be able to get value for money and to be treated fairly and courteously when on site and in terms of any mandates placed upon player and team.
In the recent past, little thought has been given to this area of tournament promotion and I hope the Millennium Board take note of the groundswell of opinion on this site (not just my opinion) as this site reflects the opinions of most of the players who go to their events.
Ignore them at your peril Millennium Board !!!!

People conveniently going on the missing list and appointing proxy representatives (all of whom were either unqualified or incompetent) only smacks of cowardice and a lack of professionalism in my book, Magued is the only one on that board who has shown any balls lately and I felt sorry for him as he was left stranded many times by people who should have been on this board defending or at least trying to justify some of their decisions.
I think there is not just a moral responsibility here but also a professional one, that if the Board take our money so readily at these events, then they should at least stand up and be counted when it comes to accounting for some of their decisions that directly affect us and our pockets.

Let's hope this players association has some balls and has the right people placed upon it coz in the end, it all comes down to the board, coz the players association can say what they like and unless the board actually listen, take note and are accountable, there is no point.

We'll see how all this unfolds.