Matti wrote:I just checked a flight price for a ramdom dates between Helsinki and Johannesburg and it was about 600 euro. I guess if you want to visit the 2015 Euorpean Go Congress and book the flights early, you can get an affordable price. I think it is difficult convince the EGF that a country needs to be a member if no players from the country can afford to visit Europe.
Flights from Joburg to Helsinki in July are about $1,200. The direction is probably important - flying from Winter to Summer is usually more expensive than the other way around (even if it's effectively the same thing as far as the airlines are concerned). The websites may also be charging me more for some mysterious reason (I've heard the sites use information about you to alter the price of flights).
Players to visit Europe from time to time, just not necessarily on short notice. (In fact it turns out there is a South African player playing in the EGC this year, but his flights are for the second week, so can't attend the AGM). We don't wish to join the EGF because we intend sending large groups of players over to Europe. We just hope to improve our communication and collaboration, leveraging the possibilities that the Internet offers. If the only effective outcome is that we can participate in the Pandanet team tournament, that will be fantastic, and enough for the time being.
