Mind Sports Organisation: Encyclopedia II - Mind Sports Organisation - Structure

Mind Sports Organisation - Structure

Initially the MSO was supported by some substantial corporate sponsorship, and was under the control of a company MSO Worldwide (MSOW), which had money advanced by venture capitalists (the money came mostly from Swedish sources). The second Mind Sports Olympiad saw the largest sponsor withdraw, and from that time onwards financial problems dogged the MSO, particularly concerning funds misused by the organizers. The board running it included David Levy, Tony Buzan, and Raymond Keene, who were known for various business interests.

A worsening financial position caused difficulties for MSOW, and schemes to become a leading force in games promotion worldwide came to little, as the loaned money (said to be about £2,500,000) was spent. This was the era of failed dotcoms, and MSOW went into voluntary liquidation in May 2001. At that point David Levy was the most important figure left in MSOW, Tony Buzan having withdrawn, and Ray Keene having earlier split acrimoniously, with a dispute over money. Keene's was more interested in promoting high-profile events — he has been close to Garry Kasparov — and he left to launch the Brain Games group.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Structure", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki