The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) is the governing body of sports poker, promoting poker and its Match Poker™ variation as a skill game

Founded in April 2009 in Lausanne, Switzerland, home of the Olympic movement and most other sports federations, IFMP champions poker as “a mind-sport of strategic skill”, alongside chess, bridge, draughts and Go.

As it campaigns to clean up poker’s image, and lobbies legislators to separate poker from gambling, IFMP’s member nations now number more than 60 worldwide from five continents. IFMP events do not involve buy-ins or gambling. IFMP is an observer member of GAISF, the general assembly of international sports federations, and a signatory to the WADA code since 2017 with Match Poker athletes undergoing anti-doping tests just like in any other sport. IFMP is working closely with Harvard and the recently established Mindsport Research Network at the Berkman Center, Harvard.

IFMP Executive Board

Elected for a period of three years, and in turn electing a president from amongst its members, the Executive Board of IFMP is tasked with taking all appropriate measures and issuing all appropriate decisions in relation to the activities of the IFMP and the accomplishment of its mission. The Board of IFMP remains subject to the supreme authority of the Congress.

Patrick Nally - President

Patrick Nally has been a driving force behind the establishment of IFMP to promote the educational, social and respectable values of poker as a mind sport

Patrick is often referred to as the “Founding Father of Sports Marketing”. His impressive track record began in the 70s when he was instrumental in rewriting and restructuring the event format and commercial marketing rights of the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup.

One of his many career highlights working with international sport and corporate sponsors was brokering the marriage between FIFA and Coca-Cola, a deal which has lasted nearly 40 years.

Patrick is a lecturer and touring fellow of the World Academy of Sport and a past Academic Director of the IE Business School in Madrid’s Master in Sports Management. He writes a regular column for SportsPro magazine and more details of Patrick’s unique background can be found at www.westnally.com.

Pedro Trengrouse - Vice President

Pedro Trengrouse is a lawyer and FIFA Master graduate whose career has focused on working in key policy and executive roles, some with sports bodies and others with political and educational initiatives.

Trengrouse is a professor of Humanities, Management and Law of Sport at Fundação Getu lio Vargas,

Harvard Visiting Scholar and worked for six years at the Soccer Federation of Rio de Janeiro, first as Special Projects Director, and later as Vice-President of Legal Affairs. He also worked as a Special Advisor to the President of Flamengo Football Club, responsible for designing corporate social responsibility policies, as well as drafting and negotiating the highest sponsorship and broadcasting contracts in the country, dealing with important organizations such as Petrobras, TV Globo, Nike, Olympikus, Odebrecht, Time Warner, Fox Sports and others.

As a Consultant to the United Nations Development Program, he served the Brazilian Government in matters related to Sports, particularly the FIFA World Cup 2014 , and is also a member of the Legal Committee of the National Sports Council, nominated by the Minister of Sports, and the Committee nominated by the Senate with responsibility over the drafting of new sports regulations in Brazil .

Jes Bondo

Jes Bondo has been the president of the Danish Poker Federation since 2010 but has been a key figure in Danish poker for more than a decade, having made a living as a professional poker player since 2000 after several years working on local and national radio.

In addition to his exploits at the poker table, Bondo is active off it, founding ‘Pokerprof’ in 2005 and serving as a consultant to online poker sites. He is one of the co-founders of the Danish Poker Federation. Jes Bondo joined the board of the IFP in 2011.

Gary Bowman

Motivated by his Ukrainian parentage – both his mother and father were from the Lviv region – Gary Bowman was the driving force and financier behind the establishment of the Ukrainian Poker Federation, of which he is Honorary President.

He was also instrumental in the Federation becoming a founder member of IFP. Resident in Lviv, Gary has been a patron of Ukrainian arts, sport and culture for many years. Gary Bowman was a pioneer of the online sports book. When he formed Bowman International in 1985, the company was immediately at the forefront of international gaming, dominating the North American market in particular as it became the leading online sports betting company for American sports. By the time Gary sold his Bowman International business in 2007, the company was globally respected.

Antoine Dorin

Antoine Dorin graduated with a degree in Law and Management from the University of Paris II.

For five years he was the head of a specialised recruitment website; he also created his own consultancy in marketing and communications in the field of gaming. Dorin has had a passion for poker for more than 10 years. He created and organised the “France Poker Tour”, as well as the student tournament “Campus Poker Master”. In addition to this he is the founder of the information website France.Poker.com. Thanks to his broad experience and as his extensive networks he is a well-known specialist in poker practices in France. Being the Founder and President of the French Federation of Poker Players since its creation in 2005, Dorin seeks to promote poker and represent the interests of poker players through his federation. He now lobbies in favour of a dialogue with the French administration to put in place a responsible gaming policy, taking into consideration recent developments in the economy.

Dmitry Lesnoy

Dmitry Lesnoy is a former national skiing champion, qualified journalist, card-player and writer.

In 1994 he published the Russian Encyclopaedia of Card Games, which he considers to be his life’s work. Lesnoy has also published a series of books, Mathematics of Casino Games, as well as translating well-known international works into Russian. Lesnoy was the founder of Poker Games magazine. In 1997, Lesnoy founded the Russian Mind Games League and went on to become one of the first poker tournament operators in Russia from 2001 – 2003. In 2006, Lesnoy initiated the creation of the Russian Sports Poker Federation (RSPF) and was elected its first president on 18th November that year. After submitting a special report to the Russian Sports Ministry, the RSPF became the organisation officially authorised to promote poker in Russia, and to stage Russia’s national championships. Under Lesnoy’s leadership, RSPF was a moving force behind the establishment of IFP, as well as being a founder-member.

Martijn Paulen

Originally an Organizational Psychologist based at the University of Tilburg, Martijn Paulen was invited to become the president of the Dutch Poker Association in 2005.

Seeing poker as a social phenomenon that was not appreciated or understood by policy-makers, Paulen accepted the role. Although not a poker player himself, Paulen’s academic qualifications have prepared him well to take up the task of promoting poker players’ right in the Netherlands: a task that remains mainly political. Paulen’s focus in the last five years has been to build a solid network of advocates and advisors, and to educate decision-makers on the best way to offer a safe and responsible environment in which people can enjoy poker. Paulen fully supports the role of the IFP in the global struggle to secure poker’s recognition as a skilled Mind Sport and gladly accepted his appointment to the Board of IFP in April 2009.