A team of women representing the United States at the world bridge championship, in Shanghai, are facing sanctions by the U.S. Bridge Federation after one team member held up a handwritten note at the awards dinner that read, “We did not vote for Bush,” reports The New York Times. The controversy has sparked debate about the right to free speech in nonprofit membership organizations.

Four of the seven team members who won the women’s title at the Shanghai event have refused to apologize for the sign and will now face a hearing scheduled for this month at a major bridge event in San Francisco. The hearing will determine whether displaying the sign constitutes conduct unbecoming a federation member.

Gail Greenberg, the team’s nonplaying captain, explained that the sign was presented in response to the “anti-Bush feeling, questioning of our Iraq policy, and about torture” that many international players expressed to their American competitors at the event.

“This isn’t a free-speech issue,” said Jan Martel, president of the U.S. Bridge Federation, the nonprofit group that selects teams for international tournaments. “There isn’t any question that private organizations can control the speech of people who represent them.”

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