URL Source: https://static.fie.org/uploads/34/172606-Organisation%20rules%20ang.pdf
The official competitions of the FIE are organised according to the following rules.
2 Every competitor or designated official in a competition, irrespective of his status, is required to be licensed for the current season (cf. Statutes, Chapter IX).
These Rules are obligatory without modification for the ‘Official Competitions of the FIE’, viz.:
The fencing events at the Olympic Games
The World Championships in all categories
The Grands Prix
The competitions of the World Cup, junior and senior
The Zonal Championships, junior and senior
The Satellite competitions
An individual competition can only be classed or kept as a World Cup competition if it satisfies the following criteria.
from at least eight countries, for senior competitions in Europe;
from at least five countries, for senior competitions outside Europe;
from at least five countries, for junior competitions.
A friendly combat between two fencers is called an assault . When the score of such an assault
is kept to determine a result in an individual competition it is called a bout .
The three sections of a direct elimination bout are called periods .
In a match (cf o.6) between teams each of the nine bouts is called a relay .
The aggregate of the relays fought between the fencers of two different teams is called a match .
Tournament is the name given to a number of competitions, individual and team, held at the same place, at the same period and under the same aegis.
A championship is the name given to a competition held to determine the best fencer or the best team at each weapon for a federation, for a specific region or for the world and for a specific period of time.
1 The Organising Committee is the group of persons responsible for organising the competition.
2 The Organising Committee must take note of the instructions in the Specifications (‘Cahier des Charges’) specific to each category of competition.
The Central Office of the FIE controls the activities of the Directoire Technique at the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the Junior and Cadet and Veterans World Championships, as described in Article o.12.
1 With the aim of ensuring that the rules are observed at the World Championships and Olympic Games, the President and the members of the Bureau of the FIE have the right to attend all meetings of the Directoire Technique and of the official delegates of the FIE. The Directoire Technique is obliged to give them notice of such meetings.
2 It is the responsibility of the Bureau of the FIE or of its designated representative to settle any disputes, other than concerning discipline, which arise at World Championships. With respect to disciplinary actions, see t.143.4 and t.175.2.
1 The Technical delegate of the FIE, who represents the FIE in accordance with the Olympic Rules for Regional Games, will be chosen by the President of the FIE, after consultation with the Executive Committee, according to criteria of recognised technical abilities.
2 The expenses incurred by this representative (tourist-class air fare, hotel and board) will be paid by the Organising Committee.
The technical organisation of competitions is entrusted to a Directoire Technique , the functions and scope of whose activities are described in the Rules ( cf. t.139-141, o.15 - o.17 ).
1 Apart from the specific areas of competence which are the responsibility of the other FIE technical delegates specified hereafter, the technical management of the official competitions of the FIE is entrusted to a Directoire Technique .
2 The members of the Directoire Technique and the other official delegates of the FIE cannot act in any other capacity at the competition, such as team captain, official delegate of their federation, referee, competitor, etc.
3 The Directoire Technique and the official delegates of the FIE must always attend events from beginning to end, so as to solve any problem which could arise and thus ensure that the event continues to run smoothly.
4 All the decisions of the Directoire Technique and the official delegates of the FIE must be displayed sufficiently in advance on a clearly visible notice-board to be consulted by the fencers and officials. In principle, fencers and officials are kept informed by their heads of delegation or captains, and they may not make any complaint against changes in the timetable or any other matter about which information has been displayed within the stipulated time limits.
5 The day before an individual or team competition, the DT must download the entry file, the day before the competition, from 12:00 noon local time from the FIE website.
In individual competitions, the DT must publish and send to the FIE the pools and the relevant schedules, as well as the list of exempt fencers for senior competitions, no later than 4:00 p.m. (local time). No addition may be made to pools already published unless they come from pools starting at the same time (cf o.67.1).
In team competitions, the DT must publish and send to the FIE the table and the relevant schedules no later than one hour after the end of the quarter finals of the individual event. No addition may be made to the published list.
The Directoire Technique is composed of people who have the experience and competence
to organise competitions.
1 World Championships and Olympic Games.
a) For the Olympic Games the Directoire Technique is composed of six members of different nationalities, one of whom must represent the country where the competition is held.
There must be at least one member from each gender.
b) For the World Championships, the Directoire Technique is composed of 8 members of different nationalities, one of whom must represent the organising country. There must be at least two members from each gender.
c) The Directoire Technique (the President and the remaining members, one of whom will be in charge of the protocol) is appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
2 World Cup and Grands Prix competitions .
The Directoire Technique is composed of three qualified persons from the country where the competition is held or invited by them. There must be at least one member from each gender.
1 The functions of the Directoire Technique include the strict organisation of the different events, except the responsibilities of the other delegates of the FIE (cf o.12, o.19, o.20, o.21, o.22). It has the obligation to see that the Rules are adhered to and cannot decide on any departure from the Rules except when circumstances arise in which it is absolutely impossible to apply them.
2 The Directoire Technique is responsible for the technical organisation of the competitions and for ensuring their smooth running.
3 Hence:
a) It ensures the co-ordination between the Organising Committee, the Directoire Technique, the official delegates of the FIE and the other functions of the FIE;
b) It checks the entries ;
c) It draws up the pool sheets and direct elimination tables ;
d) It allocates the pistes;
e) It supervises the progress of the event(s);
f) It checks results with the help of the Organising Committee;
g) It prepares the subsequent events sufficiently in advance to be able to warn the fencers, officials and judges;
h) It supervises the dissemination of results.
4 Furthermore the Directoire Technique has disciplinary responsibility at competitions but only as a collective entity. In the event of a tied vote within the Directoire Technique, the vote of the
Directoire Technique President is decisive .
Refereeing delegates must be members of the FIE Refereeing Commission.
SEMI delegates must be members of the FIE SEMI Commission.
Medical delegates must be members of the FIE Medical Commission.
When all delegate designations are taken together (across all types of competitions and all weapons in one season) there must be a minimum of 20% representation of both genders, should the availability of the delegates and continental representation allow it.
Should the availability of the delegates and continental representation allow it, there must be at least one delegate of each gender from each of the Refereeing, SEMI and Medical Commissions designated at World Championships.
1 World Championships
A chief Refereeing delegate and 5 more Refereeing delegates, a chief SEMI delegate and 2 more SEMI delegates and 3 Medical delegates are appointed by the FIE Executive Committee following the recommendations of the respective commissions.
2 Grands Prix
Two Refereeing delegates are appointed by the Executive Committee following the recommendation of the Refereeing Commission.
3 Senior World Cup competitions
One Refereeing delegate is appointed by the Executive Committee following the recommendation of the Refereeing Commission.
1 The SEMI delegates check the technical installations and the homologation of the various items of equipment.
2 They organise the checking of the fencers’ equipment and oversee its efficient functioning.
3 They have the obligation to see that the Rules are adhered to and cannot themselves decide on any departure from the Rules except in circumstances in which it is absolutely impossible to apply them.
4 They assist referees over material problems during matches.
1 The functions of the Refereeing delegates include the strict and complete organisation of the refereeing of events, ensuring their perfect running. They have the obligation to see that the Rules are adhered to and cannot themselves decide on any departure from the Rules except in circumstances in which it is absolutely impossible to apply them.
2 Hence:
a) They organise the referee’s meeting on the day before the event.
b) They establish the list of referees the day before each competition.
c) They observe the referees at work and make selections as mandated in articles t.50 ss.
d) They review protests and provide solutions in conformity with the instructions in article t.171.
3 For questions concerning the rules during FIE competitions (including the World Championships and Olympic Games), the Refereeing Commission delegate(s) alone are competent to judge a referee’s decision from the beginning to the end of the bout.
4 Furthermore, a Refereeing delegate is an entity who has disciplinary responsibility at competitions; Article t.139 ss defines the extent of his or her authority.
1 The functions of the medical delegates include the strict and complete organisation of the medical aspect. They have the obligation to see that the Rules are adhered to and cannot themselves decide on any departure from the Rules except in circumstances in which it is absolutely impossible to apply them.
2 Hence, medical delegates:
a) Verify the medical services and oversee their operation.
b) Supervise the anti-doping control.
c) Evaluate the medical situation and supervise the intervention or recognized treatment of any injury or other medical reason in accordance with t.45.
1 The Organizing Committees of Grands Prix and World Cup events, individual and team, must ensure the presence of a supervisor of the FIE from a country other than that where the competition is held, whose task it will be to verify that the competition properly fulfils the World Cup criteria.
2 The Supervisor is appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE, at the suggestion of the FIE Bureau.
3 At competitions where there is no Refereeing Commission delegate, no SEMI Commission delegate and no Medical Commission delegate, it is the Supervisor who fulfils these respective functions.
4 The Supervisor settles any other disputes that might arise in World Cup and Grand Prix.
5 The travel, board and lodging costs of the supervisor are the responsibility of the organisers, in accordance with the standards updated from time to time by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
a member of a FIE Commission,
a member of the FIE Executive Committee other than the members of the Bureau,
a member of a group of persons, appointed by the Executive Committee, available and experienced in the organisation of competitions.
1 Refereeing at World Championships is carried out by referees chosen by the Executive
Committee of the FIE at the proposal of the Refereeing Commission.
2 Referees’ travel and board and lodging costs are paid by the Organising Committee, who in return will receive all the entry fees.
3 Referees must attend the refereeing meeting that takes place the day before the World Championships.
1 The number of FIE A or B Grade referees that must accompany teams to junior World Cup
competitions and satellite competitions is:
1–4 fencers: No obligation to provide a referee
5–9 fencers: One referee
10 or more fencers: Two referees
1 Junior Team: One referee
For junior World Cup competitions and satellite competitions, the name(s) of the referee(s) (who must have an FIE category in the weapon of the competition for which they are entered) must be notified via the FIE website 7 days before the competition (midnight, Lausanne time).
2 Should a national Federation not provide the required number of referees, a fine (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines) will be inflicted on it.
3 In addition, the FIE Supervisor of junior World Cup competitions is required to report on gender diversity of the registered referees through the FIE Supervisor’s report.
For Senior World Cup, Grands Prix and World Cup team competitions, 8 referees, proposed by the Refereeing Commission, will be designated by the Executive Committee and delegations will not have to provide any referees.
The additional referees required (not less than 5) will be provided by the organising committee .All the referees will be at the expense of the organisers who in return will keep the entry fees.
The organising committee must appoint:
1 Scorers and time-keepers
The Organizing committee must appoint, on their own responsibility, scorers whose duty it will be to keep the score-sheet for the bout, the pool or the match and maintain the score-boards, and a
time-keeper whose duty it will be to keep time for the duration of the bouts (cf. t.37ss).
For finals , the Directoire Technique must appoint a delegate or a referee, neutral wherever possible, to supervise the time-keeper, the scorer and the person responsible for the scoring apparatus.
2 The Organising Committee must choose qualified persons , who pay careful attention to the signals given by the apparatus in order that they may be able to advise the Referee as to what the apparatus has registered, and warn him, even during the course of a bout, as to any abnormal phenomena which may occur.
3 Experts
a) For each tournament, the Organising Committee must appoint experts in matters relating to the electrical apparatus . These experts are placed under the supervision of the Directoire Technique.
b) The experts may be consulted, separately or conjointly, by the referees or by the Directoire Technique regarding all questions relating to the electrical apparatus.
c) Members of the Committee for Electrical Apparatus and Equipment of the FIE (SEMI) who are present are ex officio qualified to act as experts.
4 Repairers
For each tournament, the Organising Committee must ensure the presence of competent
repairers to remedy faults in the electrical apparatus and, possibly, in the personal electrical
equipment of the fencers.
The checking of the organization equipment , as well as the equipment of the fencers, must be
carried out in accordance with the rules to be found in the Material Rules by qualified personnel
designated by the Organizing committee. If there are present designated members of the
SEMI Commission, this function must be carried out by them or under their control .
1 No fencer may obtain an FIE licence, enabling him or her to enter for an official FIE competition, until he or she has reached their 13 th birthday.
2 Fencers taking part in all the official FIE Cadet competitions must be under 17 years old at midnight on the 31 st December of the year preceding the year in which the competition takes place.
Fencers taking part in all the official FIE Junior competitions, individual or team, must be under 20 years old at midnight on 31 st December of the year preceding the year in which the competition takes place.
To be eligible to compete in the current season’s official events, including the current season’s World Junior Championships, fencers must be under 20 years of age at midnight on 31 December of the current season.
3 Apart from the stipulations above, there is no maximum age limit for those taking part in any other official events of the FIE, except in regard to the different Veteran categories.
4 All participants in an official competition of the FIE who are under the age of majority in the country in which such competition is being held must either:
a) be accompanied by a person who is a parent or guardian of the participant or who has been
delegated in a form valid in the country of the competition from a parent or guardian of such
participant to act on behalf of the participant regarding health-related issues; or
b) have such power of attorney issued to a person who has achieved his/her majority and who will be at the competition site during the competition and has agreed to accept the responsibility delineated in such power.
Article Amount Date of To be By whom
payment paid to
Entry to World o.56 150 euros With the FIE By the
Championships per entry entry National
after closing date Federation
Entry to other FIE o.61.4 150 euros With the FIE By the
competitions after a) per entry entry National
closing date until the Federation
Tuesday preceding
the competition
Entry to other FIE o.61.4 250 euros With the FIE By the
competitions after b) per entry entry National
closing date, from Federation
the Wednesday and
until the day (12
noon local time)
preceding the
competition
If a fencer or team o.85.4, 500 euros On receipt FIE By the
duly entered does o.87.3, per fencer of National
not turn up o.61.5 or team notification Federation
of the fine
Participation of a o.61.6 1000 euros On receipt FIE By the
fencer or team not per of organiser
properly entered or improper notification
without a valid FIE participation of the fine
licence for the
current season
Required number of o.25.1.b 1000 euros At the Organiser By the
referees not per referee same time National
respected as the Federation
information
is sent to
the
organiser
Deadline to send
the invitation not
respected o.51 1000 euros On receipt FIE By the
of National
notification Federation
of the fine
Deadline to send On receipt
the invitation for of
Zonal o.52 500 euros notification FIE By the
Championships not of the fine National
respected Federation
The Organizing Committee must submit the programme of events to the Executive Committee for its approval.
1 The programme must be displayed, communicated and respected and must take into
account the time needed for the fencers to rest between bouts . It should be arranged in such
a way that no fencer is obliged to participate in events for more than 12 hours in 24 . In any case, no pool, bout or match may begin after midnight, or at any time when it can be foreseen with certainty that it will end after midnight.
2 Whatever programme is adopted, the final shall start at a time which, having regard to local routines, will ensure that the results can be communicated to the media in sufficient time to allow them to be published.
In their timetable the Organizing committee must allow sufficient time for it to be possible to carry out the checking of the fencers’ equipment , i.e. a minimum of one day per weapon.
The first round of all the individual and team competitions, including the World Championships and Olympic Games, must be displayed by 4 p.m. local time, at the latest the day before the competition. (t.175).
The programme of the Senior World Fencing Championships comprises twelve events, six individual and six team — male foil, female foil, male épée, female épée, male sabre and female sabre.
The programme of the Junior and Cadet World Fencing Championships comprises twelve individual events (six junior and six cadet), and six junior team events — at male foil, female foil, male épée, female épée, male sabre and female sabre. These begin with the cadet events, followed by the individual junior events and lastly the junior team events.
When drawing pools in the World Cadet Championships , the Directoire Technique must take account of the following orders of strength:
1 The top 8 in the previous year’s World Cadet Championships ;
2 The 64 highest ranked in the official FIE junior ranking of the year in course ;
3 Those placed 9–32 in the previous year’s World Cadet Championships;
4 Those ranked 65 onwards in the official FIE junior ranking of the year in course ;
5 The seeding provided by the national federations;
6 The Directoire Technique’s decision .
1 Application
Junior and Senior Team World Cup competitions take place at the three weapons, both male
and female.
2 Principles
a) The Senior Team World Cup tournament is composed of five integral competitions (through to the first place) spread, if possible, across all continents. Points will be allocated at the end of each competition.
The Junior Team World Cup tournament is composed of eight integral competitions and points will be awarded at the end of each competition.
b) The teams are made up of three fencers , with or without a substitute.
c) The matches proceed according to the team-relay formula , as provided for in Article o.99 of these Rules.
3 Participation
Team participation is open to all countries and limited to one team per weapon per country.
The Zonal Championships recognised by the FIE are the Senior Zonal Championships and the Junior Zonal Championships. Other competitions may be organized by the Zonal Confederations (Veterans, U 23, Cadet circuit, etc.).
The program of the Senior Zonal Championships comprises twelve events, six individual and six team —men’s foil, women’s foil, men’s epee, women’s epee, men’s sabre and women’s sabre.
The program of the Junior Zonal Championships comprises 6 individual events, and 6 team events — men’s foil, women’s foil, men’s epee, women’s epee, men’s sabre and women’s sabre.
The formulae of the competitions are specified in the rules and in the following articles: o.100, o.101 and o.102 (o.102.1 first sentence and o.102.2).
For Senior and Junior Individual Zone Championships, at each weapon, the federations may enter up to four fencers. For Senior and Junior Team Zone Championships, at each weapon, each federation may enter 1 team (consisting of three fencers with or without a reserve).
The programme of fencing events at the Olympic Games currently comprises twelve events. Any change in the number of events must be approved by the Congress .
1 The Regional Games recognised by the FIE are the same as those recognised by the International Olympic Committee, when fencing is on the programme (e.g. the Mediterranean Games, the Pan-American Games, the Central American and Caribbean Games, etc.) as well as the Commonwealth Games.
2 The Rules of the FIE are obligatory in cases which are not provided for by the Rules for Regional Games adopted by the International Olympic Committee.
Satellite competitions may be organized at any of the 6 weapons.
There are no minimum participation standards.
For all the official competitions of the FIE except the Olympic Games, the official invitation is the letter in which the Organising Committee invites every FIE member federation to take part in the event.
For World Championships , this invitation must be sent to every FIE member federation four months before the competition.
World Championships
1 Any proposed candidature for organising the Senior, Junior and Cadet World
Championships must be studied at the venue concerned by an ad hoc delegation designated by
the Executive Committee, at the invitation of the candidate federation.
2 The organising committee of the World Championships, who will receive all the entry fees from the participating delegations, must, at their own expense, invite the following international officials (tourist-class return air fare, accommodation and daily allowances):
a) The President of the FIE or his representative, who presides over the World Championships
b) c)
and, in particular, controls the smooth running of the Directoire Technique.
Eight members of the Directoire Technique appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE,
of whom one must belong to the organising country and one is Head of Protocol.
Three members of the SEMI Commission , appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
d) Six members of the Refereeing Commission , one of whom is designated principal delegate,
appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
e) Three members of the Medical Commission , appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
f) The referees designated by the Executive Committee at the proposal of the Refereeing Commission in accordance with the Handbook of Regulations.
Official invitation
For World Cup competitions and Grands Prix, the invitations must be sent out at least two months before the competition in question.
If an organising federation fails to comply with the above mentioned deadlines, it will be sanctioned with a fine amounting to 1000 €, paid to the FIE.
For Zonal Championships, invitations must be sent out at least three months before the competition.
If an organizing federation fails to comply with the above-mentioned deadline, it will be sanctioned with a fine of 500 € to be paid to the FIE.
The rules for the invitation to and participation in the Olympic Games are established by the IOC .
Technical officials and referees
The Olympic Rules for Regional Games stipulate that the control of all the technical
organisation of the Games , including appointing referees and officials, must be entrusted to the
international federations. The Organising Committee must pay the expenses (tourist-class air fare, hotel and board) for the following officials:
1 Directoire Technique: Two foreign members if the Directoire Technique has three members;
five foreign members if there are six members. The Directoire Technique is appointed by the
Executive Committee of the FIE.
2 Checking of Equipment: One or two representatives of the SEMI Committee , depending on
the importance of the fencing events at the Games. These representatives are appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
3 Refereeing delegate: A representative of the Refereeing Committee , appointed by the
Executive Committee of the FIE.
4 Neutral referees: At least two international referees from countries outside the region of the
Games, appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE at the proposal of the Refereeing Commission.
The forms must be sent to all federations at the same time as the official invitation. The federations must indicate their intention to participate three months before the beginning of the Championships.
1 Three months before the start of the World Championships, the federations will receive an entry
form from the Organising Committee, on which they are required to specify the number of
fencers and teams participating in each event of the competition’s programme, two months before the start of the first event.
2 The entry of fencers and teams by name is to be made via the FIE website. This entry of the names of the fencers and all possible substitutes, and the entry of teams, must be made:
fifteen days (by midnight, Lausanne time) before the first event of the World Championships at the latest.
seven days (by midnight, Lausanne time) before the first event of the Zonal Championships at the latest.
3 Withdrawal of a fencer.
After the cut-off date for entries, there can be no further withdrawal of a name except in any case of force majeure duly justified.
Should a fencer or team who have been entered not present themselves to fence , their federation will be penalised by a fine (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines ), payable to the FIE, except in cases of properly authenticated ‘force majeure’.
4 Addition of fencer(s) after the cut-off date.
Nevertheless, one or more fencers may be added, up until 10.00am ( local time in the town
hosting the World or Zonal Championships ) on the day before the competition, after payment
to the FIE of a penalty (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines) per fencer added . To do this the national federation must address a request to the FIE to add a fencer, together with immediate payment of the penalty.
5 Changes of names , only with the agreement of the FIE, can only be made at the latest up to 24
hours before the start of each event.
At the Senior World Championships , entries are limited to four fencers per weapon per nation for the individual events and one team per weapon per nation for the team events.
The Junior and Cadet World Championships are open to all FIE member federations.
For the Cadet World Championships, entries are limited to three fencers per weapon per nation for the individual events.
For the Junior World Championships, the entries are limited to four fencers per nation for each individual event, and one team per weapon per nation for the team events.
For junior and senior Individual Zone Championship competitions, at each weapon, the federations may enter up to 4 fencers.
For junior and senior Team Zone Championship competitions, at each weapon, the federations may enter 1 team (consisting of three fencers with or without a reserve).
1 The entry of the names of the fencers and all possible replacements, and the entry of teams,
must be made via the FIE website 7 days before the competition at the latest (midnight Lausanne time).
For team entries, the names of the fencers making up the teams may be changed, by informing the organizers, up to the day before the competition, at the latest at the end of the quarter finals of the individual competition. However, a replacement can be made after this stage, and at the latest at the end of the individual event, in the case of injury or other medical reason duly certified by the competition medical doctor.
2 Withdrawal of a fencer or team .
After the closing deadline for entries, no named fencer or team may be withdrawn except for injury, other medical reason or force majeure: the national federation must inform the FIE and the organizers.
3 Substitution of a fencer.
Until the Wednesday preceding the competition (midnight, Lausanne time), a fencer may be replaced by another. To do this, the national federation must send to the FIE, by fax or e-mail, a written request to substitute the fencer.
4 Addition of a fencer or a team after the deadline.
a) However, until the Tuesday preceding the competition (midnight, Lausanne time), one or more fencers and/or a team may be added by their national federation after payment to the FIE of a penalty (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines) for each additional entry.
To do this, the national federation must send to the FIE (by fax or e-mail) a request for the additional fencer(s) and/or team and a written commitment to pay the penalty within 15 days.
b) From the Wednesday preceding the competition until 12 noon (local time) on the day preceding the competition, one or more fencers and/or a team may be added by national federations after payment to the FIE of a higher penalty (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines) for each additional entry.
To do this, the national federation must send to the FIE (by fax or e-mail) a request for the additional fencer(s) and/or team and a written commitment to pay the penalty within 15 days.
5 Should a fencer or team who have been entered not present themselves to fence, their federation will be penalised with a fine (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines), payable to the FIE, except in cases of properly authenticated ‘force majeure’.
6 The organisers of all official competitions must, at risk of a penalty of a fine payable to the FIE (cf
o.31, table of financial penalties and fines), refuse the entry of any fencers not appearing on lists conforming with the above, any entry not requested by a federation and any entry of either fencer or referee not in possession of an FIE licence valid for the current season.
1 For Grand Prix competitions and Individual World Cup competitions , both Senior and Junior, at each weapon, each national federation may enter a maximum of 12 fencers. The organising country may enter up to 20 fencers plus the number needed to make up the pools.
2 For Individual World Cup competitions outside Europe , the organising country may enter up to 30 fencers plus the number needed to make up the pools.
Entries must be sent to the organisers by the competitors’ National Olympic Committee.
………….
Individual competitions may be organised:
a) By direct elimination with a mixed system consisting of one round of eliminating pools and a
preliminary direct elimination table, followed by a main direct elimination table of 64 fencers to qualify 8 or 4 fencers for a direct elimination final.
b) By direct elimination with a mixed system consisting of one round of eliminating pools,
followed by a direct elimination table to qualify 8 or 4 fencers for a direct elimination final.
c) By direct elimination throughout . (This tableau, applicable at the Olympic Games, is contained
as an annexe.)
1 In all competitions for which the formula includes a round of pools , these pools consist of 7
fencers if the number of participants is divisible by 7. Otherwise the pools are of 7 and 6. In no case may the pools be of fewer than 6 fencers.
If, however, as the result of the absence of one or more fencers, one or more pools were to be reduced to 5 or fewer fencers, the Directoire Technique must add to these pools one or more fencers from other pools of 7 fencers in the same round of pools, taking into account the initial ranking of the fencer(s) being replaced.
Depending on the number of participants, the pool round may take place over several rounds.
The Directoire Technique must then provide for each pool round, pools of 7 and 6 (if applicable) in order to balance one or more pools in the event of fencers absent at roll call in pools of 6.
2 At World Cup and Grand Prix competitions the organising country may add the necessary
number of fencers of their own nationality for all the pools to consist of 7 fencers.
Composition of pools
1 The pools are composed taking account of the initial seeding in the competition, which is based on the latest official FIE ranking and by drawing lots among any fencers who are not in the ranking. The pools are composed using the following method :
Pool A B C
Fencer ranked 1 2 3
6 5 4
7 8 9
12 11 10
13 14 15
18 17 16
19 20 21
2 The allocation of fencers in the pools must be made in such a way as to place fencers of the
same nationality in different pools, as far as possible. If a fencer is placed in a pool where there is already a fencer of the same nationality, he is moved one or more places down the ranking until he is placed in a pool without a fencer of the same nationality. If this is not possible, he must
remain in the original pool .
3 The order of fencers on the pool sheet is decided by drawing lots.
4 The pools must be fenced up to the last bout .
The order of bouts in the pools is as follows:
1–4 5–1 3–5 1–2 5–4 6–4
2–5 4–3 1–6 4–3 1–6 2–3
3–6 6–2 2–4 6–5 3–5 1–4
7–1 5–7 7–3 3–1 4–2 5–2
5–4 3–1 6–5 2–6 5–1 3–6
2–3 4–6 1–2
6–7 7–2 4–7
When there are several fencers from the same country in a pool:
1 If they do not form the majority of the competitors in the pool, they must fence off the bouts between themselves before meeting competitors of another nationality.
2 If they form the majority of the competitors in the pool, the Directoire Technique may establish a special order of bouts, departing as little as possible from the principle laid down in 3.a) below, in order to obviate excessive fatigue or delays for the competitors who form the minority in the pool.
3 Examples of the order of fencers of the same nationality in a pool of six:
a) When a pool contains, among its six fencers,
two fencers of the same nationality A , or
two fencers of the same nationality A and two of the same nationality B
two fencers of the same nationality A, two of the same nationality B and two of the same nationality C
the fencers’ names are placed on the pool sheet in such a way that those of the same nationality fence each other in their first bout and the order of bouts of a pool of six is that shown in Article o.69 above.
b) When a pool contains among its six fencers,
three fencers of the same nationality A , or
three fencers of the same nationality A and two fencers of the same nationality B , or
three fencers of the same nationality A and three fencers of the same nationality B , the
order will be as follows:
1–2 6–4 4–2
4–5 2–5 3–6
2–3 1–4 5–1
5–6 5–3 3–4
3–1 1–6 6–2
the fencers’ names are placed on the pool sheet in the following way:
the fencers of nationality A are given numbers 1, 2 and 3;
the fencers of nationality B are given numbers 4 and 5 or 4, 5 and 6.
c) When a pool contains among its six fencers four fencers of the same nationality A and two others of different nationalities, the four fencers of nationality A are placed on the pool sheet as 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the order of bouts in the pool is as follows:
3–1 1–2 4–5
4–2 3–4 6–2
1–4 1–6 5–1
2–3 2–5 6–4
5–6 3–6 5–3
4 Example of the order of fencers of the same nationality in a pool of seven:
a) When this pool contains, among the seven fencers,
two fencers of nationality A , or
two fencers of nationality A and two fencers of nationality B , or
two fencers of nationality A, two fencers of nationality B and two fencers of nationality C ,
the fencers of the same nationality are listed on the pool sheet so that they fence their first bout against each other while following the order of fights laid down in Article o.69 above for a pool of seven fencers.
b) When the pool contains, among the seven fencers,
three fencers of nationality A , or
three fencers of nationality A and two fencers of nationality B , or
three fencers of nationality A, two fencers of nationality B and two fencers of nationality
C
the three fencers of nationality A must be listed 1, 2 and 3 on the pool sheet, the two fencers of nationality B, 4 and 5, and the two fencers of nationality C, 6 and 7.
The order of bouts for the pool of seven, detailed in Article o.69, is no longer valid and must be replaced by the following order:
1–2 6–2 1–4
4–5 3–4 2–7
6–7 7–5 5–3
3–1 1–6 6–4
4–7 4–2 7–1
2–3 7–3 2–5
5–1 5–6 3–6
1 If a bout in a pool is interrupted by an accidental cause , and this interruption is likely to be prolonged, the Referee may (with the consent of the Directoire Technique, or possibly the Organising Committee) alter the order of bouts in such a way as to allow the normal progress of the competition to proceed.
2 The time allowed for a fencer to rest between two consecutive bouts in a pool is three minutes.
Before the competition starts, the Directoire Technique will decide on and announce the number
of fencers who will be eliminated based on the ranking established by the pools .
1 After the pools, a single general ranking is established of all the fencers who have taken part in the pools, taking account, successively, of the indices V/M, HS – HR , HS .
(V = victories; M = bouts; HS = hits scored; HR = hits received.)
2 A summary classification table is then made in the following way:
a) The results written up on the summary table are added up to ascertain the two indices required.
b) The first index , for the initial classification, is obtained by dividing the number of victories by the number of bouts fought, using the formula V/M.
c) The fencer with the highest index (maximum 1) is seeded first.
d) In cases of equality in this first index , and to separate fencers with equal first indices, a second index is established, using the formula HS – HR , the difference between the total number of hits scored and hits received.
e) In cases of equality of the two indices V/M and HS – HR , the fencer who has scored most hits
is seeded highest.
f) In cases of absolute equality between two or more fencers, their seeding order is decided by drawing lots.
3 Should there be absolute equality among the last to qualify there is no barrage, and the fencers with equal indicators are all qualified, even if they are in excess of the number decided on.
Withdrawal
1 A fencer who is not present at the start of the pool is scratched from the pool and is recorded without a classification at the end of the final classification list with the information “Did Not Start”.
2 A fencer who abandons in the course of a pool is scratched from the pool and is recorded in the list of results with the information ‘Did Not Finish’ .
The direct elimination table (bout plan) is established taking account of the classification table and the special rules for each competition (see Figure 7a). The principle of protection of nationality will not be applied.
The Organizing committee of a competition must publish the direct elimination bout plan ,showing on it the scheduled time for each bout from the table of 64 onwards.
1 During the one-minute rests a person, named before the bout, may have access to the fencer.
2 A clock, incorporated into the electrical scoring apparatus, blocks the latter at the end of each period.
Withdrawal
1 From the beginning of the direct elimination tableau, if for whatever reason, a fencer does not fence, or is unable to fence, or does not complete his bout , his opponent is declared winner of that bout. A fencer who withdraws does not lose his place in the overall classification of the competition and is recorded in the result list with the information “Did Not Finish”.
2 A fencer who is excluded is scratched from the direct elimination table and his results are annulled as if he had not taken part. The fencer is recorded without a classification at the end of the final classification list with the information “Excluded”. Cf. t.124.3.b, t.170.
Order of bouts
1 In each round of the direct elimination table (256, 128, 64, 32, 16, 8 or 4), the bouts are always called in the order of the bout plan , starting at the top and ending at the bottom.
2 This rule must also be applied for each quarter or eighth of the table , when the direct elimination is taking place simultaneously on 4 or 8 pistes.
3 A fencer must always be allowed a rest period of ten minutes between two consecutive bouts.
The final
1 The final, which is by direct elimination, will preferably consist of 4 fencers.
2 The finals of both women’s and men’s events at the same weapon should preferably be held on the same day.
Classification
1 The general classification is obtained as follows:
First: the winner of the bout for the first place
Second: the loser of the bout for the first place
2 The two fencers who lose the semi-final matches are placed equal third, when it is not necessary to separate them.
3 When it is necessary to separate them, a bout for third and fourth places will be fought between the two losers of the semi-final matches.
4 The remainder are placed, in each round of the tableau:
a) Competitions with a round of pools: according to the ranking for the drawing of the direct elimination tableau following the pools.
b) Competitions with no round of pools: according to the ranking preceding the drawing of the initial tableau and before any drawing of lots if that is required.
5 The fencers eliminated in the round of pools are ranked according to their classification in this
round and they are placed after those who qualified for the direct elimination.
Mixed formula A
One qualifying round of pools, a preliminary direct elimination table, a main direct elimination table of 64 fencers to qualify for a final by direct elimination.
This formula is used for the individual competitions of the Senior World Championships as well as for the Senior World Cup competitions and Grand Prix competitions .
Apart from the details that follow, the general rules for pools and direct elimination prescribed above apply.
1 The competition consists of two phases , a preliminary phase and a main phase, each of which are run on one day.
2 The 16 fencers entered who are ranked highest in the most recent official FIE classification
are exempt from the preliminary phase.
3 Should a fencer who has been entered not turn up, a fine (cf o.31 , table of financial penalties and fines), payable to the FIE, is inflicted on the Federation of the fencer at fault except in a case of force majeure which is duly justified.
4 In the case of a tie in the official FIE ranking between two or more fencers for the 16th exempt
place, lots are drawn to decide which of these fencers will benefit from exemption from the preliminary phase.
1 The preliminary phase consists of one round of pools, from which 20%–30% of the participants
in the pools are eliminated, based on the indices of all competing in them, and a preliminary direct elimination table. For Grand Prix competitions, the number of fencers eliminated on the indices of the pools must be 30%
.
2 After the round of pools, the 16 fencers ranked highest on the general index (cf o.73) are
exempt from the preliminary direct elimination table. Should there be a tie between two or more fencers for the 16th place, there will be a barrage for 5 hits to decide who is ranked 16th. Following the barrage, the ranking of the fencers is determined according to V, HS-HR, HS.
3 The remainder of the fencers qualifying from the pools will make up a preliminary integral direct
elimination table . This will be based on the indices of the fencers in all the pools (in the case of
a tie on indices, the fencers will be separated by drawing lots). This table, be it complete or incomplete, will be fenced until only 32 fencers remain.
1 The main phase consists of an integral direct elimination table, which is fenced on four pistes,
one quarter of the table per piste. The first round of the table of 64 may, however, if required for the organisation of the competition, be fenced on eight pistes. Grand Prix competitions must be fenced on four pistes.
2 The seeded fencers exempted from the preliminary phase occupy places 1–16 in this table,
drawing lots in pairs in the order of their official FIE classification.
3 Should one of the 16 exempted fencers who had been entered not present himself to fence
(cf. o.85), his position in the table will remain empty and his federation will be required to pay to the FIE a fine (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines) unless his absence is caused by circumstances duly justified as being outside his control.
4 The 16 fencers who have the highest indices after the round of pools and who are thus
exempt from the preliminary direct elimination table will take places 17–32, classified in the order of their indices (in the case of a tie on indices, the fencers will be separated by drawing lots).
5 The 32 fencers qualifying from the preliminary direct elimination table will occupy places
33–64, classified according to their indices after the round of pools.
6 The drawing of lots and allocation of the qualified fencers in the main table (T64) shall be made at the end of the preliminary table in the presence of the Directoire Technique President.
There will be no bout for the third place. The two fencers who lose the semi-final matches will be placed equal third .
Mixed Formula B
One qualifying round of pools, a direct elimination table to qualify for a final by direct elimination.
This formula is used for the individual competitions of the Junior and Cadet World Championships and the Junior World Cup competitions and Zonal Championships. The seeding rules for the Zonal Cadet Championships are established by the Zonal Confederations.
Apart from the details that follow , the general rules for pools and direct elimination described above apply.
The competitions are run on one single day per weapon.
The competition consists of one round of pools , in which all the fencers present take part , and an integral direct elimination table.
1 All the fencers qualifying from the round of pools are placed in a direct elimination table, complete or incomplete, according to the indices resulting from the pools . This table is fenced right through to the final.
2 From the last 32 the direct elimination bouts will take place:
either on 4 pistes , with each quarter of the table fenced on one piste.
or on 8 pistes, with each quarter of the table fenced on 2 pistes.
There will be no bout for the third place. The two fencers who lose the semi-final matches will be placed equal third .
The organisation formulae for the Olympic Games are established by the Executive Committee, with the approval of the IOC. (See art. 9.1.1.1 of the Administrative rules).
The organization formulae for the Regional Games are established by the Executive Committee, with the approval of the IOC. (See chapter 9 of the Administrative rules).
At each weapon teams consist of three fencers, with or without a reserve.
A team may begin a match only if it is complete .
1 The competition is run by integral direct elimination with a direct elimination table which may be incomplete (see table Annex b).
2 At the Junior and Senior World Championships the teams occupy the places in the table according to the most recent official team ranking of the FIE . The teams that are not classified occupy the last places in the table and will be separated by drawing of lots.
3 At the Senior and Junior World Championships, all places in the table up to 16th place are
fought for. From 17th place onwards teams are classified, within each round of the table, according to their initial place in the table.
The formula for the competition is as follows.
1 The relay formula applies to all weapons.
2 The three fencers of one team fence the three fencers of the opposing team ( 9 relay bouts ).
3 The bouts of each match have to be fought in the following order :
3–6 2–5
1–5 1–4
2–4 2–6
1–6 3–5
3–4
If this order is altered , intentionally or unintentionally, all the hits scored following the modification are annulled and the match is resumed in the correct order.
4 The position of each team on the match score-sheet is decided by drawing lots. The order of the individual fencers is then decided by the team captains.
5
a) In the course of a match the captain of a team may ask to substitute for a fencer the reserve nominated before the start of the match. This substitution may only be made at the end of a bout. However, the fencer who has been replaced may fence one more time during that match, but only to replace the fencer who originally substituted him. This second replacement is not allowed if the first replacement has been made for the reasons listed in article o.99.6. No further substitution for a fencer on the piste is allowed, even in the case of an accident or unavoidable circumstances.
The announcement that a fencer is to be substituted must be made at the latest before the beginning of the bout preceding the next bout of the fencer who is to be replaced and must be reported by the Referee to the opposing team captain. At World Championships and Olympic Games, the referee must also report this immediately to the Directoire Technique.
b) If an accident occurs in the bout which follows the request for a substitution, the team captain may annul that request.
c) If the captain of the opposing team has also requested a substitution, this substitution may be
implemented or cancelled .
6
a) If a member of a team is obliged to retire during a match as the result of an accident which has been duly recognised by a medical representative of the FIE, the captain of his team may
ask to put in a reserve to continue the match at the point where the competitor who was obliged to retire withdrew, even during a bout in progress.
b) However, a competitor who is thus replaced cannot again take his place in the team
during the same match.
7 a) If both a fencer and the reserve, if any, are forced to withdraw, and the team is therefore incomplete, it has lost the match and must withdraw from the competition. The team retains its place in the final ranking.
b) If a fencer is excluded during a team match, his/her team has lost the match and the team is excluded from the competition without any final ranking. Cf. t.160.
7
8 When for any reason whatever a team does not complete an event in which it is taking part, the Directoire Technique will apply the rules laid down for a competitor who does not complete an event in an individual competition, each team being considered in its entirety as being a
single competitor . Cf. t.124.3.b, t.170.
9 When a team fails to appear against another team it is considered:
a) as not completing the event in which it is taking part, if it has already fenced against another team (cf. o.79);
b) as not competing at all in the event, if it is its first match.
10 A 10-minute rest must always be given between two matches of the same team.
Apart from the following aspects, the competition is run in accordance with rules laid down for the team events in the Junior, Senior World Championships and Zonal Championships respectively.
If a team does not begin a match they will be disqualified from the competition and thus will not receive any World Team Cup points, unless this is because of an injury or other medical reason ,duly attested by the duty doctor.
1 The first four teams are placed in the direct elimination table according to the current official team ranking of the FIE (cf. o.109); the remaining ranked teams will be placed in the table by drawing of lots in pairs.
The teams that are not classified will occupy the last places in the table and will be separated by drawing of lots.
2 The table will be drawn up based on the ranking of the teams entered, at the latest one hour after the quarter finals of the individual event.
At the Zonal Championships, teams without FIE ranking will occupy the last places in the table. They will be separated according to the final ranking obtained in the individual competition by the three best fencers in the team. The fencers of the teams who do not have a ranking in the individual competition will take the last place +1.
The organisation formulae for the Olympic Games are established by the Executive Committee, with the approval of the IOC. (See art. 9.1.1.1 of the Administrative rules).
Video-refereeing is compulsory at all three weapons at Grand Prix, Senior World Cup individual and team competitions, the Junior and Cadet World Championships, the World Championships and Olympic Games, Zonal Championships and qualification events for the Olympic Games. It is optional at the Veteran World Championships.
1 For World Cup individual, Grand Prix competitions, Zone Championships and qualification events for the Olympic Games, video-refereeing is compulsory and must be used as soon as the timetable allows the competition to be run on 4 pistes or 8 pistes, and in any case, from the table
of 64.
2 For World Cup team competitions, video-refereeing is compulsory as soon as the timetable
allows the competition to be run on only 4 pistes including the match for 3rd place, but
excluding the other ranking matches.
3 For individual and team competitions of the Senior World Championships, video-refereeing is obligatory as soon as the timetable allows the competition to be run on a maximum of 8
pistes, all equipped for video-refereeing, including ranking matches table 5-8.
4 For individual competitions of the Junior and Cadet World Championships, video-refereeing is compulsory as soon as the timetable allows the competition to be run on a maximum of 8 pistes, all equipped for video-refereeing and in any case, from the table of 32.
For team competitions video-refereeing is compulsory from the table of 16, including ranking matches table 5-8.
5 For individual and team events at the Olympic Games, the video-refereeing system is mandatory
in all three weapons, at all stages of the competition.
Competitions Individual event
VIDEO, from
Team event
VIDEO, from
Number of
pistes equipped
with VIDEO
Teams and ranking matches
Senior World Cup T 64 T16 4 or 8 T 1-8
Junior World Cup not mandatory not mandatory not mandatory not mandatory
Grand-Prix T 64 ————- 4 or 8 ————-
Senior World
Championships T 64 T16 4 or 8 T 1-8
Junior/Cadet
World
Championships T 32 T 16
(juniors) 8 T 1-8
Senior Zonal
Championship T 64 T 16 4 or 8 T 1-8
Junior Zonal
Championship not mandatory not mandatory not mandatory not mandatory
Veteran World
Championships not mandatory not mandatory not mandatory not mandatory
Zonal
qualifying
events for the
Olympic
Games
Pools ————-
Olympic Games Mandatory for all phases of the Olympic competition
An anti-doping test must be carried out at all official competitions of the FIE in accordance with the regulations in Article o.107 and the Anti-Doping Rules of the FIE. It may begin from the start of the competition and applies to fencers who have finished fencing.
1 Doping is forbidden by the FIE. Any breaking of this rule will incur disciplinary action.
2 Doping is defined as the occurrence of one or more of the anti-doping rule violations set forth in Articles 2.1 to 2.8 of the FIE Anti-Doping Rules.
3 The FIE has committed itself to the WADA Anti-Doping Code. The FIE Anti-Doping Rules are based on the WADA ‘Models of Best Practice’ and adopt in their entirety the ‘mandatory clauses’ of the above document. The FIE also adopts in full the WADA ‘Prohibited Classes of Substances and Prohibited Methods’ document.
4 The FIE reserves the right to conduct doping control during competitions — that is, at any competition organised under its control — as well as out-of-competition.
5 The athletes who participate in FIE competitions undertake to respect the FIE anti-doping Rules, to use neither prohibited substances nor prohibited methods and to agree to submit to any anti-doping control, whether in- or out- of competition;
6 All the details concerning the doping controls at official FIE competitions, as well as out-of-competition, are to be found in the articles of the Anti-Doping Rules of the FIE.
7 The penalties and consequences of the penalties arising from violations of the anti-doping rules are those laid down in the Anti-Doping-Rules of the FIE.
8 Fencers found to have contravened these anti-doping rules will be subject to the procedures provided for in the Anti-Doping Rules. The publication of test results and decisions relating to application of penalties will be announced by the Central Office of the FIE, which alone has the right to bring them to the notice of all member federations.
9 Doping offences committed and penalised in any of the member countries of the FIE will be taken into account and the penalties (‘sanctions’) will be applied by all member countries of the FIE.
10 Modification of the FIE Anti-Doping Rules falls within the competence of the Executive Committee.
Official FIE individual ranking
1 Principles
a) The official Senior ranking of the FIE takes into account the best five results of the World Cup,
Grand Prix or Satellite competitions in which the fencer has participated, irrespective of continent, plus the World Championships or Olympic Games and the Zonal Championships.
b) The official Junior ranking of the FIE takes into account the best six results of the World Cup
competitions in which the fencer has participated, irrespective of continent, as well as the World Championships and the Zonal Championships.
c) For both Senior and Junior rankings, the ranking is rolling.
The competitions are numbered in order of the dates provided in the calendar and by competition category (World Cup, Grand Prix or Satellite events).
The points awarded in event 1 of the current season replace the points awarded in event 1 of the previous season and so on.
If an event is cancelled during the current season, the points acquired during the corresponding event of the previous season will be deleted on the date assigned to this event in the calendar of the current season.
d) In the event of equal points , the ranking is based on who has gained the most first places, then
second places, etc.
If there is a complete tie, the fencers are ranked equal.
e) After each competition which is taken into account to establish the ranking, this is updated automatically after verification of the results by the FIE.
f) Except where special rules apply, the official up-to-date FIE ranking is the deciding factor for all rankings, seedings, exemptions, etc.
2 Scale of points
a) The ranking of Seniors and Juniors is based on the following points system :
1st place 32 points
2nd place 26 points
3rd place ex aequo 20 points
5th –8th places 14 points
9th –16th places 8 points
17th –32nd places 4 points
33rd –64th places 2 points
65th –96th places 1 point
97th -128 th 0.5 point
129th -256 th 0.25 point
b) Points obtained in an individual World Cup competition are multiplied by a factor of 1.
c) Points obtained in a Grand Prix and a Zonal Championship competition of the FIE are multiplied by a factor of 1.5.
d) Points obtained in the individual events of the Senior World Championships and in the Junior
World Championships are multiplied by a factor of 2.5.
e) Points obtained in the individual events of the Olympic Games are multiplied by a factor of 3.0.
At the Olympic Games, fourth place is awarded 54 points.
f) Only fencers who have actually participated in a direct elimination table can receive any points.
3 Honours
The winner (first ranked fencer) of each senior official ranking of the FIE will be announced at
the end of the Senior World Championships or Olympic Games.
The winner (first ranked fencer) of each junior official ranking will be announced at the end of the Junior World Championships.
1 Official team ranking of the FIE
2 Principle
a) The official Senior team ranking of the FIE takes into account a team’s best four results in the Senior Team World Cup competitions, irrespective of continent, plus the Senior World Championships or the Olympic Games and the Zonal Championships.
The official Junior team ranking of the FIE takes into account a team’s best four results in the Junior Team World Cup competitions, irrespective of continent, plus the Junior World Championships and the Zonal Championships.
The official team ranking of the FIE is rolling and updated on a permanent basis :
Team World Cup events are numbered in order of their scheduled dates in the calendar.
The points awarded in Event 1 of the current season replace the points awarded in Event 1 of the
previous season and so on.
If an event is cancelled during the current season, the points acquired in the corresponding event
of the previous season will be deleted on the date allocated to that event in the current season’s
calendar.
b) Should several teams have equal points , the same rules shall apply as for the official FIE individual ranking (cf. o.108)
c) Except where special rules apply, the updated official team ranking is the deciding factor for all rankings, seedings, etc.
2 Team scale of points
a) The ranking will be based on the following scale of points:
1st place 64 points 10th place 24 points
2nd place 52 points 11th place 23 points
3rd place 40 points 12th place 22 points
4th place 36 points 13th place 21 points
5th place 32 points 14th place 20 points
6th place 30 points 15th place 19 points
7th place 28 points 16th place 18 points
8th place 26 points 17th –32nd 8 points
9th place 25 points 33rd to 64th 4 points
b) For the World Team Championships, the points indicated above are multiplied by two.
c) Points obtained in a Zonal Team Championship have a factor of 1.0.
3 Honours
The winner (first ranked team) of each official Junior and Senior team ranking of the FIE will be
announced at the end of the Senior World Championships or Olympic Games.
The FIE gold medal, which is the Grand Prix des Nations, is awarded each year as follows:
Grand Prix des nations Cadets
Grand Prix des nations Juniors
Grand Prix des nations Seniors
Grand Prix des nations Veterans
In each of the these categories, the Grand Prix des nations will be awarded to the nation which has won the most gold medals in all the individual and team events of the corresponding World Championships.
If two nations have equal scores, the winner will be the one which has won the most silver medals.
If there is still equality, the winner will be the one which has won the most bronze medals.
If there is still equality, both nations are declared winners, and both will receive the Grand Prix des nations.
PART E - VETERANS
BODIES RESPONSIBLE FOR ORGANISATION AND CONTROL
Organising Committee Veterans
The Directoire Technique is composed of people who have the experience and competence to organise competitions.
The Directoire Technique is composed of four members of different nationalities, one of whom must represent the country where the competition is held and, if possible, a representative of the country where the competition will be held the following year. There must be at least one member from each gender.
Appointment of refereeing, SEMI and medical delegates
Two Refereeing delegates, one SEMI delegate and two Medical delegates must be the members of the FIE Commissions and be appointed by the FIE Executive Committee following the recommendations of the respective commissions.
For the Veteran World Championships, of the 5 designated delegates there must be at least one of each gender, if the availability of the delegates and continental representation allow it.
Refereeing
Refereeing at Veteran World Championships is carried out by referees appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE, selected by the Refereeing Commission on indication of the Organizing Committee and Veterans Council.
Referees must attend the refereeing meeting that takes place the day before the World Championships.
AGE OF PARTICIPANTS
The age groups in veteran competitions are:
a) Age group 50-59: Must be at least 50 years old and less than 60 years old in the year of the competition.
b) Age group 60-69: Must be at least 60 years old and less than 70 years old in the year of the competition.
c) Age group 70+: Must be at least 70 years old in the year of the competition.
The age groups in veteran competitions are:
a) Age group 40-49: Must be at least 40 years old and less than 50 years old in the year of the competition.
b) Age group 50-59: Must be at least 50 years old and less than 60 years old in the year of the competition.
c) Age group 60-69: Must be at least 60 years old and less than 70 years old in the year of the competition.
d) Age group 70+: Must be at least 70 years old in the year of the competition.
Application : during the test at the 2025 World Championships (not applicable in 2023 and 2024).
Pre-competition procedures
PROGRAMMING
VETERANS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
1 The programme of the Veteran World Fencing Championships comprises twenty-four events, eighteen individual – three categories for each weapon - and six team — male foil, female foil, male epee, female epee, male sabre and female sabre. The programme must be arranged in such a way as to allow any fencer to participate in all weapons. Team events must be held on the day following the last championship of the three categories of each weapon.
2 No changes of dates are allowed for any competition, after the release of the programme.
3 Each competition must be held in one single day, avoiding long periods of inactivity.
1 The programme of the Veteran World Fencing Championships comprises thirty-six events, twenty-four individual – four categories for each weapon - and twelve team — male foil, female foil, male epee, female epee, male sabre and female sabre (two categories for each weapon and gender). The programme must be arranged in such a way as to allow any fencer to participate in all weapons. Team events must be held on the day following the last championship of the corresponding two individual categories of each weapon.
2 No changes of dates are allowed for any competition, after the release of the programme.
3 Each competition must be held in one single day, except for team events for which the round of pools may be achieved the day before direct elimination avoiding long periods of inactivity.
Application: during the test at the 2025 World Championships (not applicable in 2023 and 2024).
INVITATIONS
Invitation to international officials
Veterans
1 Any proposed candidature for organising the Veteran World Championships must be studied at the venue concerned by an ad hoc delegation designated by the Executive Committee, at the invitation of the candidate federation.
2 The organising committee of the World Championships, who will receive all the entry fees from the participating delegations, must, at their own expense, invite the following international officials (tourist-class return air fare, accommodation and daily allowances):
a) The President of the FIE or his representative, who presides over the World Championships and, in particular, controls the smooth running of the Directoire Technique.
b) Four members of the Directoire Technique appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE, one of whom must belong to the organising country (see also o.111).
c) One member of the SEMI Commission, appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
d) Two members of the Refereeing Commission, appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
e) Two members of the Medical Commission, appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
f) The referees appointed by the Executive Committee of the FIE.
The officials a) to e) should preferably be selected from the Zone in which the Championships are being held.
ENTRIES
Veterans World Championships
Entries for competitions
1 The entry of the names of the fencers and all possible replacements, and the entry of teams, must be made via the FIE website 7 days before the competition at the latest (midnight Lausanne time).
For team entries, the names of the fencers making up the teams may be changed, by informing the organizers, up to the day before the competition, not later than 4.00 pm (local time).
However, a replacement can be made after this stage, and at the latest at the end of the individual event, in the case of injury or other medical reason duly certified by the competition medical doctor.
2 Withdrawal of a fencer or team.
After the closing deadline for entries, no named fencer or team may be withdrawn except for injury or other medical reason or force majeure: the national federation must inform the FIE and the organizers.
3 Substitution of a fencer.
Until the Wednesday preceding the competition (midnight, Lausanne time), a fencer may be replaced by another. To do this, the national federation must send to the FIE, by fax or e-mail, a written request to substitute the fencer.
4 Addition of a fencer or a team after the deadline.
From the Wednesday preceding the competition until 12 noon (local time) on the day preceding the competition, one or more fencers and/or a team may be added by national federations after payment to the FIE of a penalty according to the scale in force (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines).
5 Should a fencer or team who have been entered not present themselves to fence, a fine (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines), payable to the FIE, will be imposed to the federation of the faulty fencer or team, except in cases of properly authenticated ‘force majeure’.
6 The organisers of all official competitions must, at risk of a penalty of a fine payable to the FIE (cf o.31, table of financial penalties and fines), refuse any entry of either fencer or referee not in possession of an FIE license valid for the current season.
PROCEDURES DURING COMPETITIONS
Composition of the pools for the individual Veterans championships
The pools are composed taking into account the following orders of strength:
1 The fencers ranked from the addition of the results in the previous two Veterans World Championships, irrespective of age category changes.
Scores are awarded according to the following table:
1st place 80 points 31th place 7 points 61th place 3,2 points
2nd place 65 points 32th place 6,5 points 62th place 3,1 points
3rd place ex aequo 50 points 33th place 6 points 63th place 3 points
5th place 38 points 34th place 5,9 points 64th place 2,9 points
6th place 36 points 35th place 5,8 points 65th place 2,8 points
7th place 34 points 36th place 5,7 points 66th place 2,7 points
8th place 32 points 37th place 5,6 points 67th place 2,6 points
9th place 30 points 38th place 5,5 points 68th place 2,5 points
10th place 28 points 39th place 5,4 points 69th place 2,4 points
11th place 26 points 40th place 5,3 points 70th place 2,3 points
12th place 24 points 41th place 5,2 points 71th place 2,2 points
13th place 22 points 42th place 5,1 points 72th place 2,1 points
14th place 20 points 43th place 5 points 73th place 2 points
15th place 18 points 44th place 4,9 points 74th place 1,9 points
16th place 16 points 45th place 4,8 points 75th place 1,8 points
17th place 14 points 46th place 4,7 points 76th place 1,7 points
18th place 13,5 points 47th place 4,6 points 77th place 1,6 points
19th place 13 points 48th place 4,5 points 78th place 1,5 points
20th place 12,5 points 49th place 4,4 points 79th place 1,4 points
21th place 12 points 50th place 4,3 points 80th place 1,3 points
22th place 11,5 points 51th place 4,2 points 81th place 1,2 points
23th place 11 points 52th place 4,1 points 82th place 1,1 points
24th place 10,5 points 53th place 4 points 83th place 1 points
25th place 10 points 54th place 3,9 points 84th place 0,9 points
26th place 9,5 points 55th place 3,8 points 85th place 0,8 points
27th place 9 points 56th place 3,7 points 86th place 0,7 points
28th place 8,5 points 57th place 3,6 points 87th place 0,6 points
29th place 8 points 58th place 3,5 points 88th place 0,5 points
30th place 7,5 points 59th place 3,4 points 89th place 0,4 points
60th place 3,3 points 90th place 0,3 points
91th place 0,2 points
92th place 0,1 points
93th place and after 0 points
2 All other fencers in order of age, starting from the youngest.
3 The allocation of fencers in the pools must be made in such a way as to place fencers of the same nationality in different pools, as far as possible (staggering).
4 If in any category there are fewer than ten competitors, the competition is held as a poule unique followed by direct elimination.
5 If in any category there are fewer than 6 competitors, they will fence with the next lower age category. A separate ranking for that category will be extrapolated from the combined categories’ final rankings at the end of the competition.
6 If in any category there is only one competitor, the event in that category is cancelled.
7 No fencer is eliminated after the pools. All the fencers participate in the direct elimination phase.
VETERANS TEAM EVENTS
1 Participation
Each country may enter one team per gender and per weapon, thus giving a total of 6 competitions.
The teams shall be composed of fencers who participated in the individual competition of the corresponding weapon, but c.f. o.103.2 b below.
2 The rules for team competitions are applicable with the following exceptions:
a) For each weapon, the teams are composed of three fencers of the same nationality, one from category “A”, one from “B” and one from “C”, with or without a reserve for each category. A team cannot begin the match if it is not complete.
b) In the case of a team being short of a fencer in any of the weapons, the team may use a fencer who has competed in the individual championships at another weapon or who is registered but has yet to compete, but his/her ranking will be deemed to be last in the individual competition at the weapon of the team in which he is going to fence plus 1.
c) The teams are placed in the pools according to the ranking of the three fencers in the individual championship. The team ranked 1 is the one having the lowest total. All the fencers registered for the team event must be present at the piste before the start of each match.
d) Each team may request, before a given relay, the substitution of a fencer. However, in case of injury or other medical reason duly recognized by the Medical delegate, the substitution can be immediate, even during the relay.
There can only be one substitution per team per match.
3 A fencer who has been replaced because of an injury may not fence again during that match. If both a fencer and the reserve are forced to retire, or if a fencer is excluded, their team is deemed to have lost the match.
4 The relay system is always applied. The three fencers of a team fence against their opponent of the same category. Each fencer fences his/her opponent twice giving a total of 6 relays. The relays are for 5 hits (5-10-15-20- etc.). Exceptionally, a relay may end at more than 5,10,15 etc. if a fencer scores a valid last hit of the relay and is at the same time awarded an additional penalty hit: in this case both hits will be counted; the maximum time for each relays is 3 minutes.
5 The team that first reaches the maximum score of 30 hits, or that which has scored the greatest number of hits after the expiry of regulation time, is the winner.
6 The order of categories for each match is established by the referee with the captains on the piste prior to the start of the match: The referee will draw lots and the winning captain will choose the first category in the order. The losing captain will choose the second category.
7 The competition consists of a round of pools of 3 or 4 teams, in which all the teams participate, and a direct elimination phase for the highest placed 16 teams; the other teams will be classified according to their ranking after the round of pools.
a) The order of matches in a pool of 4 is as follows:
Match 1 : The team ranked 1 vs the team ranked 4
Match 2 : The team ranked 2 vs the team ranked 3
Match 3 : The winner of Match 1 vs the loser of Match 2
Match 4 : The winner of Match 2 vs the loser of Match 1
Match 5 and Match 6 : The two remaining matches.
b) The order of matches in a pool of 3 is as follows:
Match 1 : The team ranked 2 vs the team ranked 3
Match 2 : The team ranked 1 vs the loser of Match 1
Match 3 : The team ranked 1 vs the winner of Match 1
The initial ranking on which the drawing of the pools is based is established from the results of the fencers in the individual events. (cf. o.103.2.c)
The composition of the direct elimination table of 16 teams (or 8 if there are less than 16 teams) is established according to the general ranking established by the results of all the teams in the pool round. In the event of an absolute tie between the teams ranked 16 and 17 (or 8 and 9), the highest ranked team in the initial pool ranking shall qualify.
However, in no case, teams which have already fenced each other in the pools should meet again immediately in the direct elimination. To avoid this, the lower ranked of the two teams in question may be moved:
in the case of a tableau of 16, the team ranked 9 may change places only with the team ranked 10, the team ranked 11 may change places only with the team ranked 12, the team ranked 13 may change places only with the team ranked 14 and the team ranked 15 may change places only with the team ranked 16.
in the case of a tableau of 8, the team ranked 5 may change places only with the team ranked 6 and the team ranked 7 may change places only with the team ranked 8.
8 If fewer than 6 teams participate in the competition, they all fence in a pool unique; a match for the 3rd and 4th places is then held, followed by a match for the first place between the teams who came 1st and 2nd in the pool.
9 Ranking matches from 5th place onwards will not be fenced and teams will be ranked, in each round of the table, according to their ranking after the pools.
Each country may enter one team per category (Veterans and Grand Veterans) per gender and per weapon, thus giving a total of twelve competitions.
The teams shall be composed of fencers who participated in the individual competition of the corresponding weapon, but c.f. o.103.2 b below.
Veterans: teams of three composed of fencers belonging to either age group 40-49 or to age group 50-59, with at least one fencer belonging to age group 50-59, plus up to two reserves.
Grand Veterans: teams of three composed of fencers belonging to either age group 60-69 or to age group 70 and over, with at least one fencer belonging to age group 70 and over, plus up to two reserves.
Fencing mode is 45 hits relay described in o.99 with application of non-combativity rule at any match.
The competition begins with a round of pools of 3 and 4 teams -established according to o.103 c) - and followed by a direct elimination phase according to o.103 7.
Particular cases depending on the number of teams:
• only 1 team: the organisers must inform all nations that there will be no competition at that weapon.
• 2 teams: only one match between these two teams.
• 3 teams: one poule of three followed by D.E. from an incomplete tableau of 4.
• 4 teams: one poule of four followed by D.E. from a tableau of 4.
• 5 teams: one poule of five followed by D.E. from an incomplete tableau of 8.
The losers of the semi-finals have to fence for the bronze medal.
a) In the case of a team being short of a fencer in any of the weapons, the team may use a fencer who has competed in the individual championships at another weapon or who is registered but has yet to compete, but his/her ranking will be deemed to be last in the individual competition at the weapon of the team in which he is going to fence plus 1.
b) The teams are placed in the pools according to the ranking of the three fencers in the individual championship. The number 1 team is the one with the least points. All the fencers registered for the team event must be present at the piste before the start of each match.
c) Each team may request, before a given relay, the substitution of a fencer. However, in case of injury or other medical reason, duly recognized by the medical delegate, the substitution can be immediate, even during the relay.
There can be up to two substitutions of reserves per match but must maintain compliance with the age category representation requirement.
Application : during the test at the 2025 World Championships (not applicable in 2023 and 2024).