Commonwealth Fencing Championships Rules

Commonwealth Fencing Championship Rules

Introduction

The Rules for the Commonwealth Fencing Championships should be read in conjunction with the latest version of the FIE Rules.

Except where specifically stated the FIE Rules for Competitions shall be taken as paramount.

The CFF Technical Commission is empowered to make changes at short notice to the rules in order to ensure the smooth running of the Championships, without the right of appeal. Any such changes can only be temporary unless subsequently ratified by Council.

Countries entering must be members of the Commonwealth and be current members of the CFF.

General rules

The official language of the CFF is English and at least one person in every delegation must be reasonably fluent in English.

The CFF Championships includes twelve events, individual and team at all six weapons.

In the individual events each Country may enter up to 5 fencers per event. In team events, the team captains may choose a team of three and one reserve, from the permitted 5 fencers and may vary the team between matches, which will be fought on the relay system.

The Wilkinson Sword Trophy is awarded to the Nation with the best overall results, please see below for the rules governing the Trophy.

The Championships will be run according to the FIE Rules; with the formula, that will include at least one round of pools in the individual events, being announced by the DT before the start of the competition and will be the same for all weapons.
Clothing and all personal equipment must comply with the current FIE Rules for World Cup events, control will take place.

Delegations must include referees as follows:

Less than five fencers – no referees
Five to twelve fencers – one referee
Thirteen to twenty fencers – two referees
Twenty one to thirty fencers – three referees.

Please note:
1. If a country is entering only one, or two, weapons then the referee/s must be qualified in those weapon/s.
2. If a country brings 3 referees they must cover three weapons, with at least one referee per weapon.
3. Referees must have FIE qualifications - “A”, “B” or “C”.
4. If a country has no available FIE Qualified Referees, they may apply to the CFF Secretariat for permission, EITHER to bring a referee with acceptable national qualifications OR, at their own expense, to pay for an FIE referee from another nation to attend.

Entry details

Preliminary entry details must include:

Name, address, telephone, fax number and, if possible, email address of a national representative. This person will be the contact point before the Championships and ALL correspondence will be sent by the CFF and the Host Nation to that named person, with a copy to the President or Administrator of the Country concerned.
Name, address, telephone, fax number and email address of the team manager. Each Country MUST specify a team manager who may, or may not, hold some other post within the team. But the CFF, DT and Host Nation will regard the named team manager as the senior person in that team and able to speak on behalf of the team throughout the Championships.
Provisional numbers entered in each event.

Final entry details must include:

Names of accompanying officials, together with their duties for accreditation purposes.
Names of the referees together with their FIE and national qualifications.
Names of competitors and their weapons, in ranking order for each weapon.
Indication of the strength of competitors, if not on the world cup rankings then their best five recent results.
Two photographs of all persons requiring accreditation, if required by the Host Nation.
Biographical details of leading fencers suitable for inclusion in a programme or news sheet.

Seeding

The fencers will be seeded using the following criteria:

1) International World Cup Standing - latest available FIE ranking using places 1-64.
2) Ranking of the previous Senior World Championships (1-64).
3) Ranking of the previous Junior World Championships (1-32)
4) Ranking of the previous Cadet World Championships (1-16)
5) International World Cup Standing - latest available FIE ranking using places 65 onwards.
6) The DT’s judgement based on national rankings.

Teams will be ranked on the results in the individual events at the Championships, using the results of the three highest placed fencers in the appropriate individual event.

Championship Schedule

The schedule of events is given below. The times given are for guidance only and the organising committee may adjust these, if necessary, to meet local conditions.

Schedule

The championships are normally run over six days.

DAY 1
    0900 Women’s Foil Individual
    1000 Men’s Sabre Individual

DAY 2
    0900 Men’s Foil Individual
    1000 Women’s Foil Team

DAY 3 0900
    Women’s Epée Individual
    1000 Men’s Sabre Team

DAY 4
    0900 Men’s Epée Individual
    1000 Women’s Sabre Individual

DAY 5
    0900 Men’s Foil Team
    1000 Women’s Epée Team

DAY 6
    0900 Men’s Epée Team
    1000 Women’s Sabre Team

Daily Schedule

0800 - 0820
    Available for a short team captain’s meeting if required by the DT.
    Captains should also confirm all their fencers are present at this time.

0845 - 0850
    Referee’s meeting, either with a person appointed by the DT to be responsible for referees, or with a member of the DT.

0900
    Start of fencing
    Completion of tableau down to the last 4 individuals or final team match

1800
    Start of Finals
    Followed by: Medal Ceremony

Note:
1) Times may be varied by the Organising Committee.
2) On the first night, the opening ceremony precedes the medal ceremony.
3) On the last night, the closing ceremony follows the medal ceremony.

Wilkinson Sword Trophy

The trophy is awarded to the country earning the most points, calculated as follows:

1st - 32

2nd - 26

3rd - 20

4th (team) - 16

5th to 8th - 12

9th to 16th - 8

17th to 32nd - 4

33rd to 64th - 2

Note - points cannot be earned in an incomplete series of the tableau.

H J Ramsay
11/5/01