Part V. Referees board

Article 21. Composition of the referees board   

1.Referees board is formed in accordance with recommendations of the corresponding federation of Universal fight and is affirmed of the organisation, which is in charge of the competition. This should be done no later than 20 days before the beginning of the competition.
2.The referees board consists of the chief referee and his deputy, heads of referees teams of the 1st and 2nd types of the double event, the chief secretary and his deputy, referees teams of the obstacles line and ring matches, an information officer, a doctor and the manager of the competition.  A calculation of the number of referees needed is given in appendix 8. An inspector of the competitions can be appointed out of the national or international referee’s board by the national or international federations in special cases.
3.A referee’s team of the obstacle strip includes referees of the start and finish, 2 referees for the obstacle strip (one for each direction), 2 referees to be at the edge of the firearms shooting and 2 for the edge of the knife-throwing area (1 for each direction), and participants’ referees.
4.Referees team for ring matches includes a referee, 3 side referees, a timekeeper, technical secretary, and a referee, who seats at the score board.
5.Each referee must have a uniform, a referee card, and a copy of the competition rules.  He must also know the rules.
6.The referees’ uniform consists of dark trousers, white shirt with short sleeves reaching to the elbow, a red armband on his left arm and a blue one on his right arm, a black bow-tie, soft, flat black sports shoes without heels and black socks. On the left side of his shirt there should be a logo indicating the referee’s category.
Notes:
1.At the international competition, championships, cups and championships of Russia the senior judges and supervisor can be international referees of extra class or A-class.
2.Referees who have been through a traineeship can be admitted to work at the competition, but they should comprise no more than 30% of the total amount of referees.

Article 22. Chief referee and deputy chief referee

1.The chief referee manages the running of the competition and is responsible before the organisation which is in charge of the competition and the corresponding federation of Universal fight for ensuring that it takes place in accordance with the present rules and the Regulations.
2.The deputy chief referee is appointed by the chief referee from the referee’s board.  He only obeys the chief referee and acts in accordance with his orders.  If the chief referee is absent at the competition then his deputy acts on his behalf.
3.The chief referee is responsible for:
a.checking that the premises and equipment are ready for the competition and correspondent to the demands of the present Rules, complete the quality control report of the premises (see appendix 9), and making sure that all the necessary certificates and record forms are available;
b.appointing the referees teams which are in charge of weighing;
c.carrying out of the draw of the participants, and also for  allocating the strongest fighters into sub-groups;
d.allocating the referees into teams;
e.confirming the schedule of the competition;
f.taking all possible measures to avoid mistakes being made by the referees, and, where necessary, correcting mistakes;
g.taking a decision according to the team representatives’ requests in accordance with Article 37 (in the absence of supervisor);
h.holding meetings of the referees board, with the participation of team representatives, before the competition (to announce the programme and order of work for the referees board) and at the end of each day (to discuss the progress of the competition and the day’s results, and also in situations throughout the competition if the need arises;
i.allocating fighters into pairs for holding the finals, and appointing teams of referees for the finals;
j.assessing the activity of each member of referees board (taking into account the opinion of his immediate superior), the assessment should be made on the basis of the 5 point system;
k.handing in a report (see appendix 10.1) to the organisation which is in charge of the competition, at the required time.
4.The chief referee has the right:
a.to postpone the competition if the equipment or premises do not meet the requirements of the Rules;
b.to interrupt match, to announce a break and to stop the competition if something creates impediments to the normal running of the competition;
c.if necessary, to change the programme and the schedule of the competition, and to change the order of the fighters’ performance;
d.to change referees’ duties during the competition;
e.to suspend from duties those referees who make serious mistakes or who are not fulfilling their responsibilities;
f.to disqualify from the match or the competition those participants which are indicated in Article 19;
g.to reprimand, to warn or to suspend from their duties team representatives (captains) and seconds who are rude, argue with referees, or make unfounded declarations;
h.to withhold the declaration of the assessment of the obstacle strip, technical actions or results of a fight, if referees differ in their views or if he disagrees with their decision.  This allows for further discussion before the final decision.

5. It is mandatory for fighters, referees, seconds, representatives and coaches to obey to the orders of chief referee.
6. The supervisor makes the decisions on the protest by the team representatives, evaluates the quality of the officiating by the board of judges.

Note:
The chief referee is not entitled to bring in any changes into the Regulations of the competition, or to suspend or replace a referee while fighters are clearing obstacles strip or fighting in the ring.

Article 23. The chief secretary and deputy chief secretary

1. The chief secretary supervises the working of the secretariat, which prepares and arranges all the necessary documentation for the competition.  Upon his orders or when he is absent, the deputy chief secretary acts on his behalf.

2. The chief secretary is responsable for the following:

a) participating in the work of the mandatory committee and a referees team responsible for weighing in of fighters
b) participating in the draw of  fighters
c) making a competition schedule
d) arranging the order of rounds
e) making reports of matches
f) controlling the performance of the records
g) performing orders and instructions of the chief referee
h) recording the results of matches  and presents them to chief referee to be signed
i) upon permission of the chief referee, giving information to team representatives, information officers and journalists
j) checking the results of matches  in fighters' ID, where their positions should be indicated, and making notes about knock-outs received
k) assessing the working of referees of the secretariat on a 5 point scale
l) giving all the necessary data to the chief referee for the final report

Article 24. The chief of the ring

1. The chief of the referee team working on the ring (chief of the ring) performs the functions of chief referee in his ring if the competition takes place in 2 or more rings.
2. During the competition chief of the ring is sits at the referee desk and directs the working of the referee team of the ring.
3. The duties of the chief referee are as follows:
a)he forms referees teams for each match, trying to preserve objectivity (e.g. a referee cannot come from a team which has members participating in the competition, and there cannot be two referees belonging to the same team)
b)he calls participants to the ring and presents them to the spectators (if an information officer is not available)
c)taking into account the opinion of the referees, he announces the assessment of the wrestlers’ actions given by the referees. To make the announcement he uses special terms and gestures (see appendix 11).
d)if there are serious discrepancies in the referees’ opinion, he stops the match and announces the final decision after an extra discussion of the situation with the referees
e)in the absence of the score at the end of the round he organises a vote of the referee board to establish the most active fighter of the competition
f)if one of the fighters is knocked down on the demand of the referee calls doctor into the ring.
g)he announces the results of a match (in the absence of the information officer)
h)he registers the presence of referees at the competition and records results of their work
i)he assesses the work of each referee working at the ring on the basis of 5 grades.

Article 25. The referee

1. During matches in the ring before the beginning of a match the referee should be inside the ring at the ropes on the side of the ring opposite to the one where there is a referees’ desk.  While in the ring the referee directs the strip of a match and checks that the Rules are strictly observed. To do so, the referee uses established terms and gestures (see appendix 11).
2. The referee’s duties are as follows:
a)he gives a signal for the beginning of a match (or round) and for the resumption of the match  in the middle of the ring after a break
b)he takes part in announcing the results of a fight
3. The referee interrupts the match by saying “Stop” in the following cases:
 a) The fighters find themselves “out of the ring”.
b) 5 seconds after gripping his opponent while standing, a fighter performs no technical actions
c)When fighting in a lying position, for 5 seconds neither competitor initiates a suffocating or pain-inducing stroke.
d)20 seconds after the grip to perform a pain-inducing or suffocating stroke these technical actions do not bring about the surrender of the adversary.
e)After a controlled punch from the adversary one of the fighters loses the ability to defend and to continue the match (knock down or a possible knock down). This is accompanied by the referee’s beginning to count the seconds necessary for the fighter to restore his ability to fight (he counts out loud from 1 to 8).
f)One of the fighters needs medical assistance or there is a problem with the fighters’ outfit or equipment. This is accompanied by the gesture meaning “hold up the time”. If there are injuries he must call the doctor to the ring and be next to the injured fighter while the doctor tends the fighter.
g)A fighter violates the rules or he performs a forbidden stroke and needs to be reprimanded or warned.
h)There is a gong signal announcing that the time has come for the end of the match. Additionally the referee interrupts the fight by command “stop”.
i)The chief of the ring asks him to say “stop”.
j)The side referee asks him to say “stop”, and the referee considers it possible.
k)A fighter asks him to say “stop”, and the referee considers it possible.
l)He needs advice about cases not mentioned in the regulations.
4. The referee stops the match in the following cases:
a)when there is a gong signal stating the end of the match
b)when there is a signal announcing the surrender of a fighter who is caught in a painful or suffocating stroke
c)when there was fixed an knock-out, if after a controlled punch the fighter lost his ability to protect himself and to continue the match and he never managed to recover after the referee had counted up to 10 
d)when there is a technical “knock-out”
e)if he considers that during a match between juniors and adults below the first rank one of the fighters was defeated by means of a suffocating or a pain-inducing stroke (i.e. the grip was made correctly, but it is not possible to get out of and its continuation will result in injuries).
5. As soon as one of the fighters starts a painful or suffocating stroke the referee must announce “Pain” (“suffocation”)! and accompany it by an appropriate gesture.

When a fighter is carrying out a painful or a suffocation technique, which takes more than 20 seconds, the referee repeats the announcements of the timekeeper for the fighters.  If the attacker does not reach the result aims at in 20 seconds, the referee announces “Not considered pain (or suffocation)!” and asks the fighters to resume a standing position in the middle of the of the ring.  He must do the same if the defender assumes a position in which the stroke of the attacker cannot be effective.

6. If during fighting while lying the defender uses a forbidden move, the referee asks him to stop the move and announces a warning without stopping the match.  If the fighter does not obey him, the procedure repeats. If a third warning is necessary, the referee interrupts the match and disqualifies the fighter from the match, with the decision of the chief referee.

Article 26.  The side referee

1. Before the beginning of the match side referees take their places behind the ropes on the sides of the ring, opposite each other.  During the match they, together with the referee, completely run the fight.
2. A side referee individually assesses the actions of fighters, signalling his opinion with the help of special gestures (see appendix 11).  He participates in the decision, taken by the chief of the ring at the end of the round, about who was the most active fighter.
3. If the side referee considers that the match needs to be interrupted, he attracts the referee’s attention pointing and indicates the problem.

Article 27.  The timekeeper

1. The timekeeper times how long competitors take to complete the obstacle strip, and how much, if any, time was spent on giving them medical assistance.
2. During the match in the ring the timekeeper sits at the referees’ desk and times the rounds. Upon the referee’s command “Fight!” he starts his stop-clock. When a minute passes he informs the referees and the fighters about the time of the fighting, and when half of the match time expires, he informs the chief of the ring.  He signals the end of the match by striking a gong.
3. The timekeeper records the following upon the stop-clock:
a)if the fighter is late to appear in the ring he records the time when he arrives after the second (after 1 min) call and announces the amount of time by which the fighter is late after 20 seconds, 40 seconds and 1 minute
b)time of the match (between the commands “fight” and “stop”)
c)time given for painful and suffocating strokes in the lying position (20 seconds)
d)time spent by the fighters during the match on medical assistance and fixing equipment (see article 6 p2’e’)
e)Time of breaks between the rounds; 5sec before the end of the break he gives a signal “Seconds – out of the ring!”
4. If the fighting was interrupted because of an injury, upon the referee’s signal, “Hold up the time” the timekeeper starts another stop-clock and announces the time used by the fighter after each minute expired. 
5. As soon as the referee announces “Pain (“suffocation”)!”, the timekeeper starts another stop-clock and announces the duration of the move every 5 seconds. When 20 seconds are up, the timekeeper announces “End of pain/suffocation!”.
6. The stop-clock is reset at the end of the match only on the chief of the ring’s command. 

Article 28. The technical secretary

1.The technical secretary records in the appropriate tables of the “Obstacle strip” record (see appendix 2.3) the results of the different stages of the obstacle strip, provided by the referees as those stages.
2.During the ring fight the technical secretary sits at the referees desk next to chief of the ring and records in the appropriate tables in the “Ring fight” section of the referees’ records the points given to the participants for technical actions, warnings and points for the reprimands announced by chief of the ring during the match.
3.All points given to the participants during the match, e.g. points for violation of the rules, warnings, etc. have special definitions used for the records:
X – clear victory
3 – 3 points
2 – 2 points
1 – 1 point
AR – activity according to the referees’ decision
P1 – 1 point  for the 1st warning to the adversary
P2 – 2 points for the 2nd warning to the adversary
WX – withdrawal of the participant from the match for violation of the rules
W – withdrawal of the participant from the competition for violation of the rules
The sign “+” is written before the first points for technical actions.
A clear victory is indicated by “X” with a clarification: pain-inducing stroke, knock out, knock down (2 or 3 knockdowns).
If the competitor does not appear in the ring, then either “n/a” (non-appearance) or “w/d” (withdrawn on the doctor’s advice) is written against his name.
4.When the round is over, the technical secretary:
Adds up the points received by each fighters for technical actions and warnings during the round and puts results in the record;
Hands over the match records to chief of the ring to establish and announce the winner of the round;
Puts the result in the register.
5.When the match ends the technical secretary adds up in the records all the points that fighters have gained for winning rounds and hands over the records to chief of the ring, who establishes and announces the results of the match.
If the match finishes early, the result and time are recorded in the records. To the left of the fighters’ surnames a note is made of the time which was spent by the fighters on receiving medical aid and fixing equipment.
6.The technical secretary then adds up all the points received by each fighter when clearing obstacles and during the match in the ring, records it in the records and hands it over to the chief of the ring, who establishes and announces the result of the match.
The name of the winner is circled.  It is forbidden to make any other notes in the records.

Article 29. The board referee and the information officer

1.The board referee records on the board all the points for technical actions and violations of rules, which are announced by the chief of the ring in the course of the match.
If the referee at the board doubts whether he heard an announced point correctly, he must check it with chief of the ring.
All points on the board at the end of the match are erased only at the order of the chief of the ring.
2.The information officer is responsible for arranging radio information for the participants, representatives and spectators about the conditions, course and preliminary results of the competition. He must know the rules of the competition, and know about the sporting achievements of the teams and participants.
The information officer:
a.in due time announces the programme and the schedule of the competition, and the instructions of the board of referees in the course of the competition
b.presents the participants at the beginning of matches, with a description of their sporting achievements, announces the results of matches, explains competition rules when necessary,  and announces the best results in the course of the competition
c.upon chief referee’s permission, announces the official results of a competition
3.Depending on the nature of the information equipment, the functions of the referee at the board may be combined with the functions of the timekeeper or the technical secretary.
4.If the absence of the information officer, the chief of the ring presents the referee team, issues calls to the ring and presents pairs of fighters, and announces technical points during the match and the final results at the end of the match.

Article 30. The participants’ referee

1. The participants’ referee arranges the appearance of the participants at the place of competition and the award ceremony, forms sportsmen into a line for the parade, duly informs them about their order of appearance at matches, checks the surnames of participants in the records, checks that their equipment meets the requirements of the Regulations, and informs the chief secretary about all failures to appear, resignations and dismissals of sportsmen from the competition.

Article 31. The doctor at the competition

1. The doctor at the competition is a member of the referee board and takes part in its work.  He is considered the deputy chief referee in medical questions.
2. The duties of the doctor at the competition include:
a)checking applications, including the doctor’s certificate confirming that a fighter is fit to participate in the competition
b)arranging the external examination of the participants during the weighing procedure
c)checking that hygiene standards are observed during competitions
d)arranging medical check ups and observation of the fighters’ health during the competition
e)granting help immediately in the ring, stating whether a participant is able to continue with the fight and the competition, and immediately informing the chief referee about it and providing him with a corresponding certificate, which should be then passed to the secretariat
f)at the end of the competition he presents a report about the medical service during the competition  indicating all cases of illness and injury (see appendix 10.2)
3. The medical personnel and the place where they are should be clearly indicated by signs.

Article 32. The manager of the competition

The manager of the competition is responsible for:
preparing and registering the competition’s place
ensuring that the necessary sports equipment is available and in good condition
ensuring that the premises are equipped with a radio system
ensuring that the participants and the spectators are safe, shown to their correct places, and provided with the services they require, maintaining order during the competition, and making arrangements when instructed to do so by the chief referee and the representative of the organisation which is in charge of the competition.

Part VI ⇒