Happy New Year! Please see below for some updates from the OFA Officials Committee on policy and regulations at the provincial, national, and international levels.
OFA Policy Update
Change in Officials honoraria and travel reimbursement
As was shared at the December 2022 OFA AGM, the OFA Board of Directors has approved the following updated minimum recommended honoraria for competition officials, effective January 1, 2023.
| 1st Weapon Qualification Level | 2nd Weapon Qualification Level | Secretariat & Armory | ||||
| U | R | P | N | FIE | ||
| U | $60 | $60 | ||||
| R | $80 | $90 | $90 | |||
| P | $110 | $120 | $140 | $140 | ||
| N | $150 | $160 | $180 | $180 | $180 | |
| FIE | $205 | $215 | $235 | $235 | $235 | N/A |
Overtime will be calculated as every hour over 9 hours cumulative per day, rounded to the nearest half hour. Overtime is to be paid according to the following flat hourly rate, based on the highest certification level held by the official:
$15/hour for U and R officials
$20/hour for P, N, and FIE officials
Additionally, the recommended travel subsidies have been updated to $0.575/km for officials traveling by personal vehicle where that vehicle carries two or more referees, or as arranged with competition organizers.
The Officials Committee is finalizing the OFA Officials Policy with the above changes, and will post the updated policy document once approved by the OFA Board of Directors.
FIE Rules Update
The December 2022 FIE congress saw the adoption of the following rules, now incorporated into the FIE Technical Rules document (updated December 2022). These rules came into effect January 1, 2023, and will be applied at the upcoming Canada Cup in Kingston, Ontario.
Hitting while falling
t. 56 Hit made during or after a fall must be annulled.
Hitting while falling is no longer a sanctionable offence, the hit is simply annulled.
t. 121.2 Addition of “intentional fall down to avoid the touch” as part of irregular actions.
Should the fencer perform said action, any hit scored by the fencer at fault is annulled.
Unwillingness to fight (Non-combativity) t.124
The updated version of this rule now disregards the score during the P-yellow and P-red card stage, and only one P-red card is given.
After one minute without a hit or without a hit scored off target
- First time: P-Yellow to both fencers/team
- Second time: P-Red to both fencers/team, increase score on both sides by 1
- Third time: P-Black
- To the fencer/team with the lower score, and the fencer with the higher score wins.
- To the fencer/team with the lower initial seeding if the scores are equal, and the fencer with the higher initial seeding wins.
- “Initial seeding” could be initial seeding of either the pool or DE round, depending on the competition.
There is a great infographic explaining the rule made by @The Fencing Coach.
As before, the match continues without a break after the P-Yellow and P-Red cards are given out, no moving to the next period as in previous iterations. Additionally, no P-cards are to be given in pool bouts, or at 14-14 (individual) or 44-44 (team).
This is a significant simplification from the previous iteration of the rules – no accounting for score in the first and second sanctions, no second P-red, no substitution for teams, just straight Yellow-Red-Black.
If you have any questions or wish for further clarification, please reach out to the OFA Officials Committee at officials@fencingontario.ca.
All the best in 2023, and see you all on the piste!
OFA OC
