Referee Coordinator Darren Ferguson has provided some updated information regarding the Unwillingness to Fight rules (previously "passivity" or "non-combativity"), and a reminder of what to bring to the piste with you to avoid yellow and red cards.
Unwillingness to Fight
There’s still some unawareness / confusion surrounding the new U2F rules that have come in to force. The AFF has a good summary of the changes and the new rules here: https://www.ausfencing.org/wp-content/uploads/Updated-Unwillingness-to-Fight-Non-Combativity-Rules.pdf
Absence of Spare Weapon or Bodywire (t.117)
t.117 states: "The fencers must arrive on the piste, to fence their bouts, with two weapons (one as a spare), two bodywires (one as a spare) and two mask wires (one as a spare) which satisfy the regulations and are in perfect working order (cf. t.71, t.158-162, t.165, t.170).”
It has been observed that many fencers at Fencing SA competitions, across all categories and age levels, have been arriving at the piste without the required spare equipment and then having to leave the piste to get their spare equipment from their bag. This creates unnecessary delay to the running of the competition and is unfair to the waiting opponent. As this has been happening a lot more frequently, referees will be cracking down on this behaviour and immediately applying the appropriate penalties, regardless of competition category or age level. The penalties are yellow card for the first offence, followed by a red card for the second and subsequent offences in the same bout. If you are a coach or club official involved in equipping your juniors for competitions, please ensure that they are aware of the need to have spare equipment with them.
Dressing or Undressing on the Piste (t.116)
t.116 states: "Under no circumstances should the fencers dress or undress in public except in the case of an accident duly recognised by the doctor on duty or by the representative of the Medical Commission (cf. t.126, t.158-162, t.165, t.170.).”
This means that fencers must present on the piste when called ready to fence. Conversely, fencers must not start removing their equipment while still on the piste. This does not include masks, which are covered separately by t.125. It has been noticed that many intermediate and senior fencers are increasingly arriving on the piste while still putting their equipment such as their jacket, lame, glove, etc on. This creates unnecessary delay to the running of the competition and is unfair to the waiting opponent. Referees will also be cracking down on this behaviour and immediately applying the appropriate penalties, regardless of competition category or age level. The penalties are yellow card for the first offence, followed by a red card for the second and subsequent offences in the same bout.
