Video-refereeing June 13, 2008 FIE

Dear Mr/Madam President,
Video-refereeing As you know, video-refereeing is very popular with the athletes and
referees alike. It is currently obligatory at foil and sabre, and we have
noticed that when the video-refereeing system was used at épée, the
athletes and referees turned to it. Furthermore, a large number of
fencers have complained that épée is being left to one side and is not
benefiting from it.
Moreover, Swiss Timing has just proposed a contract to the FIE to set
up a video website that would transmit and archive the video-replay
images. If we do not have any images for épée, we will only be able to
provide and store foil and sabre images.
Taking this into account, the FIE Executive Committee was consulted
in writing in order to determine if it was necessary to make videorefereeing
compulsory at all three weapons as of the 2008-2009
season. The Executive Committee was in favour of this decision. As a
result, the following changes have been made to the rules relating to
video-refereeing:

For Grand Prix competitions, at all three weapons, video-refereeing is
compulsory and must be used as soon as the timetable allows the
competition to be run on only 4 pistes, and in any case from the table
of 64.

For World Cup team competitions, at all three weapons, videorefereeing
is compulsory from the table of 32 onwards including the
matches for 3rd place but excluding the other ranking matches.

For individual and team competitions of the open World
Championships, video-refereeing is obligatory from the beginning of
the competition onwards. 8 pistes equipped for video-refereeing are
thus necessary.

Sincerely,
René Roch
President

New Formula ForThe Team Events

FIE ASSIGNs TO ACIREALE THE CADET AND JUNIOR 2008 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Lausanne 2/5/2007 - After a long head-to-head competition with Thailand during the meetings last Saturday and Sunday the FIE granted to Acireale (Catania), Italy, the Cadet and Junior World Championships edition of 2008.
.....

There will be some changes from the technical point of view at these championships. The FIE has decided to try a new formula for the team events replacing the competition by weapon with a mixed weapon event. Both men and women's teams will be made of two foilists, two epeeist, and two sabreists. This is an experiment promoted by some countries, one being Italy. In the words of Giorgio Scarso, President of the FIS, "The revised and corrected formula of the Mediterranean's Championships in Syracuse will be adopted and it could become part of the events at the Olympic games in London in 2012. Acireale will be a kind of a lab experiment for the future of the sport of fencing where the technical aspects and the media impact of this change in the formula of team competitions will be evaluated."


After Beijing 2008, only Junior World Championships will take place. Cadets will compete in continental trials and already starting in March in Serbia, there will be a first experiment.

Note:

Acireale is a town near Catania, in Sicily, by the Etna volcano. The surrounding area and the town itself is rich in culture and tradition. Virtual tourists can check these web sites for information.