Amended WTF Rules

World Taekwondo Federation
Amended Competition Rules as of October 7, 2010
Summary Prepared By Barbara Marian, Taekwondo Canada Referee Committee Vic Chair

The following is a brief summary of the Amended Competition Rules effective October 7, 2010.  This is not a comprehensive list of the amendments, but simply a short outline of the more important changes.

Article 3                Competition Area

• Coaches shall not stand up while coaching (except in the case when requesting for Video replay). In case of violation of this rule, the referee shall give Kyong go to the pertinent coach.

Article 12             Valid Points

• Four (4) points for a valid turning kick to the head.

Article 13             Scoring and Publication

• As per valid turning kick on the head, the judges shall score valid points and valid turn.
• In case of using 4 judges or 3 judges, valid points shall be those scored by at least two or more judges.

Article 14             Prohibited Acts and Penalties

• Kyong go has been removed: Evading by Turning the Back to the Opponent
• Kyong go has been removed: Pretending Injury
• Amended kyong go: Avoiding or Delaying the Match now includes evading by turning the back and pretending injury. 

In addition, the following two explanations have been added:

• Kyong go shall also be given to the athlete who asks the referee to stop the contest for any reason (for instance, in order to adjust position of protective equipment) or ask his/her coach to request for video replay.
• The coach shall be given kyong go when he/she leaves the 1m x 1m marked coach’s zone or is not seated in coach’s seat.

Article 16             Decisions

• Win by Point Gap: In case of 12 points difference between two athletes at the time of the completion of 2^nd round and/or at any time during the 3^rd round, the referee shall stop the contest and shall declare the winner by point gap.
• Win by Disqualification includes: In the event that an athlete passed weigh in but did not appear at the Coach’s zone, the assigned referee and opponent shall be waiting in the their position until the referee declares the opponent a winner of the match.

Article 20             Technical Officials

• Video Review Jury: Composed of 1 Review Jury (RJ) and 1 assistant to the RJ per court. The RJ shall review an instant replay and inform the referee of the decision within 1 minute.
• In the case that a coach requests for video review for the same case that one of the judges requests for a meeting between refereeing officials, the referee shall first gather judges before taking the request from coach.  If it has been decided to correct the decisions, the coach shall remain seated without using appeal quota. If the coach still stands and requests for video review, the referee shall take the coach’s request.

Article 21             Instant Video Replay

• The following stipulation has been removed: “A request after the end of the round shall not be accepted except in the case of sudden death round.”
• In the tournament where instant video replay system is not available, the following has been added to the protest procedure: “A coach or head of team from the protesting nation shall be permitted to make a brief verbal presentation to the Board of Arbitration in support of their position.  The coach or head of team from the respondent nation shall be allowed to present a brief rebuttal.”

For the complete rule changes, please refer to the Competition Rules and Interpretations by clicking on the following link: http://www.wtfcanada.com/pdfs/Referees/Competition_Rules_(Tashkent_version_final_2010)[1].pdf

How Do I Get Involved In the Referee Team?

National Certification System:
N1 (N2 for 2 years) - 2nd Dan and higher             $157.50
N2 (N3 for 2 years) - 2nd Dan and higher             $73.50
N3 (P1)  - 1st Dan and higher, 18 years +            $52.50
NP (P1)  - ~red belt or higher, 18 years +            $78.75

Provincial Certification System:
P1 (10 tournaments) - Black Belt and Higher, 18+        $50
P2 (5 tournaments)   - Red Belt and Higher, 16+          $40
P3 - Red Belt and 16 Years +                                      $30
Corner Judge / Refresher                                       $30
Tie                                                                            $20

Available Provincial Roles:
Referee Chair   - Responsible for training and arranging mentoring opportunities for officials.
Ring Captain     - Senior referee in the ring responsible for handling issues and escalating problems.
Center Referee - Officials who start/stop the match, assign penalties, and manage a match.
Corner Judge    - Officials responsible for using the electronic system to score points.
Computer Operator - Official responsible for using the electronic scoring system during a match.
Runner              - Brings contestants to and from the ring.
Time Keeper     - Responsible for tracking results of a contest and signaling the end of the match.

Certification courses are held several times a year and are advertised in advanced. Please keep an eye out for announcements. If you have any questions please email referee.chair@nstkda.ca.

Referee Uniform

• Black Pants
• White collared shirt
• Blue NS Tie (to be produced) or Red National Tie
• White TKD/Athletic Shoes
• Black NSTKDA Track Jacket