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Although refereeing is not a discipline in itself, it is essential to fencing.
The job of the referee is capital, as he guaranties the respect of the rules and the right behavior of the
fencers during the match.
Each weapon has its own particularities. Therefore, most of the referees usually obtain a certificate that gives
them the right to referee only one weapon (the one that they know best, usually the one they practice).
However, later on, a second or even a third certificate can be obtained to referee the other weapons.
It would be extensively long and probably useless to list here all the aspects of the job of a referee. However, to
summarize things, we can say that the referee verifies the conformity of the equipment of the fencers, he judges
whether a hit is valid or not (taking into account the rules concerning the rights of priority), he makes sure that
the fencers do not step out of the limit of the piste, he registers the score, he controls the elapsed time during
the match, he makes sure that the fencers behave in a respectful way toward each other, and if necessary he gives
warnings and penalties.
Unfortunately, not enough people are interested in refereeing, and it often causes problems to find enough qualified
referees for the competitions. To obtain a national referee certificate, candidates must pass the exams that are
organized by the national federation. The international referee certificate can only be obtained after having obtained
the national certificate in the first place. In order to obtain the international referee certificate, candidates must
successfully achieve the exams that are organized by the International Fencing Federation.
We strongly recommend all fencers, may they be candidate to refereeing or not, to learn at least the basic theoretical
rules of fencing. Indeed, in the end, the ignorance of certain basic rules may lead the fencer to take bad habits that
will probably cause some troubles during the competitions.
Therefore, if you have any questions about the fencing regulations, do not hesitate to ask some explanations to your
fencing Master or to the fencers who have obtained their referee certificate.
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