Dear WCA Community,

In the last three months the Disciplinary Committee has worked hard to make sure that every competitor complies with the WCA regulations and that competitions remain a safe and pleasant environment for everyone. We have also opened a new round of applications to select a few new members, and we are currently in the selection process.

The WDC has also worked on writing some guidelines to help WCA Delegates handle common disciplinary issues that arise during competitions. These Guidelines for Disciplinary Incidents are now an official WCA document, available to all delegates via the panel on the WCA website (link accessible to WCA Staff members only). We plan to keep this document updated and add some examples in the future, so if you have any advice for us related to this do let us know.

In the last 3 months the WDC has closed 27 investigations, including 6 that resulted in a ban and 9 that resulted in an official warning. These cases included:

• Multiple attempted cube thefts.
• Various interpersonal issues, e.g. bullying.
• Multiple attempts of cheating, for example by peeking in blindfolded events, stopping the timer early or manipulating the results on the scorecard.

To expand on this last point, we have noticed more cases of competitors stopping the timer early, sometimes by accident and sometimes in an attempt to get better results. We would like to remind everyone that, when acting as a judge, you should always pay attention to the competitor and call a delegate if you notice anything suspicious. Moreover, keep in mind that gen5 timers flash twice when the competitor stops: if you notice this happening early during the solve, or if you do not notice this at the end of the attempt, this likely means that the timer was stopped early.

To conclude this Digest, we would like to remind everyone to make sure they fully understand the WCA Regulations and competition procedures. If you have any questions, or are unsure about how to do something, please do not hesitate to ask the Delegate(s) of the competition. In addition, if you ever think the competition results are being compromised in any way, or if you see suspicious behavior or feel uncomfortable at a competition, please find the nearest Delegate immediately and/or contact the WDC to report the incident.

Do you have questions for the WDC? Feel free to send us an email, or ask on the Disciplinary section of the WCA forum.

Best Regards,
Sebastiano Tronto
On behalf of the WCA Disciplinary Committee.