Dear WCA Community,

Here you can find some noteworthy updates about the activity of the Disciplinary Committee over the month of February 2019.

In the second month of 2019, the WDC has actively worked on 8 investigations: 4 were opened in December 2018, 2 in January and 2 in February 2019. 7 of these cases were closed. The WDC has now closed all the cases that were opened in 2018.

Public announcements about closed investigations

• Two investigations were opened as consequence of the actions of WCA Staff or former Staff. In both cases, the person under investigation fully cooperated with the WDC and a conclusion of the case was reached in short time, with positive outcome. No disciplinary action was taken by the WDC.

• Blindsolving had been the topic of 3 investigations. In the first case, a young and inexperienced competitor was caught, during the competition, solving with a sighting method (CFOP). The competitor was confronted by the Delegate at the competition and it was determined that the competitor is not able to solve the cube blindfolded. The WDC confirmed the validity of the analysis of the Delegate and officially warned the competitor. In the second case, an experienced competitor was caught, during the competition, trying to peek under the blindfold in 5x5x5 blindfolded. The judge noticed that the competitor had donned the blindfold wrongly and it did not fully cover the competitor’s face. The competitor misplaced the harmonica holder as well and was caught by the judge and the Delegate trying to look at the cube whilst solving. When a paper was correctly placed, the competitor stopped his solution abruptly and then DNFed the attempt. The WDC confirmed the Delegate’s evaluation of this issue and decided to ban the competitor for 6 months from WCA competitions. In the third case, a competitor was caught cheating during 3x3 blindfolded at two different competitions. During the thorough investigation, the competitor confessed and admitted they are not able to solve the cube blindfolded at this time. The WDC decided to ban the competitor for 9 months from WCA competitions.

To conclude, 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 think the competition results are being compromised in any way or see suspicious behavior, find the nearest delegate immediately and report the incident.

Thank you all for your help in supporting the WCA Spirit and Mission.

Lorenzo Vigani Poli
WDC Team Leader
On behalf of the Disciplinary Committee