B06.4 – FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events

1.       General

These regulations govern the appointment of Arbiters in FIDE Tournaments organized under the Aegis of GSC, EVE and DIS commissions.

The principle is to manage the appointment of arbiters in a structured way:

involving the various stakeholders;

respecting the requirements in number and quality for each roles;

considering the whole calendar of tournaments;

balancing the number of individual appointments in a period of time.

The foundational layer of the process is the FIDE Calendar and the number of positions to be appointed in:

Senior roles: Chief Arbiter, Deputy Chief Arbiter, Sector Arbiter, Pairing Officer, Fair Play Officer*

Floor roles: Arbiter, Match Arbiter

Panels of arbiters are created to feed all needed positions. A Panel is a list of arbiters eligible for nomination on a specific level of role, valid for 2 years.

* Fair Play roles are expected to be under the umbrella of the FIDE Fair Play Commission. The ARB may support their selection process until a formal system is finalized by FPL.

2.       Scope

2.1     Events

According to the Categories of Tournaments defined in the FIDE Handbook B.06.3 Article 1.3, the scope is:

All Category A tournaments (Art. 1.3.1)

All Category B tournaments of World level (Art. 1.3.2.1)

2.2     Appointment cycles

Appointment rules and quotas are calculated based on a 2-year cycle, to cover the whole scope of bi-annual tournaments.

A mid-term review of Panels may be done by the ARB before October 1st of the first year of an ongoing cycle. As a result of the review, an updated composition of Panels may be published and valid for the second year of the cycle.

2.3     Positions

All arbiters’ positions are in scope of the present regulations.

3.       Panels for the selection of Arbiters

Four Panels of Arbiters will be appointed by ARB, in accordance with their Arbiter Appointment Procedural Rules:

1) Green Panel

2) Blue Panel

3) Red Panel

4) Yellow Panel

The Panels will be selected and published before the 1st October of the year preceding an Olympiad.

The Panels will be selected for a period of 2 calendar years.

Arbiters who are removed from a Panel during a cycle may be replaced by the ARB for the remainder of that cycle.

Arbiters sanctioned at the time of selection by either the ARB Disciplinary Sub-Committee or EDC are ineligible for selection.

3.1     Green Panel

3.1.1      Arbiters selected for the Green Panel are eligible to be appointed as:

1) Chief Arbiter of category A tournaments

2) Any role that members of the Blue Panel, Red Panel or Yellow Panel may be appointed to

3.1.2      The Green Panel will be composed of 20 arbiters, all of whom must be Category A.

3.1.3      The Green Panel will be used to appoint:

1) The Chief Arbiters of all Category A tournaments

2) The equivalent number of positions as Chief Arbiters in Category B tournaments

3.2     Blue Panel

3.2.1      Arbiters selected for the Blue Panel are eligible to be appointed as:

1) Deputy Chief Arbiter of category A tournaments

2) Chief Arbiter of category B tournaments

3) Any role that members of the Red Panel or Yellow Panel may be appointed to

3.2.2      The Blue Panel will be composed of 35 arbiters, all of whom must be Category A or B.

3.2.3      The Blue Panel will be used to appoint:

1) The Chief Arbiters of all Category B tournaments not assigned to the Green Panel

2) The Deputy Chief Arbiters

a) in all Category A tournaments

b) of twice the equivalent number of positions from a) in Category B tournaments

3.3     Red Panel

3.3.1      Arbiters selected for the Red Panel are eligible to be appointed as:

1) Sector Arbiter or Pairing Officer of category A tournaments

2) Deputy Chief Arbiter of category B tournaments.

3) Any role that members of the Yellow Panel may be appointed to.

3.3.2      The Red Panel will be composed of 50 arbiters, all of whom must be Category A or B.

3.3.3      The Red Panel will be used to appoint:

1) The Deputy Chief Arbiters of all Category B tournaments not assigned to the Blue Panel

2) The Sector Arbiters and Pairing Officer

a) in all Category A tournaments

b) of twice the equivalent number of positions from a) in Category B tournaments

3.4     Yellow Panel

3.4.1      Arbiters selected for the Yellow Panel are eligible to be appointed as any remaining roles, provided that their title and category of arbiter are compliant with Table B06.3.8.3.

3.4.2      There is no predefined size for the Yellow Panel as it contains all remaining applications retained by the Arbiter Appointment Procedural Rules.

4.       Limitations on Appointments

4.1     Arbiters can be appointed as a Chief Arbiter to a maximum of two (2) FIDE official events per year.

4.2     Arbiters can be appointed as a Deputy Chief Arbiter to a maximum of two (2) FIDE official events per year.

4.3     Arbiters can be appointed to a maximum of three (3) FIDE official events in total per year. For the purpose of this, a “FIDE official event” is defined an individual entry in the FIDE calendar. For example, the World Rapid & Blitz Championship is one tournament.

4.3.1      All parties responsible for making appointments will liaise with ARB to ensure that these maximums are not breached.

4.3.2      All parties responsible for making appointments will assess the number of nominations in continental events for a potential candidate to ensure appropriate rotation at the international level.

5.       Removal from a Panel

5.1     Arbiters will be removed from a Panel if one of the following applies:

5.1.1      They are sanctioned by either the ARB Disciplinary Sub-Committee

5.1.2      They are sanctioned by ETH

5.1.3      They accept appointments to tournaments that would breach the limits quoted in Article 4. Such arbiters will be ineligible for appointment to a Panel the following year.

5.2     Arbiters who are under investigation by either the Arbiters Disciplinary Sub-Committee or the EDC will be temporarily ineligible for appointments until the matter is resolved.

6.       Appointment of Arbiters to Tournaments Under the Aegis of DIS and EVE

6.1     DIS and EVE will be responsible for nominating the Chief Arbiter, Deputy Chief Arbiters and Fair Play Arbiters of tournaments under their aegis, appointing only arbiters from an appropriate Panel. These nominations must be approved by the FIDE President.

6.1.1      In exceptional circumstances, the FIDE President may decide to nominate an arbiter from the Panel immediately below the expected one (e.g. Red instead of Blue). In this case, the arbiter shall receive special coaching by the ARB before the event.

6.2     DIS and EVE are expected to consult ARB, and the local tournament organiser if there is one, before making the appointments.

6.3     The local tournament organiser will be responsible for appointing Pairing Arbiters and Sector Arbiters, which must come from an appropriate Panel. At least 50% of the Match Arbiters or Arbiters must come from an appropriate Panel. The remainder of the appointments can be non-Panel arbiters, but only if they are from the host Federation. The local tournament organiser must consult with ARB before making the appointments.

6.4     At least 25% of the total number of arbiters appointed to a tournament must be female.

6.5     At least 25% of the total number of arbiters appointed to a tournament must be male.

7.       Appointment of Arbiters to Tournaments Under the Aegis of GSC

7.1     GSC will be responsible for nominating Arbiters to tournaments under their aegis, appointing only arbiters from an appropriate Panel. These nominations must be approved by the FIDE President.

7.1.1      In exceptional circumstances, the FIDE President may decide to nominate an arbiter from the Panel immediately below the expected one (e.g. Red instead of Blue). In this case, the arbiter shall receive special coaching by the ARB before the event.

7.2     GSC are expected to consult ARB, and the local tournament organiser if there is one, before making the appointments.

7.3     In the specific case of the Olympiad, the host Federation may nominate up to 25% of the total number of Match Arbiters, who do not have to be on a Panel, however need to comply with the published regulations. The nominated arbiters must be approved by GSC, respecting the following criteria:

No Federation can have more than 1 male Match Arbiter and 1 female Match Arbiter appointed.

At least 25% of the total number of arbiters appointed must be female.

At least 25% of the total number of arbiters appointed must be male.

7.4     At least 25% of the total number of arbiters appointed to a calendar year’s worth of tournaments under the aegis of GSC must be female.

7.5     At least 25% of the total number of arbiters appointed to a calendar year’s worth of tournaments under the aegis of GSC must be male.