10 Ways To Get Disqualified From A WCA Competition

Note: The 10 things below are just the more specific ones. It is still highly advised to follow ALL WCA regulations and obey the WCA Delegates to avoid being disqualified from a competition.

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1 Country Representation

Country Representation

Competitors must represent a country of which they hold citizenship. The WCA Delegate should verify citizenship by means of documents (e.g. a passport) at their first competition. If a competitor is found ineligible to represent the country under which they have registered, the competitor may be disqualified retroactively and/or suspended, at the discretion of the WCA Board. ( See WCA Regulation 2e)

Competitors with updates to their citizenship status may change their country of representation before or at their first competition of a calendar year. If the competitor loses citizenship of the country which they were previously representing, they must change the country of representation before or at their next competition. Competitors who have no citizenship may compete as “Stateless”.

Dress Code

Competitors must be fully dressed while in the competition venue. At the discretion of the WCA Delegate, competitors may be disqualified from the competition for inappropriate clothing. (See WCA Regulation 2h)

Registration

At the discretion of the WCA Delegate, a competitor may be disqualified from some events (a single event, multiple events, or all events) if the competitor fails to check in or register in time for the competition. (See WCA Regulation 2k1)

Cheating

At the discretion of the WCA Delegate, a competitor may be disqualified from some events (a single event, multiple events, or all events) if the competitor is suspected of cheating or defrauding the officials during the competition. (See WCA Regulation 2k2)

Behavior

At the discretion of the WCA Delegate, a competitor may be disqualified from some events (a single event, multiple events, or all events) if the competitor behaves in a way that is unlawful/violent/indecent/unsafe, or intentionally damages venue facilities or personal property within the venue. (See WCA Regulation 2k3)

Distraction

At the discretion of the WCA Delegate, a competitor may be disqualified from some events (a single event, multiple events, or all events) if the competitor distracts or interferes with others during the competition. (See WCA Regulation 2k4)

Goal

At the discretion of the WCA Delegate, a competitor may be disqualified from some events (a single event, multiple events, or all events) if the competitor does not fulfill the event’s requirements (e.g. not knowing how to solve the puzzle). A competitor must not compete with the expectation of a DNF result or an intentionally poor result. (See WCA Regulation 2k6)

Disputes

The competitor must accept all final rulings of the WCA Delegate. (See WCA Regulation 2n3)

Although competitors may verbally dispute a ruling to the WCA Delegate, disputes are only permitted during the competition, within 30 minutes after the disputed incident happened and before the start of any following rounds of the relevant event. The WCA Delegate must resolve the dispute before the start of the next round of the event.

Judging

Every competitor must be available for judging. If required to judge, a competitor may be excused only for a legitimate reason (e.g. being unfamiliar with a puzzle), at the discretion of the WCA Delegate. (See WCA Regulation 1e2)

Scrambling

Every competitor must be available for scrambling. If required to scramble, a competitor may be excused only for a legitimate reason (e.g. being unfamiliar with scrambling notation), at the discretion of the WCA Delegate. (See WCA Regulation 1f2)