GBR Eligibility

last updated 01.02.2024

Not everyone born in, living in or studying in the UK is entitled to represent Great Britain in international sport events.

This page contains a summary of the citizenship/nationality evidence required to:

• compete in the British Individual (Closed) National Championships Series (U17/U20/U23/Senior )
• be licensed and entered to represent GBR and European Fencing Confederation (EFC) competitions
• be licensed and entered to International Fencing Federation (FIE) International events.

International Federation (FIE) Events

In accordance with the requirements of FIE Statutes 9.2, the following documents are required to apply for an FIE license and compete in events for GBR:

• A full UK Passport (British National Overseas not accepted)

An FIE License is required to compete in the

• Junior & Senior European Championships
• Cadet, Junior, Senior and Veteran World Championships.
• All FIE Junior World Cups
• All FIE Senior World Cups, Grand Prixs, Satellites.

British Individual Championships & EFC Events (U14/U17/U23)

An EFC license for GBR is required to be entered by GBR at:

• U17 European Championships
• U14, U17, U23 Circuit events

Any of the following documents will be accepted as proof of citizenship for applications for EFC licences and eligibility to compete at National Championships.

• A full UK Passport (BNO not accepted), or
• A citizenship certificate, or
• A birth certificate which shows that you were born in the UK with at least one parent also born in the UK (or Ireland).

The following documents are not accepted:

1. Any form of visa
2. Any Rights Of Abode certificate/documentation
3. BNO passport
4. Passports of parents

Note: The rights to live, study and work in the UK granted under various schemes do not confer eligibility to represent GBR. Almost all fencing competitions held in the UK do not require this GBR eligibility status, only requiring the appropriate British Fencing membership which is not dependent on nationality or residence status.

If you are fencing in cadet (U17) EFC tournaments with the intention of qualifying to compete at the FIE World Championships you will be required to have a UK Passport to get the FIE license. As there is insufficient time to get a passport between selection and the event, fencers will NOT BE ELIGIBLE for selection for the FIE world championships if they do not have a full UK passport at selection point.

More Information

• An athlete holding an EFC or FIE license for another federation is not eligible to compete in our National Championships, represent GBR or apply for an EFC or FIE license.
• To apply for and EFC or FIE licence: British Fencing members can obtain this via their BF Membership Profile on bf.sport80.com More information and step by step instructions here.
• Attendance at the representative National Championships is required to meet selection/entry eligibility for international events representing GBR (EFC U17, U20, U23, Satellites,  and Senior World Cups, Grand Prixs, European and World Championships). This is currently stated in the Selection Policy. There is an existing exception in the case a fencer does not have British citizenship at the point of the National Championships but subsequently receives British citizenship and a form can be found and completed here.
• An athlete holding or who has previously held an EFC or FIE license issued through another National Federation can request a transfer to fence for Great Britain. Switching during the season is allowable under the Selection Policy, but there are EFC and FIE procedures to follow.
• Ineligible athletes who wish to compete in EFC events should in the first instance contact the National Fencing Federation of the country that they are a citizen of.
• We are aware that there are U14/U17 fencers who are in the process of acquiring British citizenship which can take several years whilst in the meantime they may not be able to affiliate to another country’s fencing federation and cannot therefore be entered by them. We are exploring solutions with the EFC, and the expectation is that there will be a mechanism for them to acquire an EFC license compete without an country affiliation.  At the moment this would only apply to fencers who have moved from Hong Kong under a specific UK Government scheme. Note that this would only permit fencers to compete in EFC competitions, it would NOT make them eligible to represent Great Britain in European or World Championships.
• The British Open Championships is held in the Senior and U14 categories and is open to all British Fencing members, and does not required GBR eligibility.

ADP Contact Us
For general support/international competition administration/urgent queries, please email us via GBR Support.

For feedback and questions, use the pathway/ADP queries form.

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