GBR ELIGIBILITY CLARIFICATION FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

A summary of BF’s position regarding UK Passports and British Citizenship in relation to National Championships and European Fencing confederation (EFC) /International Fencing Federation (FIE) International events. 

1. To compete in the British National Championships at Cadet, Junior, U23 and Senior age groups, a fencer must hold a valid UK Passport or, as a British Citizen, demonstrate the ability to apply for a UK Passport in the calendar year of the event.
2. 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.
3. To be entered for (and compete in) an international EFC or FIE event, a fencer must hold the relevant and valid 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.
4. To apply for an EFC or FIE GBR licence, fencers must provide a valid UK Passport.
5. An athlete holding an EFC or FIE license for another federation is not eligible to compete in our National Championships or represent GBR.
6. 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. The FIE procedures require the athlete to hold a valid UK Passport.

Note 1. EFC U17 Manchester Oct 2023 passport exception. For those fencers selected for Manchester and do not currently hold a UK Passport, please email BF at GBR Support.

Note 2. U17 EFC Non Nominated – We are aware that there are U17 fencers who are demonstrably in the process of acquiring British citizenship which can take several years whilst in the meantime they are not affiliated to another country’s fencing federation and cannot therefore be entered by them. We are exploring the opportunity that we can licence and enter these fencers for U17 EFC non nominated competitions (ie those events for which no selection takes place, and no BF ranking points are available). More info to follow.

More Information

1. To compete in FIE events, the FIE fencers must be ‘strictly of the nationality of the country which they are representing’ which is evidenced by a UK passport and an FIE licence for GBR. (FIE Statutes 9.2)
2. To compete at EFC Championships fencers are also required to be of the nationality they represent, evidenced by a UK passport and an EFC licence for GBR.
3. British Opens and British Ranking Competitions do not have any nationality or citizenship eligibility requirements.

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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