Event Licensing Terms and Conditions

1.     All events

Licenses are valid for one event only.

Licenses can be purchased up to 24 months in advance but confer no rights on the organiser other than that of insurance.

You must be a member of British Fencing to be an event organiser and apply for an Event License.

All events must:

1. Be run in accordance with BF Policies in a safe manner taking into consideration appropriate guidelines regarding equipment, safeguarding and FIE technical rules.
2. Have an appropriate number of officials of a suitable standard for the size and level of event.
3. Undertake a risk assessment, to be retained by the Event Organiser and submitted to BF and the Insurers in the event of an incident or claim.
4. Check participants hold valid and appropriate category British Fencing memberships.
5. Display their unique licence number on the competition information /webpages/entry forms etc.

A Welfare Officer must be in place for all events where children (U18s) or vulnerable adults are participating, either as fencers or officials.

If any of the details about the competition changes you must inform [email protected] so that our insurers can be notified and our calendar updated.

Events must be named in such a way that they do not cause confusion, purporting to be something they are not. Events titles using British or Home Nation descriptors (such as English, England, British, Welsh, Scotland, UK) alongside words such as Championships, must have authorisation from the Home Nation body and/or British Fencing before applying for a license.

If you wish to have a copy of the BF proof of insurance (typically required by venues) please contact [email protected].

In the event that a competition is cancelled there will be no refunds.

2.     Ranking competitions

Ranking Events must:

1. Be on the British Fencing calendar at least 3 months before the date of competition.
2. Be open to any member of the correct age and membership category (e.g. over 13 on 1st January in the calendar year of the competition for senior events).
3. Entry must be open only to British Fencing members – Overseas fencers should apply for a temporary membership from [email protected].
4. For domestic events, events should be seeded based on the most recent British rankings with Overseas Fencers being inserted in the seedings as appropriate.
5. For EFC or FIE events held in the UK the appropriate international rankings should be used.
6. The formula for the event must be published in advance including any byes through the first round, or expected cuts after the first round.
7. Normally be of a traditional format of poules followed by direct elimination. The formula can give byes to top ranked fencers but no further than the first round of the main DE tableau (e.g. FIE World Cup format). In an event with progressive entry the main DE tableau must be composed of no fewer than 32 fencers. If you are planning to use a non-standard formula, you are advised to liaise with the event manager during the registration process to ensure the format meets the requirements.
8. In the case of an event with progressive entry, the names of the fencers awarded a bye must always be published in advance for the clarity of all competitors.
9. Fights should be run as per FIE rules; for poules – 5 hits, 3minutes and poules of 7 or 6 wherever possible. Direct elimination – 15 hits, 3 periods of 3 minutes. There may be exceptions to this rule (e.g. events for fencers under the age of 13), however if you plan to use a different format please check with the event manager to ensure the format meets the requirements to be included in the rankings.
10. Self-refereeing should be kept to a minimum, particularly in direct elimination rounds, and it should be disclosed at point of registration if self-refereeing is a possibility.
11. Results must be submitted to British Fencing (details are available on the British Fencing website) directly after the event

British Fencing reserve the right to reduce/disallow ranking points from competitions which do not meet these criteria, or are not run in a way deemed appropriate for them to count towards a fencers’ national ranking.

If you have any queries, or wish to have confirmation regarding your event counting towards national rankings, please contact British Fencing Events [email protected]

Organisers must ensure they are aware of the latest ranking rules (available  here) . Organisers must ensure that all competitors are in possession of a current British Fencing membership of an appropriate level for the event, or that they fall into the category of “overseas fencers” if appropriate (see ranking schemes for further information). All events must submit complete results (including BFA numbers of all competitors – see www.fencingresults.net for support with this) within 7 days of the event. All events must enforce British Fencing rules, codes of conduct and welfare policies. British Fencing reserves the right to reduce or remove ranking points from any Competition for matters not covered by these rules.

Event License Application Form

For any enquiries please contact [email protected].