HUGGINS & FARREN SELECTED AS DELEGATES FOR PARIS 2024 PARALYMPICS

World Abilitysport has appointed Peter Huggins as Head SEMI delegate and Chris Farren as Head Referee for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

World Abilitysport is responsible for appointing a number of technical officials to run the Fencing event at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Peter Huggins has been a member of the Executive Committee of IWAS (the International Wheelchair Fencing Federation) since 2012 and has also been the Head of the SEMI (Electronic Signalling Equipment and Installations) Commission since that time. He is also a member of the European Fencing Confederation SEMI Commission.

Peter has over 40 years of experience, taking on the role of Semi Commission Delegate or Head of Weapon Control at over 30 major events – World Championships, Zonal Championships and Zonal Games, and over 100 World Cup tournaments. At the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Peter was the Head of Weapon Control for Fencing, Modern Pentathlon Fencing and Wheelchair Fencing. This was followed by appointments as Head SEMI Commission delegate at both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Speaking of his selection, Peter said “I am delighted and honoured to have been selected to officiate at the Paralympics wheelchair fencing tournament which is to be held in the Grand Palais in Paris”.

Chris Farren has been a wheelchair fencing referee for almost 14 years, and has been a member of the IWAS (the International Wheelchair Fencing Federation) referee commission since 2016. During this period he has refereed at all levels from satellite to world cup to major championships, officiating thousands of bouts across all three weapon disciplines and presiding over five Paralympic finals.

In 2021 Chris was elected to be head of the Referee Commission, and since that appointment has been working to develop referee skillsets across the globe via online and in person training. Chris has previously been head referee at World Cup events, European Championships and World Championships. Speaking of his selection, Chris said “It is always wonderful to be asked to be part of the Paralympics for wheelchair fencing, and I’m really looking forwards to working with the talented athletes, coaches and referees who will be there.”

Hilary Philbin, BF President said, “These appointments reflect the world class skills and knowledge that both Peter and Chris bring to support wheelchair fencing at the highest level. On behalf of BF and our members I’d like to congratulate Peter and Chris on their well-deserved appointments.”

More Information

*SEMI is a French acronym meaning: Signalisation, Equipment et Matériel Installation (“Electronic Signalling Equipment and Installations”)

Responsibilities of the SEMI delegate includes:

• Ensuring that the equipment supplied by the organisers and the venue layout for the tournament conform to regulations
• Supervising the checks on athletes’ personal equipment, clothing and fencing wheelchairs for safety and conformity with regulations, and the marking of controlled kit which has been found to be acceptable at the Weapon Control checks
• Supervising the checks on athletes’ clothing, equipment and wheelchairs in the Call Room before direct elimination bouts
• Advising both referees and the DT on technical problems which arise during active play.

Responsibilities of the Referee delegate includes:

• Selection of all international and national referees for the Paralympic events
• Training and development of referees prior to the games in both recent rule changes and video analysis techniques
• Allocation of referees to all bouts at the competition
• Dealing with appeals, queries and unexpected issues arising at the event as part of the DT

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