Dear WCA Community,

Here you can find some noteworthy updates about the activity of the Disciplinary Committee over the first three months of 2020.

The main case we investigated greatly affects the Turkish Community. An unfortunate situation occurred during İzmir Open 2020, where a WCA Staff Member physically assaulted a competitor as a consequence of a heated discussion. Because of this, WCA Delegate İskender Aznavur has been demoted by the WEC and banned from WCA Competitions for 5 years by the WDC. İskender’s ban began on the 6th of February and he decided to appeal the ruling shortly after, contacting the WCA Board. In the end, the Board concluded that the investigation by the WDC and WEC was appropriately conducted and concluded.

The competitor involved in this incident, Ahmet Güzel, has been banned for 3 months for failing to respect İskender’s official ruling on a Regulations issue and for the language he used towards a WCA Official. Ahmet’s ban was made official and communicated to him on the 9th of February and he accepted the ruling.

Given the importance of the decisions taken by the WEC and WDC, we have decided to publish the report of the investigation. The document can be found here.

To conclude this Digest, we would like to remind everyone to make sure they fully understand the WCA Regulations and competition procedures. If you have any questions or are unsure about how to do something, please do not hesitate to ask the Delegate(s) of the competition. In addition, if you think the competition results are being compromised in any way or if you see suspicious behavior, find the nearest Delegate immediately and report the incident.

We would also like to remember that Delegates represent the WCA and the Regulations during official competitions, and every competitor should accept their decisions and follow their instructions without protesting. If you believe a Delegate is not acting in accordance with the Mission, Spirit, and Regulations of the WCA you should report them to the Ethics Committee (WEC). Creating a scene at the competition is not an appropriate way to handle the situation.

Thank you all for your help in supporting the WCA Spirit and Mission.