Dear WCA Community,

In the last three months, the WDC has opened 17 cases and closed 17, with some closed cases originating in late 2023. Of the closed cases, two have resulted in a ban and seven have resulted in formal warnings. Some of the details of the cases can be found below.

• An anonymized, public report was written about a competitor turning during inspection over a long period of time. The competitor was banned for 2-years and 6-months from competing. The details can be found here.
• A young competitor was found repeatedly using portions of the inverse scramble when competing in FMC, while deliberately trying to cover their solution with rotations. The competitor was given a formal warning and the delegates were advised to check future attempts carefully.
• A couple cases related to touching, poking, and/or hugging other competitors without asking permission. The WDC would like to remind everyone to respect personal spaces and boundaries, and to always ask before touching another person.
• A competitor contacted a delegate confessing to two past episodes of cheating. These included insisting on a faster result for an ambiguously written time, and applying a move after stopping the timer. Given the context of the situation and advice from the delegate, the WDC decided that no further action was necessary.
• The WDC has opened several cases recently of competitors stopping the timer early and peaking under the blindfold. These incidents can be avoided by attentive judging and sufficient judge training. The WDC would like to remind judges to stay focused during a solve and to hold sight blockers appropriately, as well as remind delegates to further emphasize the importance of attentive judging at their competitions.

In February, a vote among Senior Delegates and Committee Leaders was held to select a new leader for the WDC following the end of Sebastiano Tronto’s term. I, Shain Papalotl Longbehn, was elected as the new WDC leader. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this team of passionate and intelligent individuals. Thank you once again to Sebastiano for his commitment to the team the last three years.

Do you have questions for the WDC? Feel free to send us an email, or ask your question in the Disciplinary section of the WCA forum.

Source:: worldcubeassociation