Hi WCA Community,

In the last quarter, the WIC opened 24 cases and closed 19, both a record number for the Committee. This resulted in 5 bans and 8 warnings, while 6 cases ended with no action. Below, you can find summaries of some notable cases:

• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed of a competitor intentionally stopping the timer prematurely and allegedly positioning himself at solving stations where the display is turned off or where there is no display to avoid being caught. Due to limited availability of footage, it could not be immediately confirmed whether the competitor was performing early stops, but evidence was eventually discovered after monitoring their solves. The competitor was contacted and asked to provide any remarks about the matter. However, the competitor did not admit to any wrongdoing despite the multiple opportunities to do so. The competitor was issued a multi-year ban and the concerned results were disqualified. Despite being the same type of offense as the third case, the ban enacted was more severe due to aggravating circumstances.
• The WCA Integrity Committee received reports of a competitor who was completing moves on their puzzle during the inspection phase. The competitor admitted to making moves during inspection on some of their official attempts but the WIC believes that the extent of this cheating is further than what was admitted to. The WIC elected to disqualify some of this competitor’s results and enact a short ban.
• The WCA Integrity Committee received reports of a competitor who had improved at a suspiciously fast pace. The delegates also believed the competitor showed signs of cheating by stopping the timer early with their wrists. Throughout their subsequent competitions, evidence of this competitor cheating was gathered. Affected results were disqualified and this competitor received a short ban.
• The WCA Integrity Committee received evidence that two competitors had participated in manipulating each others‘ scorecards, recording times which were not actually achieved by the competitors. These competitors had multiple competitions worth of results disqualified and were issued a formal warning.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed of a competitor cheating in blindfolded events by peeking under the blindfold. Based on the evidence, the WIC determined that the competitor cheated several times. After an internal deliberation the WIC decided to issue a formal warning and disqualify all their results from blindfolded events.

Here are some other general WIC updates:

Zachary Miller (2017MILL04) has become the new Leader of the WCA Integrity Committee. We wish him the best of luck! Also, we are incredibly grateful to Shain Papalotl Longbehn (2020LONG05) for his performance and dedication to his role as leader over the last two years. Thank you so much for your work Shain!

New members have joined the WCA Integrity Committee:

• Daniel Darcy (2022DARC03)
• Elian Beguec (2014BEGU01)
• Finn Trass (2016TRAS01)
• Jakub Hanuszkiewicz (2014HANU01)
• Max Kwok U Sam (2018SAMK01)
• Meng Chon Kuok (2023KUOK01)
• Pauline Bonnaudet (2009BONN01)
• Yash Budhiraja (2018BUDH01)

Jonas Balsfulland (2012BALS01) recently stepped down from his position as a WIC member. Thank you so much for your work Jonas!

The WCA Integrity Committee will work closely with the WCA Major Championships Team (WMCT) to assist the organizers of major championships in selecting volunteers.

Do you have questions for the WIC? Feel free to send us an email any time.

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

There will be an appointment of a new WCA Regulations Committee (WRC) Leader, as Carter Kucala is stepping down. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Carter for leading the WRC since June 2024.

Candidates are expected to fulfill their terms (24 months) and to spend at least 8 hours per week on average to work for the Regulations Committee. The qualities expected of candidates are:

• Strong leadership skills
• Attention to detail
• Expert knowledge of Regulations
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Good judgment and decision-making skills
• Excellent communication skills

The application period for candidates to submit their candidacy documents is from now until February 22, 2026, 23:59 UTC. Interested candidates can send the application privately to the Executive Assistants Team (assistants@worldcubeassociation.org), CC’ing the WCA Board (board@worldcubeassociation.org).

The candidacy documents must be in PDF format, and must include:

1. Brief personal introduction
2. Summary of activities done for the WCA
3. Ambitions as the WRC Leader

Candidates are additionally asked to send a copy of their applications which can be made public at the end of the application period.

The rights and duties of the WRC can be found in WCA Motion 10.2025.9.

After the application period, the WCA Board will interview the most qualified applicants, make a selection by voting, and announce the new Leader, as described in Section 5 of WCA Motion 10.2025.0.

Thanks for your candidacies and support.

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

The WCA Appeals Committee (WAC) is looking for new members! Interested community members of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Due to the nature of the WAC’s work, the following requirements apply:

• Candidates must have served a period of at least 12 consecutive months as a WCA Volunteer (this does not have to be a current position).
• Candidates must not be a serving member of the WCA Board, the WCA Regulations Committee, or the WCA Integrity Committee (or must be willing to relinquish the role upon appointment to this role).

What does the WAC do?

The official rights and duties of the WAC are documented in WCA Motion 10.2025.4 – Appeals Committee. The WCA Appeals Committee is a small team that handles appeals made by members of the WCA affected by a decision made by either the WCA Integrity Committee (WIC) or the WCA Regulations Committee (WRC).

Members of the WAC examine the provided evidence and determine whether the grounds for an appeal are valid or not. Then, a thorough analysis of the original committee’s decision is made to reach a final verdict which can overturn or uphold the decision.

The workload of WAC members can vary quite a bit depending on the period and the amount of ongoing cases but it would rarely exceed 3 hours per week. Members are expected to display a certain degree of initiative, maturity, patience and respect in all communications due to the occasional sensitive nature of the investigations. For those reasons, we are also setting an age limit of 18 years old for candidates.

Requirements and expectations

The qualities and requirements expected of candidates are:

• At least 18 years of age as of March 1st, 2026.
• Availability throughout the week – expected time commitment of 1 to 3 hours per week.
• Ability to communicate comfortably in written English.
• Ability to patiently communicate with people whose first language is not English.
• Ability to communicate constructively and respectfully, even when you disagree.
• Familiarity with the WCA Regulations and Guidelines, though it is not necessary nor expected that applicants have a perfect working knowledge.
• Familiarity with the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics.
• Familiarity with the competition environment.

How to Apply

Candidacy documents must include:

• A brief personal introduction.
• Summary of activities done for the WCA and the cubing community.
• Overview of skills relevant to the role.
• Motivation for joining the WAC.

Candidacy documents must be in PDF format. The application period is open for candidates to submit their candidacy document from now until February 27th, 2026, 23:59 UTC privately to Rui Reis (rreis@worldcubeassociation.org).

You can expect a reply to confirm whether your application is complete, and may receive a request for an interview with the WAC Leader and up to two other members.

Thank you for your interest in assisting the Appeals Committee and the WCA!

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

Regretfully, we need to inform you that Ryan Murphy has resigned from his position as the Executive Director of the World Cube Association. Ryan has accepted a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve as the Head of Doping Control for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Ryan has agreed to remain in an advisory role, allowing the WCA to benefit from his unique and valuable expertise.

Although short, Ryan’s tenure as the WCA Executive Director has been incredibly meaningful in pushing the organization towards a greater and more sustainable future, and we wish him the best in his new role.

In communicating his departure, Ryan had the following to say:
“I would like to offer a very special and heartfelt thank you to the WCA Board: Kerrie, Nick, Dan, Blake, and Abdullah. Their leadership, dedication, and tireless commitment to the community are evident in everything the WCA does. In the short time I have worked with them, I have seen firsthand the amount of care, thoughtfulness, and effort they put into leading the organization. The WCA is in exceptionally capable hands, and I am confident the Board will continue to guide the organization forward with integrity, vision, and a deep commitment to the global speedcubing community.”

The WCA Board of Directors will resume direct oversight of the Executive Director’s duties, with the support from the strong network of WCA Volunteers. The WCA Board of Directors will continue to evaluate the next steps regarding the Executive Director position in the coming weeks and will release further information at an appropriate time.

Thank you for placing your trust in the WCA as we continue to work towards our goal of empowering the global speedcubing community to succeed.

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

We are happy to announce that Zachary Miller has become the new Leader of the WCA Integrity Committee (WIC). Zachary was already working as a Senior Member of the WIC.

Zachary was selected by the WCA Board and approved in a vote, as described in Section 5 of our Motion about WCA Committees and Teams. This appointment is effective as of January 13, 2026.

We thank Shain Longbehn, who will remain as a Senior Member of the WIC, for the work he has done as the Leader, and wish Zachary the best of luck in fulfilling his new duties.

Zachary was the only applicant for the role, and his successful candidacy document can be found here.

Source:: worldcubeassociation