Dear WCA Community,

We are happy to announce that Sarah Strong will become the new Leader of the WCA Quality Assurance Committee (WQAC). Sarah was already working as a Senior Member of the WQAC.

Sarah 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 December 10, 2025.

We thank Deni Mintsaev, who will remain as a senior member of the WQAC, for the work he has done as the Leader, and wish Sarah the best of luck in fulfilling her new duties.

Sarah was one of the two applications we received. You can view all the candidacy documents here.

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

There will be an appointment of a new WCA Integrity Committee (WIC) Leader, as Shain Longbehn’s term is ending. We would like to thank Shain for the work he has done leading the Integrity Committee.

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

• Strong leadership skills
• Experience in conducting and overseeing investigations
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Commitment to confidentiality and ethical conduct
• Good judgment and decision-making skills
• Familiarity with WCA activities
• Excellent communication skills

The application period for candidates to submit their candidacy documents is from now until December 31, 2025, 23:59 UTC. Interested candidates can send the application privately to the Executive Assistant 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 WIC Leader of the WCA.

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 WIC can be found in WCA Motion 10.2025.3.

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 Regulations Committee would like to inform you about a new version of the WCA Regulations. This version will be in effect for competitions beginning on, or after, January 1st, 2026.

You can review all changes in this comparison on GitHub. You can click on “Files changed” to see the complete files of the Regulations, where all changes and additions are marked green and removals are marked red.

You can read a more detailed description of changes in this explainer document. Below is a summary of the changes in the new version of the Regulations.

Major Changes:

• Introduce Head to Head format changes
• Introduce Dual Rounds changes
• Change 3×3 Blindfolded format to Best of 5 changes
• Simplify Regulation 2i (electronics) changes
• Introduce Approved Timer List changes
• 5×5 & Megaminx misscramble requirements changes
• Allow certain extras to be scrambled on an unsolved puzzle changes

Minor Changes:

• Remove gender from 2c changes
• Remove Board discretion in 2e changes
• Remove stateless recognition changes
• Restrict 2s++ accommodations changes
• Remove 2t changes
• Clarify 3d1b color blind accommodations changes
• Add „reasonably“ to 3h2a changes
• Clock puzzle legality changes
• Forbid photographing scrambles changes
• Clarify intentional puzzle defects changes
• Clarify Square-1 scrambles changes
• Clarify recording no results changes
• Clarify record recognition changes
• Clarify record timing changes
• Clarify extra timing changes
• 9l1++ consistency update changes
• Clarify amending round format changes
• Restrict adding rounds after final changes
• Remove 10h changes
• Remove 11e1+ changes
• Clarify order of results changes
• Note attempt order for combined cumulative rounds changes
• Clarify one minute to start attempt changes
• Clarify Square-1 moves in inspection changes
• Clarify timer start hand position changes
• Change A5b assistance changes
• Change A6c default to +2 changes
• Clarify A6e (touching the puzzle after the solve) changes
• Clarify time format changes
• Add discretion to A7c3 penalty changes
• Clarify A7c8 attestation changes
• Remove A7g+++ example changes
• Clarify B3c exception changes
• Add discretion to FMC penalties changes
• Clarify penalty for revealing FMC scramble changes
• Clarify Multi-Blind latecomers changes
• Remove H1b1++ changes
• Generalize H1e changes

Source:: worldcubeassociation

We are happy to announce we have a new Senior Delegate, Abhimanyu Singhal, for USA & Canada.

Abhimanyu (“Manu”) was selected by the WCA Board by voting among them, following Section 4 of our Motion about Senior Delegates.

We extend our support and best wishes to Manu in fulfilling his new responsibilities. His term as Senior Delegate starts on November 18, 2025.

Manu was among two applicants we had for the Senior Delegate USA & Canada role. The candidacy documents can be found here.

In addition to Manu, the other applicant for USA & Canada was:

• Sarah Strong

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

In the last quarter, the WIC opened 19 cases and closed 18, both a record number for the Committee. This resulted in 7 bans and 5 warnings, while 6 cases ended with no action. Below, you can find summaries of some notable cases:

• The WCA Integrity Committee recently posted a public report about a former National-Record holding competitor intentionally stopping the timer inappropriately. The competitor was issued a two-and-a-half-year ban from competing and their results in multiple competitions were disqualified. For further information, please click here.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed that a competitor touched a spectator inappropriately during a competition. The spectator also explained that that was not the first time the competitor did so without consent. The WIC contacted a witness, who corroborated the competitor’s behavior. The WIC determined the incident credible and substantiated based on the credibility of the testimonies, the immediate emotional impact observed by multiple parties, and the existence of witnesses who confirmed the victim’s reaction. The competitor was issued a multi-year ban from competing, attending WCA competitions and participating in WCA forums.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was provided conclusive footage of a competitor performing moves in inspection. When presented with the evidence, the WIC felt that the competitor’s remorse and cooperation during the investigation was not entirely genuine, and that the competitor only regretted their actions when caught. They were issued a multi-year ban from competing and their results in multiple competitions were disqualified.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed that a competitor had made several inappropriate comments that violated 2.2.1 of the Code of conduct. The competitor denied having engaged in any offence. However, multiple witnesses corroborated the competitor’s behavior. The competitor was issued a ban from competing and attending WCA competitions.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed by multiple Delegates across several competitions about a competitor manipulating multiple scorecards. As the competitor confessed to having manipulated some results, a short-term ban from competing was issued. We remind all Delegates and Volunteers involved in data entry of the importance of carefully checking the results for suspicious changes.
• The WCA Integrity Committee received an email reporting inappropriate behavior by a competitor who had made inappropriate and unwanted jokes that were violent in nature and violated 2.2.1 of the Code of Conduct. When confronted, the competitor denied having made such jokes and stopped replying to our subsequent emails. The competitor was issued a ban from competing and attending WCA competitions.

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

Source:: worldcubeassociation