TOURNAMENT RULES SECTION 6 - PROTEST PROCEDURE Article 49. PROTEST A. Only the Coach can present a protest when a decision seems to violate the rules. B. Each protest must be written on the official protest form and presented to the Chairman of the Umpire Committee within 5 minutes from the end of the match. The protest must be precise and circumstantial and must be accompanied by a tax that will be fixed by the Tournament Adjudication Committee at the beginning of each tournament, in order to limit the protests only in cases where decisions are really questionable. Only in cases where the protest is positively accepted by the Umpire Committee the tax will be returned to the coach. C. The Umpire Committee will then examine the circumstances of the protest and will decide: i.) to validate the match; ii.) to repeat the match; iii.) to assign the victory of the match to the loser; iv.) to disqualify both competitors. D. In case of a protest the winner cannot compete again before the decision of the Umpire Committee has been made. Article 50. DECISIONS A. In order to give a decision the Umpire Committee may call anyone else they desire to give evidence on the protest. B. On reaching a decision the Umpire Committee will notify all parties concerned of this decision. C. The Umpire Committee will at all times base their decision on the rules laid down in this document and their decision cannot conflict with the rules of this document. Article 51. DISQUALIFICATION Team Managers/Representatives or Individuals who persist in arguing against decisions made by the Tournament Adjudication Committee may, at their discretion, have the whole team, or the individual, disqualified from all further events at the championship. The matter will be considered by the Tournament Adjudication Committee at a later date with a view to further action being taken. Article 52. TEAM/COMPETITOR WITHDRAWAL In case of teams or individuals withdrawing from championship as a protest then the following will result: A. automatic disqualification from that event which means no placing for that event, therefore no medals. B. automatic disqualification from all further events at the championship. C. further disqualification from further event as decided by the Tournament Adjudication Committee. Article 53. COPIES OF RULES A copy of the I.T.F Tournament Rules must be present at all tournaments and be accessible to all competitors and officials. Rome, Italy 1994 - Amended October 2000 BACK