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Head Referees have ultimate and final authority on all gameplay and Robot ruling decisions during the competition. Head Referees are the only individuals permitted to explain a rule, Disqualification, or Violation to the Teams in a Teamwork Match.
• Scorekeeper Referees score the Match, and may serve as observers or advisers for the Head Referees, but may not determine any Violations directly.
• When issuing a Disqualification or Violation to a Team, the Head Referee should attempt to notify the Team as the Violation occurs, and after the Match must provide the rule number of the specific rule that has been Violated and record the Violation in the Match Anomaly Log.
• Event Partners may not overrule a Head Referee’s gameplay or Robot decisions.
• Every Qualification Match and Finals Match must be watched by a certified Head Referee. A Head Referee may only watch one Match at a time; if multiple Matches are happening simultaneously on separate Fields, each Field must have its own Head Referee.
• At a minimum, every Robot Skills Match must be watched by a trained Scorekeeper Referee, who may only watch one Match at a time. If multiple Robot Skills Matches are happening simultaneously on separate Fields, each Field must have its own Scorekeeper Referee. A certified Head Referee must be available at the event to explain a rule, Disqualification, Violation, or other penalty to Teams in Robot Skills Matches as needed in support of the Scorekeeper Referees at skills Fields.
• Head Referees must follow the rules in this game manual and the Q&A, and must make rulings consistent with the intent of the game manual and Q&A.
• Referees are not permitted to review any photo or video Match recordings when determining a score or ruling. Note from the VEX Game Design Committee: The rules contained in this Game Manual are written to be enforced by human Head Referees. Many rules have clear “black-and-white” criteria that can be easily checked. However, some rulings will rely on a judgment call from this human Head Referee. In these cases, Head Referees will make their calls based on what they and the Scorekeeper Referees saw, what guidance is provided by their official support materials (this Game Manual and the Q&A), and most crucially, the context of the Match in question. The VEX IQ Robotics Competition does not have video replay, our Fields do not have absolute sensors to count scores, and events do not have time for extensive review conferences between each Match. When an ambiguous rule results in a controversial call, there is a natural instinct to wonder what the “right” ruling “should have been,” or what the Game Design Committee “would have ruled.” This is ultimately an irrelevant question; our answer is that when a rule specifies “Head Referee’s discretion” (or similar) the correct call is the one that was made by the Head Referee in the moment. The VEX Game Design Committee designs games, and writes rules, with this expectation (constraint) in mind.
Game Rules Index