2025 FIE CONGRESS – SUMMARY DECISIONS

Significant rules and statute changes affecting entry fees, passivity, safeguarding, women’s category, clothing and coaching following 2025 FIE Congress held in Bahrain on 22nd November.

Highlights from decisions taken at the 2025 Congress include:

• Entry Fee Increases – Individual entry fee increases: Junior World Cup 40 euros, Senior World Cup 80 euros and Grand Prix 120 euros.
• Passivity – Removal of P-yellow card. This means straight to P-red on first minute of passivity, followed by P-black as before. (Start season 2026-27, more information to follow).
• Minimum Clothing – t.20 – Clarification that breeches and long socks are always required for warm-up and training, and introducing a minimum standard of dress for coaches (long trousers) and fencers taking lessons (shorts and t-shirt).
• New FIE Cadet Circuit – more info on separate news post about the new FIE Cadet Circuit here.
• Team Presentation – now mandated at the end of the team event in full fencing kit or national tracksuit.
• Coaching during Pools – Clarification that during the round of pools nobody except fencer and referees is allowed to be inside the Piste Enclosure.
• Clothing for Coaches and Team Captains – When inside the Field of Play, coaches and team captains must wear full length trousers, tops covering their torso and shoulders and closed shoes. For World Championships, coaches and team captains inside the Field of Play must wear the tracksuit of the country they are representing.
• *Women’s Category Definition – “only people who are female sex at birth and have not started female to male hormone treatment will be eligible to compete in the women’s category“. Effective immediately.
• Prevention of Harassment and Abuse – requires FIE to be informed of  “any current safe sport allegation before a competent authority, current sanction or current conviction relating to safeguarding matters” for people assigned to identified positions of authority at FIE competitions.

Note 1. *This proposal aligns with the existing BF Competition Gender Policy and therefore no changes are required to BF’s policy as a result.

Note 2. All changes unless otherwise indicated come into effect 1st January, 2026.

British Fencing was represented at the FIE Congress by President Pat Aiyenuro and CEO Georgina Usher.

More Details

Blue text highlights the additional text.

Chapter XIII ‘Prevention of abuse and harassment’ (addition)

The FIE Safeguarding Officer or the FIE Lead Safeguarding Officer is entitled to put in place appropriate protective measures whenever he/she becomes aware of any situation in which participants of international competitions or training camps of the FIE, and children in particular, are at risk or might be at risk.

Any licence holder offered one or more of the following assignments is, prior to accepting, required to inform the FIE of any current safe sport allegation before a competent authority, current sanction or current conviction relating to safeguarding matters. Any appeal against such sanction or conviction does not suspend this requirement.

• All officials designated for the World Championships and Olympic Games

• All referees at an official competition of the FIE

• All coaches at an official competition or training camp of the FIE, or

• Any person appointed by their National Federation with responsibility for athlete welfare at an official competition or training camp of the FIE.

Furthermore, the National Federations being aware of any current safe sport allegation before a competent authority, current sanction or current conviction relating to safeguarding matters regarding the above-mentioned person, shall inform FIE without delay.

Where appropriate, the FIE Safeguarding Officer will confer with the National Federation and the parties concerned to try to agree on safeguarding protection measures.

National Federations are required to inform their licence holders of this requirement.

t.20
2 It is obligatory for any fencer who warms up or trains with another fencer on site at an official FIE competition (including in the training halls linked to the competition) to wear

full

fencing clothing and equipment which conforms with the FIE regulations.

This includes breeches and long socks in accordance with m.25.

Any person giving a lesson must wear at least a fencing master’s plastron as well as a fencing glove,

long trousers

and a mask conforming with the regulations.
Any fencer taking a lesson must wear at least a mask, a glove,

a top covering the torso and shoulders, and shorts which reach to within 10cm of the knees or lower.

Domestic Application

(updated 11.12.2025)

The FIE rules cover FIE sanctioned events.  More information will follow should there be any changes to BF domestic events rules (eg around clothing, coaching etc). Fencers should expect that the new passivity rule will come in at the latest for all domestic competitions held from 1st August 2026.

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