GBR CHARGES & FINES

First update: 26.09.2024 to reflect the 2024-25 fines and charges
Second update: 14.05.2025 to include EFC fines and reformat tables

This webpage intends to set out the administration charges and fines related to participation in the GBR international competitions. For context on the finance charges and BF resources, please see the explanatory note at the bottom of the page.

2024-25 EFC and FIE licence charges

2024-25 GBR competition administration and fees

There is an admin entry fee of £15.50 for the following international competitions where BF administrates entries:

• EFC U14
• Non-nominated EFC U17 (cadet)
• Non-nominated EFC U23
• Senior (FIE World Cups, FIE Grand Prix and non-nominated FIE satellites)
• FIE veterans competitions

FIE Satellites

BF is now managing and appointing referees for all FIE Satellites. Each satellite has a fixed referee fee of £80 per athlete. Referee fees will be added to the event cost, with the expectation of more than five athletes attending. If a referee is not required, athletes will be refunded the fee.

Nominated U20 (Junior) World Cups and all European and World Championships except Veterans events are considered ‘managed’ GBR trips, and there are additional services and, therefore, charges associated.

For U17 (Cadet) Nominated and Development EFC and FIE events, BF organises (and pays for) referees.

Costs are based on an average figure across the season for those types of competitions.

2024-25 late entry and withdrawal fees

Late entries will only be accepted in *exceptional* personal circumstances that demonstrably prohibit the entry from being completed by the deadline and will be subject to available administrative resources and the place still being available (see explanatory notes). Withdrawals must be submitted using the form here. BF requires at least 3 full working days to take action on any (non-medical) withdrawals.

Where no EFC or FIE fines are associated with a late entry or withdrawal:

2024-25 EFC and FIE fines

Where EFC or FIE fines are associated with a late entry or withdrawal:

Refunds

There are no circumstances in which the admin fees are refundable.

If an athlete withdraws from an event after paying, there may be some circumstances in which BF can process a refund (e.g., we can get a refund from hotels, and another athlete can take their place).

If an athlete withdraws and no other athlete takes their place (after the withdrawal) then the charges that relate to the provision of coaches and referees  at that event are non-refundable.

Athletes are expected to get travel insurance in case of cancellation. BF can provide evidence of payments so that these can be claimed against insurance.

Where refunds are payable, a 10 % transaction value deduction will be applied in addition to the relevant fines, fees, and charges set out above.

Explanatory Notes:

1. Pass through finance charges.
   1. When you pay a charge to British Fencing, there are finance charges. This means that if you pay BF £10, British Fencing typically receives less than £10 – how much less will depend on things like the mechanism of payment and the type of card you have used.
   2. When BF transfers money to other organisations such as the EFC, FIE, or Event Organising Committees on your behalf, our bank charges us fees to make the transfer/payment and for any currency conversion. So if we need to transfer £100 to the FIE, it will cost us more than £100. If you pay us £100 through an online payment mechanism, we will receive less than £100.
2. The cost of staff. BF employs a small number of people to administer the sport to keep membership fees as low as possible. BF employees do not work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are entitled to annual leave and holidays. Therefore, we put procedures and deadlines in place to ensure that our small team can administer the sport in reasonable timeframes.
3. BF sets and publishes entry deadlines so that we can administrate the large volumes of entries across the age groups. If an athlete fails to enter and pay by the deadline, the entry system will, in many cases, automatically as the next reserve athlete. Therefore, it may not always be possible to administrate late entries.

Previous Season Charges here