Washington Administrative Code › Title 36 - Licensing, Department of (Professional Athletics) › Chapter 36-14 - Professional and amateur martial arts › Section 36-14-335 - Referee's responsibilities/authority

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) The referee's primary responsibility
			 shall be to maintain the safety and welfare of the participants at all
			 times.
(2) Before starting a
			 contest, the referee shall determine the name of the chief seconds for each
			 participant. The chief second shall be responsible for the conduct of the
			 participant's other seconds during the contest.
(3) The referee shall not allow any person
			 other than the participant and the event physician to enter the ring during a
			 round.
(4) The referee shall
			 inspect the participants' bodies and gloves to make sure no substances have
			 been applied to the detriment of an opponent.
(5) Referees who are event officials shall
			 pass a physical examination by the event physician within twenty-four hours
			 prior to an event for the purpose of determining their physical ability to
			 referee the contest. If such examination indicates the referee is physically
			 unable to referee the contest, such inability shall be noted on the prefight
			 physical form and immediately be reported to the inspector or department
			 representative.
(6) The referee
			 shall have the authority to stop a contest any time he/she thinks it is too
			 one-sided, or if either participant is in such condition that to continue might
			 subject them to serious injury.
(7)
			 The referee shall not make a disqualification decision based on one
			 unintentional, low-blow foul. However, if two previous warnings for such fouls
			 have resulted in point deductions, the third foul may be grounds for
			 disqualification.
(8) The referee
			 has authority to decide any matters that arise during a contest and are not
			 covered by these rules.
(9) If a
			 participant receives an injury that the referee thinks shall incapacitate the
			 participant, the referee shall ask the event physician to examine the
			 participant. The event physician shall provide the referee with an opinion as
			 to the seriousness of the injury and either the event physician or the referee
			 shall stop the contest if the injury is serious. When a referee calls the event
			 physician into the ring, the referee shall direct the timekeeper to cease
			 keeping time while the event physician examines the participant.
(10) The referee may penalize a participant
			 who fouls an opponent during a contest, by charging such participant with the
			 loss of points. The referee shall immediately notify the judges of the number
			 of points to be deducted.
(11) The
			 referee shall stop the contest if the participant's chief second determines
			 that a contest should be stopped, and immediately signals the referee by
			 stepping onto the ring apron, or top step of the cage.
(12) Prior to an event, each referee shall
			 disclose to the department all considerations, including reimbursement for
			 expenses that will be received from any source for participation in the event.
			 The disclosure shall be made on a form supplied by the department.
(13) A decision rendered at the termination
			 of any contest may be changed by the department if the department determines
			 that one of the following occurred:
(a) There
			 was collusion affecting the result of any contest;
(b) The compilation of the scorecard of the
			 judges shows an error which would mean that the decision was given to the wrong
			 contestant; or
(c) There was a
			 violation of the laws or rules governing contests, which affected the result of
			 any contest.