Regarding the IKU International Referee Qualifications, the following is reiterated:

1)To be an IKU referee, you must be over 21 years old and not over 70 years; from the day of his 71st birthday, onward, an IKU International referee will no longer be allowed to referee in an official IKU competition!

2)The referee candidate must, also, have a generic medical certificate of suitability and graduated, at least, his 1st DAN. Knowledge of English or Spanish language is recommended.

3)Due to the important technical differences specific to the IKU Referee Rules, the referee Qualifications acquired in other International Organizations, will NOT be recognized!

4)It will not be possible to hold more offices in refereeing for the IKU Referee Commission members; for example, whoever is appointed to the IKU Referee Commission, will not be able to carry out the function of Area-manager at the same time!

5)The FIRST qualification is that of Continental JUDGE. After participating in at least TWO official IKU Championships, the Continental REFEREE exam can be taken. These first TWO Qualifications can be acquired at the IKU Continental or World Championships!!

6)After participation an at least TWO IKU Championships, the Continental REFEREE will be able to hold the title of IKU World JUDGE. After participating in at least TWO other IKU official Championships, the JUDGE candidate will be able to take the IKU WORLD REFEREE exam!

7)The subsequent Qualification of TATAMI-CHIEF is of a political-territorial order and must be approved by IKU BOARD OF DIRECTORS!! (the World Referee Commission will be involved in the nomination of the Tatami Chief, as all the referees are monitored and evaluated by this commission, so as not to generate possible discussions regarding their qualification.)

8)If an International referee, with any of the qualifications, does not take part in TWO official Championships, he will automatically climbdown to the LOWER Qualification and will have to wait TWO official championships to repeat the examination for the lost higher Qualification!! If a referee does not take part in FOUR IKU Championships, he will lose all International Qualifications and will have to start his career from the beginning!!

Prof. PhD. Adrian Nagel (President of the IKU Referee Commission) – Approved! Dott. Stefano Pucci (President of the IKU Technical Commission) – Approved !!

You can download these explanations here:

http://ikunion.org/wp-content/uploads/EXPLANATIONS-for-Referee-career-2022-IKU.pdf