AJP Competition Regulations

1. event REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Athletes should make sure that all the registration information is correct from the event fighter's list.

Check the Name, Weight, Gender, Age, Belt, and Academy!

If there are any errors on the application or the name is not included on the list, changes should be made until the event's registration deadline, requests sent after the correction deadline will be ignored.

AJP has the right to change the date/venue of an event in case of any unforeseen occurrences.

AJP shall be entitled to close the registration in case the number of registered players reaches its full capacity.

AJP has the right to change or move categories from one day to another to better accommodate athletes.

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2. Athlete's affiliation and academy registration

All athletes, Kids, Youth, Amateurs and Professionals from White to Black Belt must be properly affiliated for the current year in the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro.
All academies must be registered and approved in order for its students to register in the competition.
All the documentation must be properly filled out when registering the affiliation online. All athletes with pending and/or incorrect documentation will be able to register for the tournament, but at the weigh in they need to have their details matching with membership application.
For information on how to become a member or membership renewal: Become a member
For more information on academy registration: Academy Registration
Athletes must bring their ID to the event, otherwise, they will not be able to compete.
Any false information provided during registration such as DOB (not limited to); may lead to immediate disqualification; such actions are subjected to suspension or even banishment from future AJP events.
An athlete proven to be a black belt in judo, traditional jujitsu or any other grappling combat sport, who has experience in freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestling or who has fought MMA as a professional or amateur, shall not be allowed to enter any tournament as a white belt. *In the USA, to have competed at a college level or higher. In other countries, to have competed in events of national scope.
AJP tries to accommodate as many athletes as possible in our events, but there is a limit on the number of athletes in order to guarantee a high quality event.
AJP reserves the right to close registration when full capacity is reached, or on the day of the appointed event registration deadline, whichever comes first.
AJP strongly suggests that the athlete's registration is finalized before making any travel arrangements.
Changes in the registration can be made and refunds can be applied until the deadline shown on the event's information page. All requests after the deadline will not be taken into consideration.

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3. IMPORTANT EVENT INFO

3.1. REFUND POLICY

The registration fee is 100% refundable.

Athletes have until the last day of registrations to apply for a refund. Athletes should log in to their account, then press the button "cancel" at the event's registration that they wish to apply for a refund. The refund will be made automatically and directly from PayPal, credit or debit card used to make the purchase.

The registration fee can not be transferred to another member or championship.

Refunds will be done only through the Original Payment Method.

We accept payments online using Visa and MasterCard credit/debit card in USD.

For some event levels, the refund will only be available before the last week of registrations.

Refunds will not be available in case of athlete's disqualification.

Exception:

* Athletes who remained alone in their divisions after the registration's deadline, will be moved according to the AJP Category Combining. In case they do not remain in original division and do not agree with the division merging then it is possible to request a refund up to 24 hours after the deadline .

** In case it is not possible to match any fight after category combining, and athlete did not take a medal or points in the ranking, it is possible request a registration refund up to 24 hours after the event date

*** In the events with a discounted package (GI and NO-GI ) available, athletes can apply for a partial refund within the deadline by contacting [email protected] .

3.2. CHECK IN

Check-in is the first step, that fighters will go through when they arrive at the tournament.

A basic summary of the Accreditation process is below:

When the CHECK IN process is finished, fighters are allowed to move on to the WEIGH IN.

3.3. WEIGH-IN

WEIGH IN (without GI) is the second step that fighters will go through when they arrive at Championship.

A basic summary of the Weigh In process below:

Athletes may only weigh up and fight if they are carrying on hands a Valid ID (identity document) which proves their nationality and with a photograph, otherwise, the athlete will be disqualified

The official weigh in dress:

Players must be wearing a non-transparent T-shirt and sport shorts covering down to their knees. Otherwise, players can weigh in wearing gi pants and T-shirts or full gi uniform. Singlets, tank tops, jeans, formal wear and short shorts are not allowed.

Depending on the type of championship, the weigh in may be performed a day before, one hour before or during the event (check event information schedule to see which one is applicable).

If athletes do not show up to the weigh-in (to check weight) they will be automatically disqualified.

Reasonable time will be given, therefore being late will not be tolerated.

Athletes have to attend the weigh-in in the timing given according to the event's deadline.

Athletes will be moved to the next division available if they exceed the weight they initially registered for (They will be assigned to the first place available in the new bracket regardless of their current rank). Click here to check the divisions.
Competitors over the limit 95KG (women) and 120KG (men) will be disqualified (please check limit cap for Kids and Youth divisions)

3.4. BRACKETS

The Pre Draw will take place days before the tournament begins, but the official draw can be changed any time, even after weigh in to accommodate all fighters.

The draw will be carried out randomly, by a computer with the use of the AJP software. Respecting the following category combining policy:

3.4.1 CATEGORY COMBINING

1. A Technical Official from AJP will delegate responsibility to a suitable individual on the day, who will be responsible for operating the category combining policy.

2. This policy applies to all weight and all age divisions.

3. Category combining may only be applied to categories which there are less than three competitors. If category combining cannot be achieved safely and according to the guidelines, then a pool of three elimination systems may be considered, or the best of three contests between the two players (explained in the regulations below).

4. Combining weights within the same age division - players should remain within their age group division if possible.

5. If there is only one player in the division, the athlete will be moved up to two weight divisions.

6. If the player is alone in their bracket they can contact [email protected] until the registration's deadline. Change can be requested on the registration or a refund, otherwise after the deadline, athlete will be moved accordingly. AJP does not guarantee that the division the player wants to be moved to will have other players on the day of the event.

7. Divisions with two players can be moved to the next division in case the players are from the same team and it was requested until the registration's deadline. Other than that divisions with two player will run normally in a single elimination format. ( Exception is AJP Festival events: Best of three contests to be applied.

8. The same applies for the masters division. However, master athletes can be placed in the Amateurs/Professionals divisions.

9. Athletes who were moved to an upper weight division must make the weight of the original registration to have the points credited to the respective division. (Applied for Abu Dhabi Grand Slam events only).

10. Depending on the championship, because the number of absent fighters, brackets can be regenerated or altered right after the WEIGH IN. AJP will decide at the event in order to accommodate all the fighters with at least one fight.

11. Athletes who were moved to an upper weight category due to having no registered athletes in their division will be moved as per the below rules and will not be moved back in case after the weigh-in the category has other athletes.

First Rule applied: Respect the age group

Fighters will be moved up to two weight divisions above, but remaining in the age division enrolled.
Example: Player will be moved from Master 2 purple belt - 62KG to Master 2 purple belt - 77KG, otherwise the fighter can request a full refund or to move to another age group (until the deadline of registrations) instead (see refund regulations).

Second Rule applied: If there are no players in the same age group enrolled in two weight divisions above.

Fighters will be moved to a lower age group (up to two weight divisions)
Example: From Master 2 purple belt - 85KG to Master 1 purple belt - 85KG, if there are no players registered in Master 1, they will automatically be moved to Professional purple belt - 85KG

Third Rule applied: If there are no players in the same age and weight category registered in.

AJP will merge weight divisions, age group and belt divisions
Example 1: Brown Belt with Black Belt; Blue Belt with Purple Belt (women's Purple divisions can be merged with Brown/Black); White Belt will not be merged
Example 2: Master 1 Brown Belt - 120KG with Master 1 Black Belt - 120KG

CATEGORY COMBINING - kids divisions

Merging of kids divisions follows a separate protocol from Amateurs and professionals, a merge can be done in weight, age or belt. Depending of what is possible and is deemed to have the least impact to young athletes safety, any order can be applied. (Youth 16 -17 y.o. divisions follows merging rules from adults and professionals; however youth white and blue belt athletes will never be moved to Amateurs divisions).

Unlike amateurs and professionals one weight/age /belt divisions may be merged even if the single player is the one that is heavier / older / higher ranked if needed in order to offer matches.

Merges can be done based on any two of the following classes: Weight, belt and/or age.

*WEIGHT MERGING*

Kids 1 - maximum 1 weight class

Kids 2 - maximum 1 weight class

Kids 3 - maximum 1 weight class

Infant - maximum 1 weight class

Junior - maximum 1 weight class

Teen - maximum 2 weight classes*

*BELT MERGING*

Combinations possible

White - Grey - Yellow

Yellow - Orange -Orange/Green

*AGE MERGING*

1 age level apart can be merged (Teen athletes can not be merged with Youth athletes)

If two or more athletes that needs to be merged only is one birth year apart but are registered in separate age divisions (9 and 10 years old, kids 3 and infant) it will be possible to also merge belt and weight as the age difference is no larger than within normal age groups.

Exception when points will be given:

In case there are no fighters to merge the division such Women's 95KG or Men's 120KG, points will be credited.
Athletes can be moved and brackets can be adapted to accommodate any fighter in case of absence or disqualification even after the pre draw or brackets are generated.
In case of absence or disqualification after the pre draw or brackets are generated, and the fighter has no matches, the points will be credited.
Cases when belt divisions are merged, the points will be credited according to the current fighter's belt.
Special cases will be checked by AJP committee and points can be credited.

11. Players from the same team can be placed on the same side of the brackets

12. If two fighters (team-mates) are suspected of fixing a fight, they will both be subjected to disqualification from the tournament. In suspected cases, the Central Referee should stop the fight as soon as possible and request the supervision of the Referee Coordinator. The fight will then continue with the Referee Coordinator reserving the right to disqualify both competitors should the Referee Coordinator deem the fight to be fixed.

13. The integrity of the sport depends on the outcome of the tournaments and competitions. This being entirely based on the merits of its participants. Any form of corruption that might undermine public condense in the integrity of a fight is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport is subjected to severe actions.

3.5. COMPETITION SYSTEM

1. For Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship seeding with country qualifiers and double elimination will be applied Click here >>

2. For Festival, Regional, International, and National single elimination will be applied for all belts.*

* For Festivals, divisions with two athletes will have best of three contests.

3. For Continental, Grand Prix No-GI and Grand Slams double elimination will be applied for Brown and Black belts Professional and Black Belt Master 1 divisions ONLY as shown below(other divisions single elimination).

The type of system that will be applied in the competition will depend on the number of entries as follows:

1 entry – No contest (or category combining / moving up fighters).

2 entries – Best of three contests (or category combining). If it is 2-0 then the third match will not be fought.

3 entries – Round robin, pool of three (or category combining).

4 to 8 entries – Double Elimination, runners up fight for third place. Single elimination system will be used to produce the third place.

Above 8 entries - Single elimination with quarter finals repechage. The athletes defeated in the quarter finals will compete for bronze medal, single elimination system will be used to produce the third place.

4. The bracket seeding for the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam will follow the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Rank of the ongoing season (If it's the first event of the season, brackets will take into consideration the final rank of the previous season).

5. The bracket seeding for International, Regional, National, Continental, and Grand Prix NO-GI events will follow the AJP Tour Rank of the ongoing season (If it's the first event of the season, brackets will take into consideration the final rank of the previous season).

ROUND ROBIN RULES:

In the case of 6 players or less: a round robin system produces the gold and silver and one bronze for the 3rd place.

“Round Robin” Is defined as a system where each competitor will compete against each other.

To define the winners the following criteria are used:

1. First criteria: Number of wins

2. Second criteria (in case of an equal number of wins): The highest sum of submissions will decide

3. Third criteria (in case of an equal number of wins): The highest sum of winning score points will decide.

Example: Red scored two points and one advantage and Blue scored two points and zero advantages: the advantage is defined as the winning score (1 point) for Red.

4. Fourth criteria (in case of equal number of wins and sum of winning score points): Direct comparison.

If two players have an equal number of wins and sum of score points, the contestant who won the contest between them is defined as the best.

5. Fifth criteria (in case of equal number of wins and no direct comparison possible because of “beating in circle”): The shortest accumulated time of all winning contests will decide

6. Sixth criteria (in case of equal time): Weight at the weigh-in. The competitor with the lower weight is defined as better.

7. Seventh criteria (in case of same weight): Decision matches. A knock-out system between the involved players will be used. A new draw has to be performed.

3.6. PODIUm

The players must wear Kimono to receive their medals in the podium, it is not allowed to wear:

Shoes
Hats
Earphones
Club or sponsors’ t-shirts
Teams flags (only country’s flag)
Or any other kind of advertisement

In case the divisions have W.O. (Walk Over), the prizes will be considered according the number of fighters present on the day, not the number registered in the brackets.
Tie brackets for academies will be decided by number of wins and medals. To break ties, the following criteria will be applied:
Total number of wins
Total number of medals
Total number of gold medals
Specific rules for UAE Nationality: Click Here

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ATTENTION

To avoid problems, athletes should perform a check list correctly, and be ready by the day stipulated.
Make sure to have clean clothes and GI uniforms in proper conditions.
Before each fight, athletes will be asked to show their Picture Ids to the officials. Athletes should make sure to have it on hand, the absence of ID can lead to DQ.
Make sure to check the schedule on our website, brackets and schedules are also posted at the event venue.
Athletes must keep the kimono and belt tied to the waist at all times while in the waiting or competition area.
The referee makes the final decision, complaints are not tolerate and will not interfere in the final decision.
The athletes are not allowed to jump over the fences/barricades in the competition area.
Make sure to get to the event at least 45 minutes prior to the bracket schedule. Athletes should be warmed up by the time their match is called.
Make sure to listen to the division calls on the PA System in the Warm Up area.
At the designated time, go to the warm up area, wearing the GI and with a picture ID or Badge accreditation.
In the warm up area, pay attention to when the bracket manager calls.
After the Bracket Manager calls, they will take the player to the concentration area to wait their turn to fight. The Mat Manager will take the player to the competition area for the fight.
Do NOT remain in the competition area after the end of the fight. Return to the concentration area, and remain there until the bracket manager calls for the next round.
Be respectful to the staff, officials, other athletes and coaches. In return, they will show the same courtesy.
Be respectful to the referees, showing consideration and appreciation for the performance of his or her duties.
Any disputes regarding matches are to be settled by the Referee. All decision by the Referee will be final.
Direct all questions to tournament staff at the administration table. We will do our best to answer all questions as quickly as possible. Please be patient with questions as there are a lot of competitors at the event. As such we remain busy throughout the day.
Please maintain your belongings. We cannot be held responsible for lost or stolen items.