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Chapter One: General Rules
  1. These measures have been formulated by the International Heyball Association (hereafter called IHPA), in order to strengthen the construction of the referee team and ensure a fair and orderly competition environment.
  2. IHPA adopts Graded Sanction, Registration and Management in accordance with the technical grade and professional level of the referees.
  3. IHPA authorizes International Heyball Association Referee Committee to conduct assessment and registration of referees of the international level and above in the game of Heyball. These measures have been formulated by the International Chinese Eight-Ball Association(hereafter called IHPA), in order to strengthen the construction of the referee team and ensure a fair and orderly competition environment. IHPA adopts Graded Sanction, Registration and Management in accordance with the technical grade and professional level of the referees.IHPA authorizes International Chinese Eight-Ball Association Referee Committee to conduct assessment and registration of referees of the international level and above in the game of Chinese Eight-ball.
Chapter Two: Referee Committee
  1. Under the auspices of International Heyall Association, International Chinese Eight-Ball Association Referee Committee (hereafter called IHPA Referee Committee) studies and accurately grasps the International Chinese Eight-Ball Rules and is in charge of the training and management of Chinese eight-ball referees.
  2. IHPA Referee Committee comprises one chairman, 4-6 vice-chairmen and several committee members. IHPA Referee Committee members must be International Level or Grade One referees who are elected by the Grade one referees attending at the International Chinese Eight-Ball Convention. The list of chairman and vice-chairmen of the IHPA Referee Committee must be reported to the Heyball Association for the record.
  3. IHPA Referee Committee is responsible for assisting the International Chinese Eight-Ball Association in formulating the development planning for Chinese eight-ball referees; IHPA Referee Committee is responsible for organizing the study, assessment and registration of referees; IHPA Referee Committee organizes the referee promotion examination as required; IHPA Referee Committee puts forward concrete suggestions on the rewards and punishments of Chinese eight-ball referees; IHPA Referee Committee has the right to amend the Heyball Refereeing Law and Rules.
  4. IHPA can set up branches in various countries which can form Referee Committees based on the scale of the country and referee system accordingly.
Chapter Three: Submission and Sanction of Skill Level
  1. Referee’s skill level can be divided into three categories: International A Level ( of Gold Badge Referee), International B Level (of Silver Badge Referee), and IHPA Level (Grade One, Grade Two and Grade Three).
  2. Referees who apply for the IHPA level (Grade Three) must be able to master and apply the rules of Chinese eight-ball and refereeing law, be competent to referee duties and pass the assessment of tournament organizing committee after the training. IHPA Referee Committee takes charge of the sanction.
  3. Referees who apply for the IHPA Level (Grade Two) must satisfy the following two requirements: being familiar with the rules of Chinese eight-ball and refereeing law and apply it in a more standard way; serving as the IHPA Grade Three referee in a full year while working as a referee at regional star challenge (tournament) competition at least three times. IHPA Referee Committee takes charge of the sanction.
  4. Referees who apply for the IHPA level (Grade One) must satisfy the following three requirements: skillful in mastering and applying the rules of Chinese eight-ball and refereeing law; owning rich experience in on-the-spot judgment enforcement and the ability to organize Chinese eight-ball competition referees; serving as IHPA Grade Two referee for two years, referee for provincial competition or position above, or assistant referee and positional above at least twice in local and municipal competitions. IHPA Referee Committee takes charge of the sanction.
  5. Referee who apply for the credit of International B level (Silver Badge Referee) must satisfy the following five requirements: being proficient in mastering and applying the rules and arrangement methods of Chinese eight-ball (including English version) and refereeing law ; with rather high-level theoretical foundation and extensive experience in referee duties; competent in organizing referee work of Chinese eight-ball competition; serving as IHPA  Grade two referee for two years; once worked as referee or assistant referee and position above in national competition at least twice. IHPA Referee Committee takes charge of the sanction.
  6. Silver Badge Referee (International B Level) can apply for being Gold Badge Referee( International A Level) after working as chief referee in national competitions at least twice, IHPA takes charge of the sanction.
  7. Authorized by IHPA, International Chinese Eight-Ball Masters organizing Committee can sanction referees of IHPA (Grade One) level or below in their applications, and the referees mentioned above shall inform IHPA Referee Committee for the records.
  8. The title of Honorary Referee is conferred by IHPA to certain international referees or few IHPA Grade One referees who have made outstanding contribution and worked as referee for more than ten years while has taking an active part in referee job when they are over the age of 50. (If they have made extraordinary contribution while are in conformity with the other declaration standards, the terms of their declaration years can be correspondingly flexible). Besides, they must have served as referee in national competition at least ten times and international competition without obvious erroneous judgment. Referees who satisfy these requirements above are recommended to IHPA Referee Committee through International Chinese Eight-ball Organizing Community. After its appraisal and IHPA’s approval the referees win the title of Honorary Referee.
  9. Sanctioning Units at all levels shall hold at least one promotion test biennially. Qualifiers should hand in the application form and referee certificate to the sanctioning unit so as to apply for the title of referee skill level accordingly.
Chapter Four: Referee Registration
  1. Referee sanctioning bodies at all levels shall register the approved referees once every two years, and the honorary referees may not register. The registration period for each referee is in even-numbered years from December 1st to January 31st next year.
  2. International level referees shall register at the ICEA directly; Referees below the international level shall register at ICEA Referee Committee and pay the registration fee of 0 yuan per person.
  3. If the following circumstances occur to a referee, registration will be suspended for one time. 4.31 Punished by the sanctioning unit; 4.32 Fail in the assessment; 4.33 Did not participate in any refereeing duties or studies within 2 years;
  4. Referees of all levels must hold a referee grade certificate to participate in the referee work of Chinese Eight-ball; referees who have not been registered at the sanctioning units for two consecutive occasions will be regarded as forfeiting the title of the technical grade, and the referee’s certificate will be automatically invalid.
Chapter Five: Assignment of Referee
  1. ICEA Referee Committee is responsible for selecting and hiring referees for a tournament.
  2. In the international competitions, the position of the deputy referee shall be held by the ICEA Grade One referee or above and the technical level of the on-site referee shall be the Grade Two or above; in the event below the national level (including), the position of the deputy referee shall be held by the referee of the Grade Two or above and the technical level of the on-site referee shall be the Grade Three or above.
  3. The procedure of appointing referees should follow the principle of openness and fairness.
  4. The technical grade of the assistant referees can be broadened, and the specific requirement may be discussed between the tournament’s organizer and the host unit.
  5. Tournament Organizer should instruct the chief referee to seriously examine the referee’s certificate before the competition. If the referee fails to present the required certificate, the organizing committee must immediately suspend his/her work.
Chapter Six: Rights and Obligations of Referee
  1. Referees of all levels have the following rights: 6.11 To participate in the referee work of all kinds of competitions hosted by the ICEA; 6.12 To participate in the referee’s training program organized by the ICEA Referee Committee; 6.13 To supervise the referee team execute all referee regulations; 6.14 To accept the remuneration paid by the organizer; 6.15 To impeach any negative behaviors in the referee team; 6.16 To reserve the right to appeal to the referee competent department about the technical punishments made by this referee organization;
  2. Referees of all levels shall bear the following obligations: 6.21 Cultivating and adhering to good professional ethics and impartial judgment in competitions; 6.22 Studying the rules of Chinese Eight-ball and the law of refereeing; 6.23 Training and guiding the referees at a subordinate level; 6.24 Undertaking the referee work assigned by sanctioning units; 6.25 Cooperating with the survey on the referee’s judgment;
Chapter Seven: Referee Management
  1. The referee who takes part in the competition falls under the avoidance system. Once entering the competition area, the referee must abide by the regulations that no contacts shall be made with the outside world, especially with sports teams. The referee may be appointed 30 minutes before the start of the competition to ensure the fairness.
  2. ICEA Referee Committee shall hold a referee training session at least once every two years. The chief referee and the deputy chief referee shall examine the referees participating in the training session and submit remarks at the end of each training session.
  3. ICEA Referee Committee shall hold an outstanding referee selection activity every four years. The ICEA commends referees above Grade One who performs outstanding services.
  4. Disciplinary actions for the referee include warning, abolition of the referee work of the tournament, a 2-year ban on the referee work, revoking the title of technical grade for the lifetime.
  5. Disciplinary actions made toward the referee shall be made by the organizing committee and put on records at the ICEA Referee Committee. Disciplinary actions including but not limited to 2-year ban and withdrawal of the technical grade shall be authorized by the ICEA.
  6. Referee subjected to disciplinary actions shall be noted in his/her referee certificate by chief referee of this tournament. In the course of referee work, a warning should be given to those who fail to comply with the discipline of the competition area or those who have misjudged during the match. A referee who has been warned by two times automatically loses his or her referee status in the tournament. Any deliberate inclination toward one side or another is perceived as partial judgment, which may result in a 2-year ban on the referee status.
  7. A referee who performs the following actions will be prohibited from receiving technical grades and shall receive a lifetime ban from any referee work. 7.71 Accepting bribes and partial judgment; 7.72 Performing significant erroneous judgment or missed judgment in major tournaments which resulted in severe consequences; 7.73 Violating laws and receiving criminal penalties;
Chapter Eight: Supplementary Provisions
The Measures shall be implemented from the date of promulgation.
Chapter Nine: Definitions

“ICEA” means International Chinese Eight-Ball Association;

“Referee” means the referee of a match appointed by the relevant body;

“Refereeing law and rules” means the official regulations on referee behavior and rules of Chinese eight-ball , which are set out and amended by ICEA Referee Committee;

“Tour” means any individually or collectively, as the context may require, any pool tournament sanctioned by the ICEA or WPA recognized tournaments;

“Tournament” means any professional pool tournament sanctioned by ICEA or WPA recognized tournaments;

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2. Rules of Chinese Pool (2017 Version).        Referee Certification

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