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Referee Andrew Sushilov told me all about spreading information in Ukraine.

The changes in rules are unfortunately available to us only on World Championships, in referee seminars – says Sushilov. – That’s where we get them in print, fresh and up to date. It would be great to learn about changes sooner, by e-mail or official website. This way we could share the information with our contestants. When we (the Ukrainian referee board) get the latest updates in rules, we immediately translate them and send them by mail to any interested parties.

In this referee’s opinion, the Ukrainian referees are not very well informed on the current updates in rules.

Despite the fact that the referee board organizes regular seminars for all interested in current knowledge, there is a small number of contestants in attendance. Many think that it’s enough to know the basics, that fine details don’t matter. In fact, those “details” are a cause for many disagreements at world class events. It’s not by accident, that the chairman of the Ukrainian referee board, Georgij Labanow, is continuing his struggle for many years now to impose English as the basic language of command, even on local events.

Also Mari Tisell, the representative for the Swedish board of referees, tells us that seminars are his main source of knowledge concerning newest rules and updates. He then passes the knowledge on to the rest of the board members, which they in turn pass on to club members.

At the beginning of the tournament season, which the Swedish federation opens right after the World Cup, we announce the new rules and test them during tournaments – says Tisell. – In our opinion, our contestants’ level of knowledge is very high. Sweden is a small country, we only have about 400 armwrestlers.

We also addressed the question of professional and amateur-level armwrestling. Should this division also apply to rules?

In Andrey Sushylov’s opinion, the division in rules is not very clear now.

For example, in the “professional” rules there is no such thing as a “dangerous situation” – says Sushilov. – A contestant who calls themselves a “professional” should be fully aware of the situation at the table, of possibilities and capabilities of their body. If a clear division should form between “pro” and “amateur” armwrestling, then this will also influence the rules. After all, amateur armwrestling is more of a sport, and the “pro” armwrestling is a show.

Marie Tisell disagrees with that statement.

No divisions should be made – says Tisell. An amateur can become a pro, everyone should know the rules.

An interesting topic is the “second league” and refereeing.

There is no “second league” in Ukraine. There are the contestants and the strong guys who like to wrestle in bars and think it’s armwrestling – says Andrey Sushilov. – A real contestants would never wrestle in a bar, that’s what tournaments are for. The same goes for a referee, they should be competent enough to properly assess every situation at the table. That’s why I’m opposed to the idea of a main referee being a contestant, or even worse – some random person. A good contestant can become a good referee, but they should still train their skill, albeit from the other side of the table.

It’s obvious that financial deficits can cause the hiring of unqualified referees, but knowing that changes nothing. If someone decides to organize a tournament, they should realize the costs. The budget must include referee fees, which improves the level of the event and of the referees themselves.

It’s all very well organized in Sweden.

We do have a “second league” of sorts – says Marie Tisell. – On national level events there is always a class division between beginners, first class and pros. Beginners are those with almost no experience. First class are those who attempt to become pros, but still have some way to go. After winning first class you can compete with the pros next tournament. We have no real problems with referees, because most of them don’t know the rules. To become a professional referee you need to pass a test, similar to a WAF exam. Then of course we have the seminars. You start as a small event referee and climb the ladder of experience, right to the national championships.

National competition is obvious, but to popularize armwrestling, maybe even make it an Olympic discipline, organizations need to share knowledge. Of course the tournaments should be spectacular and well-organized, but the first step toward this is federation responsibility and organization. Why should we keep knowledge, when we can share it?

Anastazja Kisilieva