Karate tournaments rely on a well-structured team of officials to ensure fairness, safety, and smooth operation. Here’s a breakdown of their roles and responsibilities:

🧑‍⚖️ A. Referee Council

Duty	Description
🏟️ Tournament Prep	Coordinates with Organising Committee on venue setup, equipment, safety, and match operations
📋 Deployment	Appoints Match Area Controllers (Chief Referees) and acts on their reports
🔍 Supervision	Oversees refereeing officials’ performance
🔄 Substitutions	Nominates substitute officials when needed

🧑‍💼 B. Match Area Controllers

Duty	Description
👥 Staffing	Appoints and supervises referees and judges
✅ Oversight	Ensures officials are capable and performing effectively
✋ Rule Enforcement	Can halt matches if the Arbitrator signals a rule violation
📝 Reporting	Submits daily performance reports to the Referee Council with recommendations

🧑‍⚖️ C. Chief Referee

Duty	Description
🏟️ Tournament Prep	Works with Organising Committee on venue, equipment, and safety
🧑‍⚖️ Appointments	Allocates arbitrators, referees, and judges; oversees referee commission
🔄 Substitutions	Nominates replacements (panel composition cannot be changed by individual officials)
⚖️ Final Judgement	Decides on technical matters not covered by rules

🥋 E. Referee (Shushin)

Power	Description
🎬 Match Control	Starts, suspends, and ends matches
🥇 Scoring	Awards Ippon, Waza-ari, and points
⚠️ Penalties	Issues warnings and penalties anytime
🛑 Safety	Can terminate match to prevent injury
🗣️ Consultation	May seek opinions from judges/arbitrator
📣 Announcements	Declares extensions and decisions
🧭 Authority Zone	Covers match area and its perimeter
❌ Signal Override	May ignore judge’s signal if clearly mistaken, but must consider judge’s view first
🔍 Explanation	May explain judgement only to arbitrator, Chief Referee, or referee committee

🧑‍⚖️ F. Judge (Fukushin)

Power	Description
🤝 Support	Assists referee and joins consultations when invited
👀 Observation	Scores only what is clearly seen using discreet signals
🗳️ Voting	Participates in decision votes
🗣️ Speaking	Only speaks when summoned by referee
⚠️ Signals	Alerts referee in cases of scoring, fouls, injuries, exits, or other concerns

📊 G. Score Supervisor

• Keeps a separate record of scores awarded by the referee
• Oversees timekeepers and scorekeepers

📌 H. General Notes

• Officials (arbitrators, referees, judges) may not hold other roles during the tournament
• Consultations must be brief; use gestures (Appendix 4) whenever possible

📚 EXPLANATION: Decision Protocols

Scenario	Action
✅ 3 judges agree	Referee stops bout and gives majority decision
✅ 2 judges agree	Referee considers but may continue if he disagrees
❌ Referee ignores majority	Arbitrator raises red flag and sounds buzzer
🧠 Reconsideration	Referee may ask judges to reconsider if score violates rules (e.g. excessive contact, Jogai)
⚖️ Split opinions	Referee may choose decision supported by 2 judges
🗳️ HANTEI vote	Referee and judges each get one vote; referee has casting vote in tied ENCHO-SEN
👀 MIENAI	Judges signal “did not see” if unsure about technique
🔔 Time-up	If referee misses bell, Score Supervisor blows whistle
🗣️ Post-match explanation	Referee Panel may speak only to Match Area Controller, Referee Council, or Appeals Jury