Dear WCA Community,

In the last quarter, the WCA Integrity Committee opened 16 cases and closed 14. This resulted in eight bans, three warnings, two with no action. Below, you can find summaries of some notable cases:

• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed of negative behavior by two competitors at multiple competitions. We contacted several potential witnesses and discovered a persistent pattern of bullying, harassment, abuse, and intimidation that undermines the WCA’s Spirit, Mission, and Code of Conduct. The WIC determined that stronger measures were necessary to protect the integrity of the speedcubing community, restore confidence in the WCA amongst speedcubers within this particular region, and send a clear message that such behaviour will not be tolerated. We considered the presence of both competitors at competitions highly disruptive and therefore issued a multi-year ban from both competing and attending WCA competitions.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed of recurrent, disruptive behavior of a competitor at multiple competitions. We contacted the involved delegates and, after receiving their concerns, concluded that the accused competitor consistently failed to properly perform various tasks and comply with delegates’ directions. Considering that the accused competitor had already been banned for this kind of behavior, we decided to issue a ban from competing.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed of recurrent and problematic behavior of a competitor. The delegate informed us that the accused competitor crossed boundaries with another competitor, without any prior provocation. Considering that the accused competitor had already been banned twice for the same behavior, we decided to issue a multi-year ban from competing and attending WCA competitions.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed that a banned competitor had been attending multiple competitions. Given that the accused competitor had been banned from both competing and attending WCA competitions, the ban conditions were changed to permanent until the competitor does not attend competitions consistently for the length of their original ban.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed that a competitor was caught using CFOP algorithms while solving blindfolded. The delegates also highlighted the poor use of the harmonica holder. The competitor admitted to cheating, but claimed that he had not cheated before that particular attempt. However, we discovered a video online from another blindfolded attempt that was achieved using a similar method. The affected results were disqualified and the competitor was given a short ban.

The WCA Integrity Committee opened a call for applicants last month. New members will be onboarded soon. The following members accepted positions onto the WIC:

• Alexander Mutch (2014MUTC01) - Canada (British Columbia)
• Amanda Schmid (2017SCHM12) - USA (Ohio)
• Amélie Dieterich (2016DIET01) - Germany
• Austin Reed (2011REED01) - USA (New York)
• Bertie Longden (2014LONG06) - United Kingdom (South)
• Hayden Ng (2018NGHA02) - Australia (Queensland)
• Jason Chang (2023CHAN15) - USA (California)
• Mohamed Arif (2019ARIF05) - India
• Noah Swor (2017SWOR01) - USA (Florida)
• Yuji Yoshida (2015YOSH01) - Philippines
• Zachary Miller (2017MILL04) - USA (Massachusetts)

For 2025, the WCA Integrity Committee plans to invest in initiatives towards better training and guidance for Delegates with an emphasis on competitor safety and well-being. These initiatives began in 2024, and there is still a lot of work to be done. These new members bring us a wide range of personal and professional experiences that will allow the WIC to more effectively separate delegate responsibilities and projects. Congratulations to all of the new members!

Do you have questions for the WIC? Feel free to send us an email (integrity@worldcubeassociation.org), or ask your question in the Integrity section of the WCA forum.