INTERNATIONAL 

Emma Ylitalo-James – President of the A/BPU 

Kalle Ylitlo-James – Secretary of the A/BPU

Patricia Wetton – Head of Referees

Jessica Pallot 

Mo Barnes 

Richard Kemp 

Adam Riman 

Gemma Wright 

Daniel Whittall 

NATIONAL 

Darren Hammond

 Steve Middleton-Lowes  

Mitch Ravenscroft

Kerry Jones

Shell Reed

Robin Vaughan

Peter Tryner

Viv Dickinson

Frankie Kemp

Gareth James

Elaine Rollo 

Pete Tryner

Chris Brown

Edward Holt

Eliot Page

Scott Halliday

James Godber

Phil Horwood

Jason Berrington

Amanda Riman

Dayle Longford 

Aron Hosking

Scott Halliday

Jo Halliday

We have a commitment to provide experienced referees who have long time and extensive experience as a competitor. All referees must compete on a yearly basis at least once. As the UK standards of refereeing we believe are slipping, we have increased the minimum criteria for becoming a referee with us so that our lifters know they are being refereed by individuals with a deep understanding of the rules as a referee and a competitor. 

Minimum Qualifying Criteria to Become a Referee with the A/BPU 

Before applying to become a referee for the A/BPU you must first of all reach the following criteria.

1To have competed with the A/BPU for a minimum of 5 Years In that five year period you will need to have competed in a minimum of 2 qualifying competitions per year which is a minimum of 10 over a five year period.

2. To have competed at national level which is a minimum level of the British Championships during that 5 year period.

3.  To have competed at international level competition which will be European or World Championships during that 5 year period.

However, if you have been competing for 3 years and have a national competition behind you there are other ways you can become actively involved by volunteering to help by helping us in a3. n official capacity with weigh-ins at your local competitions and again nationals. This will all go towards your referee status once you reach the minimum criteria.

lternatively, you can also apply to join our amazing platform crew. And again volunteer at your local comps or nationals and even internationals when held in this country. You do not need a minimum amount of competition time but you do need to know and understand competition rules and how the platform works, and have an understanding of the monolift and other competition specific equipment. This is a very physically demanding role but a rewarding one.

First of all check you have the minimum standard to apply. 

Then email Patricia Wetton our head of referees on referees@britishpowerliftingunion.co.uk

After that you will complete a written exam which is open book and return. Should you pass this you can then proceed to be assessed at competition. You will negotiate which competition with Patricia. We do not permit referees with less than 15 years competing experience assess other referees. 

If you pass this, you will then be a qualified referee and on a probationary period. This period is a minimum of 6 months and/or to reach a satisfactory level through experience and continued assessment. The minimum period is 6 months. During this time you are not permitted to referee at national or international competition. You area, however, permitted to provide technica refereeing support which is a great way to learn the rules. 

ALL of our referees to remain current MUST compete a minimum of once a year to remember how it feels to be a referee. This has been a constant regulation since the start of the federation. 

To keep your referee status you MUST referee at least 4 competition days per year in order to stay current and keep your license. 

Our international referees MUST referee at least one interntionally sanctioned meet per year plus 3 quaifier and/or national events. 

This is directly from the WPC Rule Book: 

Causes for Disqualification of a Squat

1. Failure to observe the head referee’s signals at the commencement or completion of a lift.
2. Double bouncing or more than one recovery attempt at the bottom of the lift.
3. Failure to assume an upright position with knees locked at the commencement and completion of the lift.
4. Movement of the feet laterally, backward or forward that would constitute a step or stumble.
5. Failure to bend the knees and lower the body until the surface of the legs at the hip  oint are lower than the tops of the knees. (Refer to Diagrams 2, 3 & 4).

6. Any resetting of the feet after the squat signal.
7. Contact with the bar by the spotters between the referee’s signals.
8. Contact of elbows or upper arms with the legs.
9. Failure to make a bona fide attempt to return the bar to the racks.
10. Any intentional dropping or dumping of the bar.

Causes for Disqualification of a Bench Press

1. Failure to observe the referee’s signals at the commencement or completion of the lift.

2. Any change in the elected position that results in the buttocks breaking contact with the bench, or lateral movement of the hands (between the referee’s signals). Any excessive movement or change of contact of the feet during the lift proper. 
3. Bouncing the bar off the chest.

3. Allowing the bar to sink into the chest after receiving the referee’s signal.
4. Pronounced uneven extension of the arms during or at the completion of the lift.
5. Any downward motion of the bar during the course of being pressed out.
6. Contact with the bar by the spotters between the referee’s signals.
7. Any contact of the lifter’s shoes with the bench or its supports.
8. Deliberate contact between the bar and the bar rest uprights during the lift to assist the completion of the press.

10. It is the responsibility of the lifter to inform any personally enlisted spotters to leave the platform as soon as the bar is secured at arms length. Such spotters shall not return to the platform upon completion or failure of the attempt. It is especially important for a spotter providing a centre lift off to leave the platform quickly so as not to impair the head referee’s view. Failure of any personal spotters to leave the platform may cause disqualification of the lift.

Causes of Disqualification of a Deadlift

1. Any downward motion of the bar before it reaches the final position.
2. Failure to stand erect.
3. Failure to lock the knees straight at the completion of the lift.
4. Supporting the bar on the thighs during the performance of the lift. ‘Supporting’ is  defined as a body position adopted by the lifter that could not be maintained without the counterbalance of the weight being lifted.

5. Movement of the feet laterally, backward or forward that would constitute a step or stumble.
6. Lowering the bar before receiving the head referee’s signal.
7. Allowing the bar to return to the platform without maintaining control with both hands.

What happens if you get a red light or fail the lift? 

If you get a red light but don’t fail the lift, please ask the referee what it was for. They will give you a short answer clearly as to not interfere with the next lifter. A referee may also ask to speak to you after your lift to advise you of something they may have noticed you may not be aware of which may help you in your forthcoming attempts. The BPU/ABPU have added the latter in order to aid the lifter which is not in the WPC Rule book but an addition to our own rules for qualifying and national meets. 

Under the WPC Rules, if a head or side referee observes an infringement as the lifter is about to enter the platform they will inform the lifter with the opportunity to correct it. This is also true on the commencement of the set up of each of the lifts as follows: 

“Prior to the commencement of the Squat or Bench Press, if any of the referees do not accept any aspect of the set up of the lifter, they will call attention to the fault as 

previously described in 8 (a). If there is a majority opinion among the referees that a fault exists, the head referee will not give the signal to commence the lift and will inform the lifter to “Rack” the bar. A head referee seeing a fault that may not be visible to the side referees, e.g. hands holding the collars or discs on the Squat or a grip in excess of 81cm on the Bench Press, may act alone in informing the lifter to “Rack” the bar. If requested, it is required of the head referee to quickly confirm the nature of the fault and to explain this to the lifter or coach. The lifter has the remainder of any unexpired time allowance to repeat the attempt with the fault corrected, and receive the commencement signal. Note: for the above reasons it is important that the Time Keeper stop timing attempts on the Squat and Bench Press only when the lifter has received the commencement signal.

If you fail the lift and wish to challenge it there are two procedures, one for WPC International and one for National Level. Please be aware of this. 

As stated in the WPC Rule book, for International WPC events the following applies: At World Championships and International competitions “WPC Contest Officials”  will be appointed to preside over all aspects of the competition. They shall ensure that the technical rules are correctly applied, consider and rule upon any appeals, and generally oversee the competition and refereeing. Five such “WPC Contest Officials” shall be appointed for World Championships, a minimum of three of which must be from different countries (these are the WPC International Referees on platform); and three for other international competitions, at least two of which must be from different countries. A reserve member will also be appointed to act in the case of another’s absence. All “WPC Contest Officials” must be WPC Referees.

If a serious mistake occurs in the refereeing, which is contrary to the technical rules, the “WPC Contest Officials” may take appropriate action to correct the mistake.

They cannot overrule or change the decisions of the referees but may, at their discretion, grant the lifter an additional attempt.

All appeals against referee’s decisions or conduct, complaints regarding the progress of the competition or against the behavior of any person or persons

taking part in the competition will be made to the appointed “WPC Contest Officials”. This must be done immediately following action of which there is a complaint or appeal. The appeal must be backed by the team manager and/ or coach and presented in the presence of either or both. The appointed “WPC Contest Officials” will consider all such complaints

For National and Qualifying Competitions: The above applies as in overall procedure. However, if you are challenging a decision, you must immediately approach the head referee to ask what the failure of the lift was for. You have the right to ask to challenge that decision and this lies solely with the head referee. They will consult briefly with other two referees for any information which may alter or consolidate the decision. The decision at this point is final and no further discussion will be entered into. 

For BOTH National and WPC International competitions the rule applies as per the WPC Rule book: 

Referees shall, if requested, explain to a lifter or coach the reason or reasons why a lift was judged “no lift”. All that is required of such an explanation is an accurate statement, debates will not be entered into, and an explanation will not cause distraction of the referee from the attempt of the next lifter. Referees shall abstain from any other commentary and not receive any document or verbal account concerning the progress of the competition.

The BPU and ABPU have added the use of video which comes under the wording of “document” in the above rule. WPC, ABPU and BPU referees will abstain from any further discussion of decisions post competition through any medium. 

December 2024

Camo sleeves or any additional covering cannot be worn on any belt

Single ply bench shirts can now have open back in line with the multiply back fastening construction. All other rules regarding single ply bench shirt construction remain the same. 

December 2023

The introduction of the Unlimited Equipment Bench Press Class

The addition on the Unlimited Bench Only Category has been added officially on the 1st October 2023 for which National Records are able to be broken and current records include standardised starting records. Please be aware that currently the Unlimited Bench division is not available at WPC International Events. 

The following are the rules on the construction of the unlimited shirts. All other rules remain the same on the proceedure and commencement and completion of the lift as per the bench press under single and multiply. 

“Band shirt division, also known as ‘unlimited’ or ‘soft equipment’ division, is a single lift bench press only equipment class. The shirts allowed in band shirt division are not allowed in Multi Ply.

Construction:

The band shirt shall have a shirt shape, ie. Defined chest area, separate cylindrical sleeves and it needs to cover the shoulders and sides of the lifter. It shall be worn under a non-supportive singlet, as in single- and multi-ply bench press classes.

The shirt may consist of any number of layers of fabric material, but any part of the shirt cannot exceed 25mm in thickness, whilst UNSTRETCHED and with only moderate pressure applied to it (such as a loose finger grip or the pressure of a lightly tightened micrometer). This ensures that whilst stretched and flattened under pressure while performing the lift, the material will not in any meaningful way shorten the range of motion of the bar to chest.

The supportive part of the shirt shall consist of layers of similar cotton/polyester/rubberised (or any mixture of the above) fabric, and no hinges, buckles, laces or material other than fabric are allowed. Fabric handles for pulling the shirt back or fastening it, like in multi ply, are allowed.

The shirt has to include material that covers the stomach and is capable of securing it to the lifter around the back in such a way that the shirt itself does not protrude from under the singlet.

Referees can challenge any shirt that has considerable protrusion that either hinders the visibility of referees or affects the range of motion of the lift and head referee will decide if the equipment can be worn.5The shirt must be worn in such a way that shoulders are covered and elbows are visible before and during the lift.”