Protest Procedures
Special Olympics Inc. protest procedures are designed to alleviate conflicts that arise during the conduct of the competition. Special Olympics rules provide a structure to handle all protests that occur at any level of competition.
Types of Protests
- Valid Protests: A protest that involves the application of procedural rules concerning the conduct of competition.
- Invalid Protests: A protest that involves judgments by officials. Any protest concerning a judgment by a competition official will automatically be denied and will not progress through the appeals process.
Submitting Protests
Any head delegate or official coach can submit a protest in writing to the Sports Rules Referee assigned to that sport (generally the Competition or Venue Director) within 30 minutes following the competition that is the subject of protest. All protests must include:
- Athlete/Team Name, county and ID number
- Event
- Division number
- Nature of the protest and the rule in question (the rule must be stated)
- Name of the Head Delegate or coach submitting the protest
The Sports Rules Referee for that sport will make all decisions on protests.
Click
here to go to the Protest Form page or click on the icon below to download the form in Microsoft Word.
Appeals Procedure
Appeals of the decision of the Sports Rules Committee are made to the Games Rules Committee. The Head Delegate should submit all such appeals in writing to Games Headquarters within 30 minutes of the Sports Rules referee's decision. The Head Delegate should notify Games Headquarters that the written form is on its way to Games Headquarters. All appeals must include:
- Athlete/Team Name, County and ID number
- Event
- Division Number
- Name of Head of Delegate making the appeal
- Nature of the appeal and the rule in question (the rule must be stated)
- Time and date of the appeal
All County and Area Games Rules Committees will be comprised of the overall Games Director, a primary coach and another coach to serve as substitute in case the primary coach would be asked to rule on a protest involving an athlete from his/her training program.
The Games Rules Committee will make a final decision on all appeals. All protests and appeals must be resolved prior to the close of competition.
