A Review of Fila's Challenge Rule and its Application in Canada Wrestling

ABSTRACT La Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) recently adopted a “challenge” rule system that allows the coach to request a review of a call made by the officiating team. Such rule challenges have been common place for several years in several sports, including American Football and Professional Tennis, with the available statistics indicating that the challenge system is effective at rectifying officiating errors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the challenge system in freestyle wrestling. Five Canadian domestic level competitions were reviewed, representing 1046 total matches and included both men and women. A total of 121 challenges were initiated by the coach, with 39 challenges being upheld, representing a success rate of 32%. No significant differences were found for the number of challenges initiated for men and women's wrestling. Although statistically not significant (p <.07) it was found that challenges are more likely initiated in low scoring matches (<3 points), in semi-final, and championship matches. Also, higher level competitions produced proportionally more challenges than lower level events. It is concluded that the challenge system in free style wrestling is an effective recourse for correcting judgmental errors made by the officiating team.