We are writing to bring to your attention a concerning issue regarding the violation of rules in the Iranian RoboCup Open League Rescue Line competition. According to global regulations, teams are limited to four members, a rule set in place by the RoboCup Federation which cannot be altered by national federations.
However, within the national league in Iran, certain academies, driven by profit motives, have increased the number of team members beyond the allowed limit to extract higher tuition fees. This deviation from the standard rules not only compromises the integrity of the competition but also creates an unfair advantage for those teams able to enroll additional members.
For years, such infractions have persisted, but this year, with the blatant increase in team members, these violations have become overt and pervasive. Unfortunately, the Iranian federation has shown reluctance in addressing the concerns raised by other teams, as it appears to be under the influence of these individuals manipulating the system for personal gain.
We urge the RoboCup Global Committee to intervene and ensure that the participation rights of other teams are not compromised. It is imperative to uphold the principles and values of RoboCup in Iran and prevent individuals from exploiting the ideals of the competition for their own benefit.
We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your prompt action to address these issues.
Unfortunately, this is not a “rule violation”. The rules shared in the official Robocup website are for the International RoboCup competition. Regional competitions use this set of rules as a reference, but have the right to modify certain rules to better suit local competitions.
I did notice several teams of nine or even ten on the website you shared, which I personally think is more than a team needs for members. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that the mentor arranges for a few students who will be preparing for the competition in the future to get a feel for the atmosphere of the competition in advance.
And to be honest, I don’t see any correlation between the number of members competing and performance. At the 2023 International competition in Bordeaux, LIGHTNING from Hungary, consisting of only two girls, came second in Rescue Line and impressed everyone with their excellent performance. I’m afraid I can’t agree with the charge of “unfair advantage”.
In any case I’ll bring this to the committee and I’ll be the first to let you know if there are any replies as well as changes.
Also, the winners of this league are sent to the global event, while they are allowed to have more than 4 people involved in making their robot. which violates these universal regulations and destroys justice.
Unfortunately, I do not agree with your opinion regarding the number of team members. Maybe this issue does not directly affect the result, but the presence of even one additional member saves a lot of time in making the robot.
Consider this too.
Rules are made to be observed and respected and federations should not violate them for their own personal gain.
This causes the frustration of other teams and the benefit of unfair teams.
All these issues show the violation of the ideals of RoboCup in Iran, so we ask the global committee to look into it.
The purpose of this rule is to state that if there is a discrepancy between the translated version of the rules and the English version (which may be due to a translation error, etc.), the English version shall prevail. Again, it only applies to the INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION. The Regional Committee has the right to make changes to the rules of the Regional Qualifying Tournament. As far as I know, after the cancellation of the secondary and primary groupings, many regional level tournaments still retained the groupings, which is a reflection of their exercise of that right, and which will also undoubtedly allow more students to get the opportunity to participate.
I’ll open the discussion within the committee on the issue of the number of members. Furthermore, as a serious accusation, could you please provide more details on the “profit motive” as well as “personal gain”?
