Before the start of the IX Central & South American Championship held on 24 June, the meeting was led by Grand Master Abelardo Benzaquén (9. Dan), chair of the ITF Umpire Committee, Master Ramón Rojas, the designated Director of Umpires and member of the Organizing Committee, and Master Federico Kaenel and Manuel Larrea, members of the Umpire Committee of the event. 

In addition, and in light of the increasing use of electronic scoring equipment, Dr. Gerardo Rossel reminded the umpires of the details regarding the operation of the competition software.

Each one in turn expressed that all the training carried out through the ITF Umpires Courses will be put into practice in this IX Central & South American Championship.

In relation to the regulatory issue, the Umpires Committee has been working to ensure that the rules for this type of continental championships are as close as possible to those applied in the ITF World Championships and World Cups.

The latter is intended to raise the performance level of referees by learning and applying similar rules, as well as to make compliance with them easier for both coaches and competitors.

The ITF Tournament and Referees rules apply in all competitions, however, in championships such as the Central & South American, there is greater flexibility, for example, in terms of the requirements for protective equipment, which for various reasons are not easy to access.

This flexibility is largely explained by the profound economic differences that exist between the countries of the region, as well as the enormous geographical distances that make logistical issues in general difficult, such as the transfer of machines used for power braking and special technique categories and until the availability of the official electronic system.

The ITF Competition rules allow disciplines such as pattern, sparring, special techniques, power break and pre-arranged sparring, in individual or team mode. And in the IX Central & South American Championships, all disciplines are searching for new champions.

In another sense, this time in Paraguay, the ITF Concussion Policy was in force. For that reason, the Umpires were trained with a thorough and detailed explanation of the official procedure aimed at providing greater safety to the competitors.

Out of the 88 umpires and 12 computer operators, a fifth (=20 umpires) are women and a formerly extensively male-dominated sport. And a significant number of the umpires in Paraguay have extensive experience in World Championships and World Cups. They are working in different areas and fulfilling different roles, which served as inspiration and motivation for those who are starting out in refereeing.