Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Recommendations for Attending Tournaments

The goal of the World Beyblade Organization by Fighting Spirits Inc. is to put the health and safety of players first at all times. As such, in light of the developing situation regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world, we are introducing the following recommendations for anyone attending Beyblade tournaments organized through our platform.

Additionally, any applicable guidelines implemented by the local government of the region a tournament is being hosted in must be followed, and while attendees should make every effort to follow them to create a safe environment for all, the responsibility for their enforcement lies solely with the Organizer of the tournament.

Please also see our Terms of Service for more details about the responsibilities of anyone attending or hosting an event posted on our platform.



1. Feeling unwell? Stay at home.
We urge any player who might be feeling under the weather to stay home.

We have your best interests at heart and while everyone is welcome to attend WBO Organized Play tournaments, we urge you to consider your personal health before deciding to attend an event.

The Organizer running the tournament reserves the right to turn away any attendee with visible flu symptoms, including a fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

2. Wear a Mask or Face Covering
All people and tournament participants within the tournament area are recommended to wear a mask or face covering at all times.

If you need to remove the mask briefly to eat or drink something, we recommend maintaining at least 2 meters/6 feet of distance between you and others. We strongly recommend briefly leaving the tournament area entirely if possible in this case, however.

Learn how to properly wear a mask here.

The only exceptions to this recommendation are as follows:

  • Children under two years of age.
  • Persons with an underlying condition recognized by their country or local government which inhibits the ability to wear a mask or face covering. You must notify the Organizer at least one week in advance so that proper accommodations can be made in this case based on local regulations and recommendations. If you do not and attend the event anyways, you may be asked to leave the tournament area.

3. Thumbs Up Instead of Handshakes
Contrary to traditional best practices, players are recommended to refrain from any physical contact with their opponent, including shaking hands after a match. We recommend a thumbs-up, nod or positive verbal exchange instead.

4. Do Not Lend or Play with Others Equipment
We recommend that the lending of parts, launchers, or other equipment and playing with another person's tops during or prior to the tournament be prohibited.

The Organizer running the tournament reserves the right to disqualify any players who do this and ask them to leave the area.

5. During Beyblade Inspection, Disassemble Beyblades for Judges
During the Beyblade Selection phase which takes place before every match, we recommend that players disassemble their selected Beyblade(s) for judges to do a visual inspection before the match begins.

We recommend that it be prohibited for judges to physically touch any Beyblades during inspection.

6. Do Not Bring More Than 1 Person With You
All participants are recommended to not bring more than one person (parent, guardian, sibling, friend, etc) with them that isn't registered for the tournament.

Organizers may ask surplus people and or the participants who brought too many people with them to leave the area or tournament if they discover this rule has been broken.

7. Maintain Physical Distancing (2 meters/6 feet apart)
Except during the countdown prior to the beginning of a tournament match, all players are recommended to maintain physical distancing from each other (at least 2 meters/6 feet apart).

During a match, after the Beyblades have been launched, players are recommended to take a step backwards from the stadium to meet the minimum physical distancing requirements outlined above.

After a match/round, players may approach the stadium one at a time under the direction of the judge to pick up their Beyblade.

8. After each Match Judges Should Disinfect Stadium
After the conclusion of each match, judges are recommended to disinfect all stadium surfaces using an appropriate disinfectant product (ex. Lysol wipes).

9. Only Bladers Registered Before the Tournament Day may Participate
If you are not registered on the event page, Organizers may deem you unable to participate and may turn you away at the venue.

This is to control the number of people present at the event and ensure that local gathering size regulations are followed. Waitlists are not recommended for WBO tournaments at this time, so ensure you register ahead of time if you wish to participate.

10. Eliminated from the tournament? You must leave the tournament area.
If you have been eliminated from the tournament after the conclusion of the First Stage or have lost a match during the finals, you are recommended leave the tournament area as defined by the Organizer.

Only players actively remaining in the tournament as well as the Organizer and the minimum judges required to complete the tournament are recommended to stay within the tournament area.

This will help to ensure smaller and smaller crowds as the tournament progresses, reducing the risk of transmission of the virus even further.

Organizers, if players who have been eliminated would like to watch the finals we encourage you or a judge to record a video of the matches and upload them online later for viewing.



Parents and Guardians! We need your help.
If you are a parent or guardian bringing a child to a tournament and are interested in helping out, contact the Organizer of the tournament to find out how you can help.

All of our tournaments are run by volunteers who may also be players. As a result, it can be challenging at times to ensure these restrictions are enforced at times, so any additional help on this front is appreciated.



These recommendations will remain in effect until further notice.

We encourage all WBO members to follow and stay up to date on the latest developments and recommendations from their national and local public health authorities as well as from the World Health Organization. You can find general recommendations from the WHO here.

We thank everyone in advance for doing their best to take proper precautions to ensure that the environment at any tournament is as safe as it can be!
Well, thanks. Where I live, the cautions are getting so bad if someone coughs in schools they are sent home, some schools are closed after one person is suspected of being infected. It sounds like an apocalypse.

(Mar. 12, 2020  10:03 PM)DaGoldenPenguin Wrote: Well, thanks. Where I live, the cautions are getting so bad if someone coughs in schools they are sent home, some schools are closed after one person is suspected of being infected. It sounds like an apocalypse.

I do honestly appreciate it, though. I don’t want ANYONE getting this, it sounds terrible
we got 8 or 9 cases in Kentucky so I may have to think of a new date for my tournament (since I plan on becoming an organizer soon)
Thanks for the advice, I already have 2 cases in my county I don't know exactly where. About 21 cases in PA, and 29 in NJ (since I literally live right across from there). Was really thinking of hosting a tournament next month but I might wait until May or June with it all going on.
This needed to be said thank you so much 👏👏👏
I just made some extra rules for the tournament in my thread this was helpful
Thank you for posting this. It was very helpful. I strongly agree with all that has been said.
The bottom line is that we've given out advice on how to approach this for those who still want to host or attend. If you don't think it's safe or don't want to run the risk, please do not attend or host an event. Whether you attend or not, host or not, it is 100% entirely your choice to do so, and nobody is forcing you to make choice that you aren't happy with.

If such a time comes where we need to stop all tournaments until further notice, we'll make such a statement. At the current moment, following the guidelines set by the World Health Organization, we don't feel this is necessary but we're obviously keeping a close eye on things in case this does need to happen.

The namecalling, conflict and fearmongering really isn't necessary. Just please use your own judgement and common sense as to whether you want to attend or host in your own area.

I've removed the debates and misinformation above and shall be locking this thread as the flurry of opinions confuses the subject, as many have said. If you have concerns to voice, please do send me a PM and I'm happy to hear things out.
TOURNAMENT ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS UPDATE

After our first event since these restrictions came into effect, the WBO Staff took some time to reflect on lessons learned from it and how we could improve our guidelines further for the sake of the safety of everyone in attendance at an event.

As such, we have made some updates and additions that are effective immediately for all WBO events until further notice. We thank everyone for their continued understanding and support!

(Mar. 12, 2020  10:00 PM)~Mana~ Wrote: 1. Feeling unwell? Stay at home.
We urge any player who might be feeling under the weather to stay home.

We have your best interests at heart and while everyone is welcome to attend WBO Organized Play tournaments, we urge you to consider your personal health before deciding to attend an event.

The Organizer running the tournament reserves the right to turn away any attendee with visible flu symptoms, including a fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

Bolded text above is new.

Below text are brand new additions:

(Mar. 12, 2020  10:00 PM)~Mana~ Wrote: 2. Wear a Mask or Face Covering
All people and tournament participants within the tournament area must wear a mask or face covering at all times.

If you need to remove the mask briefly to eat or drink something, you must maintain at least 2 meters/6 feet of distance between you and others. We strongly recommend briefly leaving the tournament area entirely if possible in this case, however.

Learn how to properly wear a mask here.

The only exceptions to this requirement are as follows:

  • Children under two years of age.
  • Persons with an underlying condition recognized by their country or local government which inhibits the ability to wear a mask or face covering. You must notify the Organizer at least one week in advance so that proper accommodations can be made in this case based on local regulations and recommendations. If you do not and attend the event anyways, you will be asked to leave the tournament area. Organizers, you must notify a Staff member if a participant notifies you of this and we will work with you to address it.


(Mar. 12, 2020  10:00 PM)~Mana~ Wrote: 10. Eliminated from the tournament? You must leave the tournament area.
If you have been eliminated from the tournament after the conclusion of the First Stage or have lost a match during the finals, you must leave the tournament area as defined by the Organizer.

Only players actively remaining in the tournament as well as the Organizer and the minimum judges required to complete the tournament may stay within the tournament area.

This will help to ensure smaller and smaller crowds as the tournament progresses, reducing the risk of transmission of the virus even further.

Organizers, if players who have been eliminated would like to watch the finals we encourage you or a judge to record a video of the matches and upload them online later for viewing.

Finally, this is not  a requirement, but an ask for help when possible from parents and guardians:

(Mar. 12, 2020  10:00 PM)~Mana~ Wrote: Parents and Guardians! We need your help.
If you are a parent or guardian bringing a child to a tournament and are interested in helping out, contact the Organizer of the tournament to find out how you can help.

All of our tournaments are run by volunteers who may also be players. As a result, it can be challenging at times to ensure these restrictions are enforced at times, so any additional help on this front is appreciated.

.
Hello everyone! The opening post of this announcement has now been updated to change all requirements into recommendations. This means that compliance with each of them is no longer required for all events, but instead strongly recommended. 

Instead, the only requirement for events moving forward will be that Organizers and attendees abide by whatever applicable local regulations related to COVID-19 are in effect within their region.

We recognize that thankfully, the situation in some areas of the world is starting to improve considerably. This is not the case in all places around the world, so we've decided that the best way forward will be to defer to the guidance of local governments.

Please check the opening post linked above for the full details.