"i qualified this year and last year and in both we are tired of requesting financial support to cover the competition fees, and our requests have always been rejected due to the large amount and i think its the last time i will participate."

Submitted 29/11/2025, 18:36

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"Forced to pay 2000$, or even more, idk, for attending (since they're hosting it in a luxurious hotel), and only to have the ability to write the title of "region finalist" in my admissions as proof of my skills. And due to these financial constraints, 7 days left, and I'm still not qualified."

Submitted 05/12/2025, 14:45

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"We are supposed to pay 75k for a single team and after the deadline the fees became 105k. This is a clear scam since we all know that in our region the average salary is not even 30k per month to pay for all of this, and of course no one will pay 30k for a competition. I also could not participate in ACPC 2025 because of the fees."

Submitted 28/11/2025, 00:47

According to Early (2025), the average monthly salary in Egypt is between 9,200 and 14,370 EGP, which is roughly 180–285 USD —— not even 30,000 EGP.

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from Palestine—"there is no visa ;["

Since ACPC is hosted in Egypt, it requires a visa

Submitted 04/12/2025, 14:25

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"I want to present an objective perspective on why the competition raises concerns, rather than writing a narrative or story. This is based on being a community leader for a year and contestant for 3 years now.

1. Inconsistent and Informal Payment Structure : Payments are handled through external channels, not the official platform. Some teams pay 25,000 EGP per person (officially qualified), others 50,000 EGP per person (unofficially). This year for the first time after deadlines, an additional 10,000 EGP per person is charged—an unreasonable variation.

2. Mandatory and Overpriced Accommodation Bundled with Fees : Participants must pay fixed accommodation bundled with registration, costing 25,000 EGP per Egyptian student—roughly a semester’s tuition—regardless of personal circumstances. Many could find alternatives for 1% of the cost, yet teams may still pay the full amount even if a member cannot attend, making the policy highly unreasonable and wealth-dependent.

3. Sponsors Should Offset Student Costs : With sponsorship reportedly requiring a minimum contribution of $25,000 per sponsor, student fees should be reduced—or unnecessary altogether.

4. Unverified and Unofficial Communication : Payment instructions are shared through forwarded emails rather than official institutional channels. While a stamp appears on some documents, it is a copied print—not an original stamp or signed document, making it easy to replicate and raising serious concerns about authenticity, accountability, and traceability.

Requests to Solve these problems :

1. Transparent and Consistent Payment System

• All registration and payment processes should be handled directly through the official platform.
• Fees must be clearly published and standardized to avoid arbitrary variations or excessive late penalties.

1. Separate Competition Fees from Accommodation

• Participants should have the option to pay a competition fee independently of accommodation.
• Accommodation packages should be optional, fairly priced, and not mandatory for participation.

Note: The issue should be formally recognized by universities, ICPC officials, and the Ministry to ensure accountability, fairness, and accessibility, rather than leaving resolution solely to students."

Submitted 29/11/2025, 15:22

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"I was trying to qualify to acpc for 3 years first time they took 20 team only so.i was goaling to be top 20 when i ranked 20 they qualified only 16 teams so i said np i will tryp my best to become top 16 next time now i ranked 8th but they qualified only 5 XD

I need to qualify to acpc to support my application to colleges"

Submitted 27/11/2025, 01:19

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"ECPC Teens usually takes 3 stages: online qualification (all who registered), then onsite qualification (around 200–300 teams), then onsite finals with housing before the contest (around 30–40 teams). In past years, the number of ACPC Teens finalists was (16, 20, 25). This year they decided to skip the onsite qualification and make all 196 teams finalists, then after the contest they offered housing only for the top 15 teams to “attend the ceremony”, so we expected that they would announce the top 15 as ACPC finalists, but they literally skipped us, just saying the names of the top 3 teams (medalists) and nothing for the others.

this year I could finally take a place in the top 15 teams. After a month they mailed only the top 5 teams that they are qualified, so we contacted them and they just said, “we are looking for a sponsor”. Another month passed with no news, so we asked again and they said again that they are "looking for a sponsor".

By this date, 28th Nov, 14 days left for ACPC and still just 5 teams qualified."

Submitted 27/11/2025 06:01:31

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"I would like to raise a concern regarding the ACPC (Africa and Arab Collegiate Programming Contest). As you may know, this competition is held annually in Egypt for university students across the Arab and African regions. While the event is highly prestigious and academically valuable, many participants have expressed serious concerns about the participation fees.

Despite the fact that the contest is supported by multiple sponsors, the cost required from each team has become extremely high—reaching around 2,000 USD per team. This amount places a significant financial burden on students and creates a situation that feels exploitative, especially considering that the competition is intended to encourage and support young talent, not limit their opportunities.

Such excessively high fees can be viewed as unfair, and they risk undermining the purpose and spirit of the competition. We strongly believe that a reassessment of the fee structure is necessary to ensure fairness, accessibility, and integrity for all participants.

We kindly request that you review these concerns and take the appropriate steps to address them, so that the ACPC can continue to be an inclusive and inspiring event for students across the region."

Submitted 27/11/2025, 01:00

*"reaching around 2,000 USD per team" including the coach’s fees, even though the coach is actually paying extra to attend :')

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"My team was officially qualified to ACPC and this was announced in the closing ceremony of the national finals (ECPC). However, due to the huuuggeee fees required, we've been searching for a sponsor for over 3 months now. The regional finals is in 15 days and we don't even know if we're participating or not. All of us are students from universities managed and funded by the country, so the fees of the competition (which is 1500 dollars) is like 8x of what we pay as annual tuition fee for our uni. So that's more than what we and our parents could afford."

Submitted 28/11/2025, 04:11

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Hi everyCPer!

I’m an ACPC contestant who has been struggling with the contest for more than a year. I’ve noticed that many people from all over the region—both students and coaches—face similar problems with these competitions. So, based on a friend’s suggestion, I created this account to share stories and discuss these issues together in a respectful way.

I’ve also made a short form (link) where you can anonymously share your experiences with ACPC from the 2023/2024/2025 seasons. Please don’t spam, and don’t mention real names or directly identify specific people. The goal is to talk about problems.

The aim is to highlight issues, reduce corruption and unfairness across the Arab region, and help create a healthier environment for competitive programmers to compete. If sharing your story makes you feel better or helps others feel less alone, please feel free to write as much as you like.

Some of you have already received an email from me. If you sent stories, I’ll anonymously share them here. A few of them are actually very funny and relatable, so expect both serious and light moments.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to share; your voice really matters.