Hello everyone, we are facing a problem due to changes in the rules of participation in the ICPC qualification. And these changes seem unfair to us! We want to report this issue to the community and hear your opinion. Please give feedback if you have any thoughts on this.

So, about the rules:

In 2020 (covid year), the ICPC organizers introduced a rule according to which participation in the 20/21 online qualification will not be counted in the number of possible participation in the qualification:

A student who has competed in qualifying regional contests during five different contest years is NOT eligible to compete. Regional participation 2020/21 is not counted towards the max 5 regionals!

https://web.archive.org/web/20220324023911/https://icpc.global/regionals/rules

In 2023, this rule was unexpectedly removed for the 2025-2026 season:

1. A student who has competed in qualifying regional contests during five different contest years is NOT eligible to compete with the following exceptions: 

• Regional participation in 2020/21 is not counted towards the maximum of 5 different contest years.  This exception will be removed for regional year 2025/26; and 
• Regional participation in ICPC Regionals 2021/22 and ICPC Regionals 2022/23 counts as only one year of regional competition. This exception will be removed from the regional year 2025/26.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230813214646/https://icpc.global/regionals/rules

These changes affected a group of people born in 2002 who entered the university in 2020 and have completed 10 academic semesters to October 2025. And now those of them who participated in the ICPC during the entire 5 years of training are not eligible for participation in the next season (25/26 year) due to the restrictions on the number of participating in the qualification.

To clarify, the 2025-2026 season is the last season for which online or non-online qualifications somehow affected the eligibility of the participants. Those of them who are older than that no longer pass by age, and younger ones did not participate season 20/21, because they were not yet students.

We consider this change to be unfair, as it deprives a specific group of people who were counting on it of the right to sixth participation (5 classic + 1 online qualification).

A large number of people who participated in the ICPC in 2020 (online qualification) had the opportunity to participate six times.

We know at least three people (neohacker, LFY-, antonis.white) who suddenly found themselves unable to participate in the 2025-2026 season.

Previously, the possibility of removing the rules regarding the 25/26 season was not mentioned, and there are simply no obvious reasons for this. Many participants from the above-mentioned category counted on the rule on non-registration of online qualifications for the covid year (20/21). After all, it guaranteed them participation in the 2025/2026 season. Otherwise (without introducing the 20-21 season rule), we could skip our participation in one of the seasons from 2020 to 2025 in order to train for 25/26, which is the last year with the possibility of participation for people born in 2002, according to the classical age and number of attempts restrictions. Skipping a year to prepare is a common practice for ICPC participants. It should be recalled that for other groups of athletes participating in the 20/21 season, the opportunity to participate during the 11th-12th semesters was saved by the organizers and used by the participants.

We wrote on manager@icpc.global to ask about these changes. Six months later, we received a response that the rules had been changed. The fixes looked like this:

1. A student who has competed in qualifying regional contests during five different contest years is NOT eligible to compete with the following exception: a. For the regional years 2025/26 and 2026/27 it will be ok to compete even if already having competed during 5 (but not more) regional years, as long as not having completed more than the equivalent of eight semesters of full-time STEM study as of the date when the eligibility status is determined.

https://icpc.global/regionals/rules

Yes, this is an analogue of the old covid rule, but with an important limitation about 8 completed semesters. The organizers clarified that this rule should cover those people who could not study well during the covid era, did not complete their bachelor's degree (8 semesters) and resumed their studies later. They also said they were not going to bring the covid rule back.

For people born in 2002 and participating in the 20/21 season, the situation has not changed. This addition looks contradictory. It is difficult to participate in the ICPC 5 times after studying for only 8 semesters.

The current rules also specify: "An online contest which is unsupervised may not be classified as a qualifying contest". Qualification in 20/21 fit this description, which means it should not be considered. (But that's not the case now).

As a result, the 2002 participants who entered the university in 2020 are still the only participants in the 20/21 season who were deprived of the right to a sixth participation.

Yes, the rule was removed in advance. To be honest, many people did not notice the change, it came as a surprise. We really don't understand the point of canceling the rule in the last year, when it is important and has something else to do with it.

We also approached some of the organizers at the ICPC Baku Finals and described the current situation to them. For them, this case also looks strange and ambiguous.

All these years we have been counting on participating in the 25/26 season, and we want to participate in it!

We are waiting for your opinion and feedback! Help spread this post. We believe that the ICPC leadership will listen to us and help resolve the issue.