{"id":496382,"date":"2026-06-26T10:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496382\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:02:11","slug":"sports-tribunal-backs-canterbury-fencer-samuel-mcarthur-after-fencing-nz-didnt-follow-selection-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496382\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports Tribunal backs Canterbury fencer Samuel McArthur after Fencing NZ didn\u2019t follow selection policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">Exceptions can be made if a fencer could not compete on medical grounds, if they are living abroad or through \u201cother extenuating circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Sam McArthur appealed the decision by FeNZ to not select him for the Fencing World Championships in Hong Kong. Photo \/ Getty Images\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Sam McArthur appealed the decision by FeNZ to not select him for the Fencing World Championships in Hong Kong. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">McArthur challenged the selector\u2019s decision to use the medical exemption for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/sport\/young-new-zealand-fencing-champion-sets-sight-on-the-world-stage\/HS2GS7R3AJHUVU4TNAOVAHISH4\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/sport\/young-new-zealand-fencing-champion-sets-sight-on-the-world-stage\/HS2GS7R3AJHUVU4TNAOVAHISH4\/\">Bioletti<\/a> and argued \u201cthe criteria for that exemption were not met and were misapplied\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">He also alleged  a conflict of interest and \u201cactual bias\u201d in the selection process because of the \u201ccoaching relationship\u201d between Bioletti and selector Kyle Macdonald.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">FeNZ argued the appeal should be dismissed because the tribunal lacked jurisdiction and the appeal was made more as a challenge to Bioletti\u2019s selection rather than McArthur\u2019s non-selection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">The organisation also claimed the selection policy was applied correctly and doesn\u2019t guarantee selection based on open rankings, rather allowing \u201cdiscretion and evaluative decision-making, via the application of the exemptions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">FeNZ contested there was no evidence of bias from Macdonald or other selectors and believed \u201cthe selection decision was reasonable and consistent with the selection policy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">Bioletti supported FeNZ\u2019s position and rejected any suggestion of bias, while Peterson maintained \u201cselectors were entitled to select fencers based on overseas performance, notwithstanding a lower domestic ranking\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">The tribunal upheld McArthur\u2019s appeal on \u201cthe basis that the selection criteria had not been properly followed and\/or implemented and as there was no material on which the decision could reasonably be based\u201d, which now allows him to compete at the world championship in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">It found the selection is \u201cfundamentally\u201d to be based on open rankings, and Bioletti\u2019s selection showed FeNZ failed to follow this policy by wrongly assuming the aim of ensuring the strongest possible teams and individuals are selected gave them discretion to override or adjust the open rankings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">The tribunal also found that Bioletti did not reach the medical or residing internationally exemptions and \u201cselectors wrongly treated his injury and overseas results as coming under the \u201cother extenuating circumstances\u201d exemption  to justify his selection ahead of Mr McArthur.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">The appeal on the grounds of bias was rejected because Bioletti\u2019s relationship with Macdonald had been disclosed and the selector did not vote on the selection decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">However, the tribunal  said it would have been preferable if Macdonald had completely removed himself from the selection process relating to Bioletti.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">The tribunal referred the matter back to FeNZ to reconsider the selection, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/givealittle.co.nz\/cause\/a-brain-injury-hasnt-stopped-sam-help-him?ref=home&amp;ref_code=donation_feed\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/givealittle.co.nz\/cause\/a-brain-injury-hasnt-stopped-sam-help-him?ref=home&amp;ref_code=donation_feed\">Givealittle page<\/a> having been set up to help fund McArthur\u2019s journey to the world championships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cSam has been selected to represent New Zealand at the 2026 World Fencing Championships in Hong Kong,\u201d the page read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">The page explains that McArthur was a boxer, later switching to fencing, and helped to create North Canterbury Fencing while also helping to coach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"NQVPqQgxO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cSport, alongside his children, gives him purpose and the motivation to keep pushing forward,\u201d the page read. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exceptions can be made if a fencer could not compete on medical grounds, if they are living abroad&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[74,9092,6375,16669,32319,8126,5759,14134,17898,248368,79211,9189,5504,33443,16718,2513,248369,111,139,69,7254,28225,55536,92144,17879,213,131,6847,35965,1533,377,80],"class_list":["post-496382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-after","tag-against","tag-appeal","tag-athletes","tag-backs","tag-canterbury","tag-championships","tag-decision","tag-didnt","tag-fencer","tag-fencing","tag-follow","tag-following","tag-heading","tag-him","tag-lower","tag-mcarthur","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-policy","tag-ranked","tag-samuel","tag-select","tag-selection","tag-sports","tag-than","tag-tribunal","tag-upheld","tag-will","tag-world","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}