The vote in favour of the 30-point format, put forward by the sport’s Executive Committee, follows real-life testing and consultation around several different options and mechanisms with the community of athletes, Federations, coaches and referees.  

The move will showcase the best of traditional, tactical game-play with a shorter match duration to grab the attention of more fans and spectators. Each touch will gain more significance and generate higher levels of excitement with just six relays to reach victory. 

Also within the new rules, fencers can only compete against an opponent from the same category, going even further to make the team events fairer, closer and easier to understand. 

Pal Szekeres, Chair of the World Para Fencing Executive Committee, said: “This is an incredibly exciting time and a historic moment for Para fencing as it takes another bold step forward. We will always keep the long-term health and popularity of Para fencing at the front of our minds, never forgetting how important it is to be adaptable to the needs of current and new audiences whilst involving the community. 

“I would like to thank all the athletes, coaches and referees who shared their ideas and feedback as we tested different formats and worked towards the right formula.  

“They and the Congress are the driving forces so to have their support as we move into this new era is incredibly important and significant. We will now shift our focus to rolling-out the new team formats formally, joining the other major developments we are taking forward over the coming months.”  

The move follows the introduction of mixed epee and foil team events to the Paralympic Games for LA 2028, alongside men’s and women’s sabre teams. This will see all three weapons on the team event programme at a Paralympics for the first time since Athens 2004. 

In support, the Sport Congress also approved rule changes around the introduction of mixed team epee, sabre and foil to World and regional Championships, bringing the total number of team events to 9 when combined with existing single gender medals. For World Cups, World Para Fencing determines the events that will take place at each edition where teams traditionally compete on the last day.  

The team event programme for the 2026 calendar is a follows, including the most important events of the year: regional Championships in the Americas, Asia and Europe which kick-off the qualification process for the LA 2028 Paralympics. 

The full competition calendar for 2026 can be viewed here. 

All the updates to the sport’s rules approved by the World Para Fencing Congress have now been published at World Para Fencing’s website.