Talk:World Obstacle

Formal COI edit request: Disputed terms OCR / World OCR, invalid AIMS.SPORT reference, and active references to a dissolved entity

We are posting from the official World OCR account and disclose that our organization is directly affected by this article. For that reason, World OCR is not directly editing the article. We request review and correction by independent editors.

This is a formal conflict-of-interest edit request concerning materially disputed statements in the article about World Obstacle/FISO, specifically where the article addresses OCR, World OCR, AIMS member status, and the current references to the European Obstacle Sports Federation.

World OCR is not requesting promotional treatment and is not asking editors to remove information about World Obstacle/FISO generally. The request is narrower: the article should not present disputed or unsupported OCR-related governance claims, AIMS affiliation claims, or European governance references as settled facts in Wikipedia’s voice.

We request review of the following points:

1. Active AIMS affiliation / membership

Current wording to review:

“World Obstacle is a member of the Alliance of Independent Recognized Members of Sports”

Requested correction:

Remove the statement, or qualify it as an attributed claim only if supported by the AIMS itself. The article should not state in Wikipedia’s voice that World Obstacle/FISO is a member of AIMS unless current authoritative evidence confirms this.

Reason:

World OCR has documentary correspondence from AIMS dated 10 September 2024 stating that there are no obstacle-sport international federations within AIMS members and that the relevant federation is not a recognized member of AIMS. If editors require verification, World OCR can provide the official correspondence between one of our law firms with the President of AIMS at that time, Mr. Stephan Fox.

2. European Obstacle Sports Federation / European governance

Current wording to review:

“World Obstacle members are composed of national member federations administering obstacle course racing in each country. Each national federation belongs to one of the four continental confederations. Each of the continental confederation offers a continental championship. As of 2022, the continental confederations are:

• The Obstacle Sports Federation of Africa (OSFA) – 12 national federations
• The Pan American Obstacle Sports Federation (PAOSF) – 22 national federations
• The Obstacle Sports Federation Asia Pacific (OSFAP) – 30 national federations with sub-continental regions including Obstacle Sports Federation South East Asia, Obstacle Sports Federation Central and Western Asia, and Obstacle Sports Federation East & South Asia and Pacific.
• The European Obstacle Sports Federation (EOSF) – 30 national federations**. Sub continental associations for Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) and Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania) were initiated in 2022. * Sub-continental regions for Asia-Pacific were formalized the 2021 OSFAP Congress. ** Originally formed an association of European organisations prior to the 1st OCR European Championships June 10–11, 2016, EOSF was incorporated as the European Obstacle Sports Federation on 8 April 2017 at Olbia, Sardegna, Italy.”

Requested correction:

Remove or qualify any wording that presents the European Obstacle Sports Federation as an active European confederation, governance body, or sanctioning authority unless current official registry evidence confirms that it is active and legally capable of operating in that role.

Reason:

Official Irish registry records indicate that the European Obstacle Sports Federation entity is dissolved. World OCR has also contacted the Irish Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) authorities concerning this issue, and they are about to be audited within the next two months. The article should not present the entity as operational or as a current sanctioning/governance body if that status is contradicted or materially disputed by official records.

3. OCR / World OCR wording references

Current wording to review, and requested for correction:

Replace broad wording that presents World Obstacle/FISO as the international governing body/authority for sporting activities defined as OCR, and eliminate World OCR-related wording. Examples:

“World Obstacle/FISO describes itself as ["...the international governing body for obstacle sports and related events. Disciplines include Ninja (similar to Sasuke and American Ninja Warrior) and obstacle course racing (OCR)."], while OCR-related governance and rights are disputed by World OCR, a separate Swiss-registered international federation, that governs the OCR as a standalone sport.” "To provide more autonomous governance of obstacle sports worldwide, World OCR changed its name to World Obstacle in October 2020. This provided a more inclusive name for the core sports of Ninja, OCR and adventure racing.[11]" For clarity, the organization identifying as World Obstacle, should provide document-based proof that is was previously registered as "World OCR". For further clarity, we are not requesting a general explanation or informal statement. We are requesting document-based evidence for the claims made publicly on Wikipedia.

We would like to point out that World OCR is a separate Swiss-registered international federation, and holds documented exclusive EU-level wordmark enforcement rights in relation to OCR, WORLD OCR, as well as OCRATHLON, through an exclusive agreement with the EUIPO registrant of the OCR and OCRATHLON marks. The article should therefore avoid stating or implying, in Wikipedia’s own voice, that World Obstacle/FISO is the uncontested global authority for OCR or World OCR-related activity, because it is highly misleading and damaging to our organization. EUIPO certificates can be provided upon request.

4. UIPM/FISO dissolution and transition

Current wording to review:

“[World Obstacle has worked with the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) on its replacement of show jumping with obstacle racing in the modern pentathlon.]”

Requested correction:

Update the article to reflect, with attribution, that the organization presenting itself as the international governing body for all obstacle sports (FISO/World Obstacle) has voted to dissolve and integrate into UIPM, with the effective date stated by UIPM/FISO as 10 August 2026. This should be presented as a UIPM/FISO organizational transition, not as proof that all obstacle-sports-related organizations, trademarks, events, or independent OCR development pathways worldwide are absorbed into or controlled by the UIPM/FISO integration group. This is an attempt to create an overreach in international sports governance, and should not be permitted.

Reason:

While the UIPM/FISO integration may be relevant from the Obstacle Discipline perspective, which is one of the 5 disciplines of Modern Pentathlon, that should not suggest or imply - IN ANY WAY - that World OCR as an organization, or that OCR and OCRATHLON as independently developing sports, will cease to exist ,and be governed on a separate pathway.

World OCR kindly requests that independent editors to:

• remove or qualify any AIMS membership/recognition claim unless current authoritative sourcing confirms it;
• remove or qualify references presenting the European Obstacle Sports Federation as an active European governance or sanctioning body unless current official registry evidence confirms that status;
• avoid wording that presents World Obstacle/FISO as the uncontested authority for OCR, OCRATHLON, or World OCR-related matters;
• attribute broad UIPM/FISO governance claims rather than stating them as uncontested facts in Wikipedia’s voice;
• add a neutral note, if editors consider appropriate, that OCR-specific governance and rights are disputed by World OCR.

World OCR is willing to provide public links, official registry records, and documentary evidence to assist independent editors. We ask that the article be reviewed urgently because the disputed statements affect athletes, event organizers, public authorities, sponsors, insurers, and sport-governance stakeholders.

~~~~ World OCR (talk) 09:19, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

Partly done:

1. – Done. The AIMS website does not list World Obstacle as a member.

2. – Not done. I have no information on the organizational structure of the EOSF, so the exact connection between this company registered in Ireland and the EOSF is not clear, and I have no idea how it affects the operations of the EOSF. This seems to be a moot point anyways, considering it happened after FISO as a whole was dissolved. The article is going to be presenting it in past-tense in a week or so anyways, so it won't be making any claims about current governance.

3. – Partly done. The article now refers to them as an international governing body, but not as the international governing body. The whole World OCR thing is unusual and I cannot find sources for when exactly World Obstacle stopped identifying as that. Them being referred to as World OCR is cited to an independent source, and is used in another one later in the article, so I can't exactly remove it, and I can't guarantee that World Obstacle sees your request for further information about that. You should consider directly contacting them, or the UIPM I suppose, with such requests. I did go ahead and add a footnote next to the mention of the name World OCR, cited to your website, saying "Not to be confused with the World OCR founded in 2024, a separate international governing organization for OCR." which I think is a neutral way to present the situation.

4 – Not done for now, but will be done on 10 August 2026, as the UIPM states that is when the integration of FISO will be complete. –Maltazarian ^{ᚾparley$\lor$investigateᛅ} 18:01, 2 August 2026 (UTC)