Penalties

Penalties are the core of race-day officiating. When you observe a rule violation, you submit a penalty through the app.

Submitting a penalty

Tap Report Penalty from the race mode screen. On iPhone the flow walks you through several screens; on iPad landscape it's collapsed onto a single wide page (see iPad layout below). Either way the steps are the same: athlete number → category → type → optional penalty box → details.

1. Enter the athlete number

Use the on-screen numeric keypad to enter the athlete's race number, then tap Enter (iPhone) or Next (iPad). The app validates the number against the race's number series and shows the athlete's name and details if found.

For relay races, you'll also enter the relay athlete code (e.g. "A", "B").

2. Select the penalty category, then the type

First choose the category. The category buttons are colour-coded so the distinction is unmistakable even at a glance:

• Drafting (blue) — only shown on races where drafting is enforced.
• Penalty (yellow) — standard time penalties.
• Disqualification (red) — removes the athlete from the race.

After picking a category, the app shows the grid of available penalty types for the race's sport. Each type has a short code shown on a coloured badge.

Example: triathlon penalty types

Code	Name
DSQ	Disqualification
V	Other Violations
E	Equipment Outside Bin
B	Bike Behaviour
S	Swim Conduct
R	Run Behaviour
M	Mount Line Violation
L	Littering
D	Dismount Line Violation
Es	Early Start
Bl	Blocking
—	Drafting

Available types depend on your organisation and sport, and are localised in the appropriate language.

3. Pick a penalty box

If the race has penalty boxes configured, the app asks which one the athlete should serve in (e.g. Bike 1, Bike 2, Run). Pick one and tap Confirm. Races without penalty boxes skip this step.

4. Add details and submit

Optionally add:

• Description — free-text notes about the penalty.
• Add Media — attach photos or videos as evidence, taken from the camera or chosen from the device library.

The app automatically records:

• Your location — GPS coordinates at the time of submission.
• Timestamp — when the penalty was submitted.
• Your identity — who reported the penalty.

Tap SUBMIT. The penalty is immediately visible to other officials with the right permissions. A notification bar appears with a View shortcut to open the review screen.

To discard a half-filled penalty without submitting, press and hold Hold to cancel until the form clears.

iPad layout

On iPad in landscape, the first three steps (athlete number, category, type) share a single wide screen. The numeric keypad is on the left, the category buttons stack on the right, and the type grid replaces the category buttons once a category is picked. Tap Next to advance to the details screen.

After entering the athlete number and picking Penalty, the right side swaps to the type grid:

The penalty-box picker and details screen behave the same as on iPhone.

Penalty statuses

A penalty moves through these statuses:

Status	Meaning
Submitted	Just reported. Awaiting review.
Approved	Confirmed by an authorised official.
Declined	Rejected — the penalty won't stand.
Served	The athlete has served the time penalty.
Cancelled	Withdrawn after submission.
Protest	Under protest by the athlete or team.

Officials with approval permissions (typically Head Referee or Chief Race Official) can change a penalty's status.

Penalty list

Tap the Penalties tile (the one with the flag icon and a count badge) on the race mode screen. The list shows all penalties in the current race with at-a-glance count chips at the top (e.g. 7 Total, 1 Drafting, 6 Penalty, 7 Approved) — tap any chip to filter the list to just that slice. A Mine toggle limits the list to penalties you submitted yourself.

The sort icon next to the search bar opens a sort options sheet: Newest first (default), Oldest first, Number ↑, Number ↓, Status, or Type.

You can also search by athlete number, type, or any other text in the search bar at the top of the list. Tap a penalty card to open the full review screen.

Reviewing a penalty

Tap any penalty in the list to open its review screen. It shows:

• Athlete number and name.
• Penalty type and colour.
• Description and any attached photos or videos.
• Location on the map.
• Submission time and who reported it.
• Status history (who approved, declined, or changed it).
• A linked chat thread for discussion about this specific penalty.

From here, authorised officials can approve, decline, cancel, or edit the penalty. For a Submitted penalty, the review screen shows a Decision section inline near the top with Decline and Approve buttons and a free-text "Reason for Decision" field. Additional actions — including Cancel, Create Chat, and Add Update — are available from the actions menu (the icon in the top-right of the app bar).

Editing a penalty

Officials with edit permissions can modify a penalty after submission:

• Change the penalty type.
• Update the description.
• Add or remove photos.
• Change the athlete number (if it was entered incorrectly).
• Create a chat thread linked to the penalty (on large events) for discussion with other officials.

Each edit is logged in the penalty's update history.

Adding an update

The Add Update action (in the review screen's actions menu) opens an update sheet where you can record a follow-up on a penalty — write a summary, attach photos or videos, and, if you're an approving official, change the penalty's status or move it between penalty boxes.

• Status — approving officials only. The field is required (marked with an asterisk). Changing the status requires a written reason: if you change the status but leave the summary blank, a hint appears and the update can't be submitted until you explain the change.
• Penalty box — approving officials only, and shown only when the penalty qualifies for a box. Pick Bike, Run, Stop & Go, or None (to pull the penalty out of a box). When a bike race has more than one bike box, a box-number selector appears below it.
• Summary and media — available to everyone. If you're not changing the status, an update just needs a summary or at least one photo or video.

Each update is appended to the penalty's chronological update history.

Notifications

When a penalty is submitted, officials with penalty notifications enabled receive a push notification. The notification includes the athlete number, penalty type, and a link to the penalty review screen.

See Notifications for details on notification settings.