2.1. Participation in each edition of the IBFO is subject to confirmation in accordance with this Article. For the purposes of this competition, “Participating Country” means a country admitted to the IBFO or a territory with a separately administered secondary education system whose participation has been approved by the Executive Board (the five-member executive body established under Clause 4.5). Admission to the IBFO and the designation under which a Participating Country takes part are administrative decisions made solely for the purposes of the competition and do not imply political or diplomatic recognition.

2.2. Each Participating Country may send one official team. The Host Country may be represented by up to two teams. Where it sends two, it shall designate one as its primary team. Both Host Country teams shall be subject to the same eligibility and competition rules. The person designated as Team Leader A of the additional team under Clause 3.1 shall not serve as the Host Country’s Official Contact under Clause 2.3 or as its representative on the International Board under Clause 4.2.

2.3. Each Participating Country shall have one Official Contact. The Official Contact is responsible for formal communication with the IBFO, confirmation of participation and coordination of the information required for registration. Upon registration, the person registered as Team Leader A shall automatically assume the role of the Official Contact. The person who served as Team Leader A at the most recent IBFO in which the Participating Country took part shall remain its Official Contact until Team Leader A for that country’s next participation has been registered.

The current Official Contact may request in writing that another person serve as Official Contact during the intervening period. The Secretary shall record an undisputed change, while a disputed change shall be decided under Clause 2.5. If the current Official Contact becomes unable to continue owing to force majeure or other exceptional circumstances beyond their reasonable control, Team Leader B from the country’s most recent participation shall assume the role. If no Team Leader B is available, the Participating Country shall nominate a replacement without delay and notify the Secretary in writing.

2.4. The Secretary shall open and administer the participation process for each edition in accordance with the Competition Rounds and Awards. The Secretary shall invite Official Contacts to confirm participation, receive confirmations and first-time requests, check their completeness, request relevant clarification or supporting documentation and forward complete requests requiring approval to the Executive Board.

A first-time request may be submitted by an educational institution or another body capable of conducting or supporting an open and merit-based national selection process. It shall identify a proposed Official Contact and describe the intended selection process. The Secretary shall not approve or reject a request individually.

The member responsible for Strategic Development may support outreach to countries and territories considering first-time participation and provide general information concerning the published participation requirements but shall not administer, evaluate or decide any request.

2.5. The Executive Board shall decide collectively on:

• the admission of a country or territory as a Participating Country
• competing claims concerning the Official Contact of the same country
• the replacement of an Official Contact where the proposed change is disputed.

Decisions of the Executive Board under this Article are final.

2.6. Where exceptional circumstances prevent an official team from participating in person, the Executive Board may approve remote participation upon a request submitted by its Official Contact through the Secretary. A remotely participating team shall remain subject to the same eligibility, assessment and academic-integrity standards as an in-person team. The applicable request requirements and any approved procedural adaptations shall be specified or communicated pursuant to the Competition Rounds and Awards.

2.7. The member responsible for Global Engagement shall coordinate engagement with Participating Countries, alumni, teachers and volunteers and support community communications and the preparation of proposals for institutional partnerships, without limiting the formal functions assigned to the Secretary or the decision-making authority of the Executive Board or any other competent governing bodies.

3.1. The official delegation of each Participating Country shall consist of no more than five Contestants and either one or two Team Leaders. Where a delegation has one Team Leader, that person shall be designated Team Leader A. Where it has two Team Leaders, one shall be designated Team Leader A and the other Team Leader B.

3.2. To be eligible to participate, a Contestant must be under 20 years of age on 30 June of the competition year and must have been enrolled in secondary education or in an equivalent educational programme on 1 December of the preceding calendar year.

3.3. Contestants shall be selected through an open, transparent and merit-based national process and must be citizens or legal residents of the Participating Country they represent. The institution or body coordinating the national selection shall be responsible for the integrity of the selection process and for verifying that the selected Contestants satisfy the eligibility requirements of this Statute.

3.4. Team Leaders must be adults, possess sufficient proficiency in English and be capable of supporting the delegation in matters related to the competition. They shall supervise and support their Contestants throughout the official programme and take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the applicable competition and conduct rules.

Where a delegation includes minors, the institution or body coordinating the country’s participation shall ensure that at least one Team Leader holds any authorisation required by applicable law to accompany them and make necessary welfare decisions.

Team Leader A shall act as the delegation’s primary representative. Team Leader B shall assist Team Leader A and assume their responsibilities where Team Leader A is temporarily unavailable. The roles of Team Leader A as Official Contact and as the country’s representative on the International Board are governed by Clauses 2.3 and 4.2, respectively.

3.5. Every delegation shall comply with this Statute, the Syllabus, the Competition Rounds and Awards and any other official procedures applicable under Clause 4.12.

The institution or body coordinating a Participating Country’s participation shall make the travel, financial and administrative arrangements not expressly assigned to the Host Organization under the Competition Rounds and Awards or the Hosting Agreement concluded under Article 7.

The Official Contact shall coordinate these arrangements, subject to the allocation of legal and financial responsibility established in Clause 8.5.

3.6. The Official Contact shall submit the information required for the registration of Contestants and Team Leaders in the form and within the timetable specified in the Competition Rounds and Awards. Only information reasonably necessary for the purposes identified in Clause 3.7 may be requested.

The Official Contact and the institution coordinating the national selection shall ensure, within their respective responsibilities, that the information submitted is accurate and has been lawfully collected and transmitted.

3.7. Personal data relating to Team Leaders, Contestants, Observers and other participants shall be processed only to the extent necessary for specified and legitimate purposes connected with the organisation and conduct of the IBFO and in accordance with applicable data-protection law.

The respective data-protection roles of the entities involved and the information required by applicable law—including the categories of data, purposes and lawful bases, recipients, international transfers, retention periods and participants’ rights—shall be identified in the applicable privacy notice and, where relevant, the Hosting Agreement.

Health, accessibility, dietary and other sensitive information shall be collected only where necessary and protected by appropriate confidentiality and security safeguards. Parental or guardian authorisation shall be obtained where required by law. Personal data shall not be retained longer than necessary, except where longer retention is required by law or justified for maintaining official competition records.

3.8. A person may attend the IBFO as an Observer only with the approval of the Executive Board and subject to the capacity and conditions specified in the Competition Rounds and Awards. Observers may attend only activities identified as public and shall not have access to restricted competition areas, confidential materials or internal meetings unless expressly authorised.

4.1. The IBFO shall be governed by the International Board and the Executive Board, described in Clauses 4.2 and 4.5 respectively. Each edition shall be planned and delivered through a Steering Committee established under Clause 4.11.

4.2. The International Board is the highest decision-making authority of the IBFO. It shall consist of the five members of the Executive Board and one representative of each Participating Country in the most recent edition of the IBFO.

The representative of a Participating Country shall be its registered Team Leader A. For the Host Country, this shall be Team Leader A of the primary team designated under Clause 2.2. Team Leader B may act as substitute where Team Leader A is temporarily unavailable.

Each Executive Board member and each Participating Country shall have one ordinary vote. No person may exercise more than one ordinary vote. When a Team Leader A also serves as a member of the Executive Board they cannot exercise the country’s vote. In the event of an equality of votes, the President shall determine the outcome in accordance with Clauses 4.4 and 4.7.

4.3. The International Board shall:

• determine the strategic direction and general principles of the IBFO.
• elect the members of the Executive Board and decide on the early termination of their mandates in accordance with this Statute.
• adopt and amend the Statute, the Syllabus and the Jury Procedures, approve the Hosting Agreement and approve the edition-specific Competition Rounds and Awards, in accordance with Article 8.
• approve the general participation criteria to be applied by the Executive Board under Article 2.
• select the Host Country and approve the Host Organization for each edition under Article 7.
• consider and approve plans, budgets, activity reports and financial statements relating to activities conducted under the IBFO framework.
• decide any other matter expressly reserved to it by this Statute.

4.4. The International Board shall hold at least one ordinary meeting in connection with each edition of the IBFO. Meetings may be conducted in person, online or in hybrid form. An extraordinary meeting shall be convened by the President upon their own initiative, upon a decision of the Executive Board or upon a written request submitted by at least one third of the country representatives entitled to vote.

A quorum shall require the representation of more than half of all votes capable of being cast under Clause 4.2.

Unless this Statute provides otherwise, decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes cast, excluding abstentions. In the event of an equality of votes, the President’s vote shall determine the outcome. Elections shall be conducted by secret ballot. Other votes shall be open.

A vote may not be transferred or delegated, except through the substitution expressly permitted under Clause 4.2. Decisions of the International Board shall be final and binding within the IBFO.

4.5. The Executive Board is the continuing executive body of the IBFO. It shall consist of five members: the President, the Secretary and three ordinary elected members each assigned primary responsibility for one of the following portfolios: Academic Excellence, Strategic Development and Global Engagement.

The Executive Board shall act collectively and shall:

• implement the decisions of the International Board.
• administer the continuing operations of the IBFO and the financial reporting required under this Statute.
• prepare and submit to the International Board the proposals, governing documents, plans, budgets and reports requiring its approval.
• decide the participation matters assigned to it under Article 2.
• monitor preparations for each edition and coordinate with the Host Organization and the Steering Committee, without assuming their responsibilities.
• oversee compliance with the governing documents and take appropriate measures to safeguard the integrity and proper conduct of the competition.
• perform any other function expressly assigned to it by this Statute or by a decision of the International Board.

No member of the Executive Board, including the President or the Secretary, may individually exercise a power assigned to the Executive Board unless expressly authorized by this Statute or by a recorded decision of the Executive Board.

4.6. The five members of the Executive Board shall be elected individually by the International Board, by secret ballot, for a term of three years.

The election of the Executive Board shall be conducted by approval voting. On a single secret ballot, each International Board member may vote for any number of candidates, including none, but may not cast more than one vote for the same candidate. The five candidates receiving the greatest numbers of valid votes shall be elected.

Where two or more candidates receive the same number of votes and the tie affects the allocation of the fifth and final position, those candidates shall participate in a separate secret ballot. In that ballot, each International Board member may vote for no more than one candidate. The candidate receiving the greatest number of valid votes shall be elected. Further ballots shall be held in the same manner for as long as the tie continues.

Following their election, the International Board shall elect the President from among the five elected members.

The President-elect shall nominate one of the remaining members to serve as Secretary, subject to confirmation by the International Board. If the International Board does not confirm the proposed Secretary, the President-elect shall nominate another of the remaining Executive Board members.

Then, the three ordinary members shall each be assigned their portfolios. The allocation of portfolios shall be determined by the Executive Board and recorded in its minutes, without limiting the collective responsibility or decision-making authority of the Executive Board.

The term of all five members shall commence at the conclusion of the meeting at which the President and the Secretary have been determined and shall continue until their successors take office.

Members may be re-elected. No person may serve as President or Secretary for more than two consecutive terms.

The functions of the President and Secretary and the arrangements for temporary substitution are governed by Clauses 4.8–4.10.

4.7. The Executive Board shall meet as often as necessary. A meeting may be convened by the President or at the written request of at least two Executive Board members. Meetings may be conducted in person, online or in hybrid form. Decisions may also be taken through a written procedure, provided that all members receive the relevant information and a reasonable opportunity to participate.

A quorum shall consist of three members eligible to participate in the matter. Each member shall have one vote. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes cast, excluding abstentions. In the event of an equality of votes, the President’s vote shall determine the outcome. Where the President does not participate in the vote, an equally divided proposal shall not be adopted. Every decision shall be recorded.

A member having a direct personal or institutional interest in a matter shall disclose that interest and shall not participate in its evaluation or vote. The disclosure and non-participation shall be recorded. Where recusals prevent the Executive Board from forming a quorum, the matter shall be referred to the International Board. Any person having the relevant conflict shall not participate in that decision.

4.8. The President shall convene and chair meetings of the International Board and the Executive Board, coordinate the work of the Executive Board and oversee the implementation of their decisions.

The President may sign or certify documents only where authorized by this Statute or by a recorded decision of the International Board or the Executive Board. The President shall not individually amend, override or suspend a decision of either Board or exercise any power assigned to them collectively.

4.9. The Secretary shall be responsible for the administrative coordination and official records of the IBFO. The Secretary shall issue meeting notices, circulate agendas and supporting documents, administer voting procedures, prepare and retain minutes and maintain an accurate record of Board decisions.

The Secretary shall administer the participation process under Article 2 and the registration process under Article 3, maintain formal communication with Official Contacts and the Host Organization, record and communicate Executive Board decisions and publish the final list of Participating Countries within the timetable established by the edition-specific Competition Rounds and Awards.

Where an identified legal person administers funds connected with IBFO activities, the Secretary shall coordinate the records required for authorised financial reporting.

The Secretary shall not individually approve or reject a participation request, incur unauthorized expenditure or otherwise bind the IBFO unless expressly authorized.

4.10. Where the President is temporarily unavailable, the Secretary shall perform the President’s duties. Where the Secretary is temporarily unavailable, the President shall perform the Secretary’s duties. When both the President and the Secretary are temporarily unavailable, the Executive Board shall designate one of its remaining members to perform the necessary functions until one of them resumes office. A temporary substitution shall not alter the offices held.

A member other than the Secretary may resign by submitting written notice to the Secretary. The Secretary may resign by submitting written notice to the President. A resignation shall take effect on the date stated in the notice or, if no date is stated, upon its receipt.

A permanent vacancy in Executive Board membership shall be filled by the International Board at the earliest practicable meeting for the remainder of the original term. A vacancy in the office of President or Secretary shall be filled in accordance with Clause 4.6 after any vacant Executive Board seat has been filled.

The International Board may terminate the mandate of an Executive Board member before its expiry in the event of a serious breach of this Statute, permanent incapacity, persistent failure to perform their duties or conduct materially prejudicial to the integrity of the IBFO. The member concerned shall receive written notice of the reasons and a reasonable opportunity to respond. They shall not participate in the decision or vote in any capacity. Termination shall require a secret ballot and a majority of at least two thirds of the votes cast.

4.11. For each edition of the IBFO, the Host Organization shall establish a Steering Committee and appoint its President and members. The IBFO President and Secretary shall serve as members ex officio. The composition and allocation of responsibilities shall be communicated to the Executive Board.

The Steering Committee President shall direct the operational planning and delivery of the edition in accordance with the Hosting Agreement. The Steering Committee shall not determine eligibility, academic content, competition tasks, marking standards, results, awards or IBFO governance matters unless expressly assigned the relevant function by this Statute or a recorded decision of the competent body.

The establishment of the Steering Committee shall not transfer or limit the legal, financial, organisational, safeguarding or data-protection responsibilities of the Host Organization under Article 7.

The Executive Board member responsible for Strategic Development shall act as liaison with the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall report to the Executive Board, normally through that member, as required by the Hosting Agreement and the Competition Rounds and Awards. That member shall also coordinate long-term projects approved by the competent governing body and, in cooperation with the President and the Secretary, measures supporting institutional continuity and the orderly transition between editions, including follow-up to final reports and the transfer of relevant plans and institutional knowledge.

4.12. The official governing documents of the IBFO shall apply in the following order of precedence:

• this Statute.
• the Syllabus.
• the edition-specific Competition Rounds and Awards.
• the Jury Procedures and any other official competition procedures or recorded decisions issued under the authority of the preceding documents.

A Hosting Agreement concluded under Article 7 is a contractual instrument and does not form part of this hierarchy. It shall comply with the governing documents and shall not amend or override them.

No lower-ranking document, procedure or decision may contradict a higher-ranking document. A governing document may be amended only by the competent body and in accordance with Article 8.

The International Board shall have final authority to interpret the Statute and Syllabus and resolve inconsistencies between governing documents. Where a matter cannot reasonably await its consideration, the Executive Board may issue a recorded provisional interpretation that does not amend a governing document. Every provisional interpretation shall be submitted to the next meeting or written vote of the International Board and shall cease to have effect upon its decision.

Where the governing documents do not provide explicit guidance, the governing bodies, officials and participants shall act consistently with the purpose, principles and integrity of the IBFO.

5.1. The IBFO shall be conducted as a team-based, case-based competition within the scope of the Syllabus. Each official team shall compete as a single unit in analysing a Business Case, preparing the required deliverables and presenting and defending its recommendations.

The competition rounds, deliverables, timetable, permitted resources, scoring framework and awards shall be specified in the Competition Rounds and Awards for the relevant edition.

5.2. The official language of the IBFO shall be English. Competition materials, instructions, submissions and presentations shall be prepared or delivered in English.

Rules concerning permitted resources, external assistance, communications, supervision and reasonable accessibility arrangements shall be specified in the Competition Rounds and Awards or in official instructions issued under it. They shall be applied consistently to teams in comparable circumstances and shall not alter the applicable assessment standards.

5.3. For each edition, the President of the Steering Committee shall appoint a Jury after consultation with the Executive Board member responsible for Academic Excellence and in accordance with the Jury Procedures.

The member responsible for Academic Excellence shall act as liaison between the Executive Board and the Jury on academic matters and shall coordinate the review of academic standards and the preparation of proposals concerning the Syllabus, academic innovation and the future academic development of the competition. This role shall not confer authority to direct an academic score or determination of the Jury.

The Jury shall be the independent academic body responsible for preparing and approving the Business Case and its assessment materials, assessing team performance, determining provisional scores and rankings and determining the recipients of assessed awards.

The Jury shall exercise independent academic judgement. No governing body or official may direct an academic score or alter an academic determination of the Jury, except through an authorised score-review, correction or sanction procedure.

5.4. The appointment, composition, independence and operation of the Jury shall be governed by the Jury Procedures, adopted as official competition procedures under Clause 4.12.

They shall govern conflicts of interest, recusal, confidentiality, security, internal responsibilities and access to restricted competition materials.

5.5. The Business Case and its assessment materials shall comply with the Syllabus and the Competition Rounds and Awards. Their preparation, review, approval, secure handling and any official correction or clarification shall be governed by the Jury Procedures.

Assessment, moderation and score review shall also be conducted in accordance with the Jury Procedures.

5.6. After the score-review process has been completed, the Jury shall certify the final scores, rankings and assessed award recipients and transmit the certification record to the Secretary. The Secretary shall enter the certified results in the official records. Certified results shall be final, subject only to the correction of a clerical or calculation error or the implementation of a final sanction.

5.7. Any suspected violation of the competition rules or academic-integrity requirements shall be reported and examined in accordance with the Jury Procedures.

Before a sanction is imposed, the affected Team Leader A shall be informed of the allegation and material evidence and given a reasonable opportunity to respond.

The Jury may impose a warning, deduct or cancel points or invalidate a deliverable or competition round. Disqualification, exclusion from awards or annulment of a team’s entire result shall require a reasoned recommendation from the Jury and confirmation by the Executive Board.

An allegation concerning a Jury member or another IBFO official shall be determined by the Executive Board without the participation of any person having a conflict of interest. The Secretary shall record and communicate the final decision. Decisions under this Clause shall be final within the IBFO.

5.8. Following certification of the results, the Secretary shall arrange the publication of the final competition materials in accordance with the Jury Procedures, subject to applicable intellectual-property, licensing, confidentiality and data-protection requirements.

6.1. The IBFO shall confer official team awards recognizing achievement in the competition and shall issue certificates acknowledging participation. It may also confer special team awards.

The award categories, number of awards, assessment basis, voting method where applicable and tie-breaking rules for each edition shall be specified in the Competition Rounds and Awards. These provisions shall be approved and communicated before the first competition round and shall not be altered after the competition has begun, except to correct a manifest error.

6.2. The Jury shall determine the recipients of assessed awards by applying the certified scores, approved award criteria and applicable tie-breaking rules. An award determined by a vote of Contestants shall be administered and certified in accordance with the Competition Rounds and Awards.

The President of the IBFO, together with the President of the Steering Committee, shall formally announce and confer the awards on behalf of the IBFO. Either may designate another person to act in their place.

No governing body or official may alter an award recipient determined under this Article except to implement a final sanction under Clause 5.7 or an action authorised under Clause 6.4.

6.3. Registered Contestants and Team Leaders who take part in the relevant edition shall receive certificates of participation, subject to any final sanction. The recipients and form of medals, trophies, prizes and award certificates shall be specified in the Competition Rounds and Awards.

The Host Organization shall be responsible for producing, presenting and, where necessary, delivering the prescribed awards and certificates. The Secretary shall maintain the official award and certification records and may authorize the correction or replacement of a document containing an administrative or production error. The related responsibilities and costs shall be governed by the Hosting Agreement.

6.4. An award or certificate may be corrected or withdrawn, and an award may be reallocated, only where:

• a final sanction under Clause 5.7 renders the recipient ineligible.
• a certified clerical, calculation or vote-counting error affected the result.
• a final determination by the Executive Board establishes that the recipient did not satisfy an eligibility requirement applicable at the time of the competition.

Any reallocation shall apply the original award criteria to the corrected results or valid votes. The Secretary shall record and communicate the decision and correct the official records and published results without undue delay.

An award shall not be altered merely because a governing body, official or Jury member subsequently forms a different view of the academic merits of a team’s work. No new criterion or retrospective change to the competition rules may be used in correcting, withdrawing or reallocating an award.

7.1. Each edition shall ordinarily be conducted in person in the Host Country between July and September. The International Board shall select the Host Country and approve the Host Organization for the relevant edition. The exact dates, venues and format are stated in the Competition Rounds and Awards and reflected in the Hosting Agreement.

7.2. The Hosting Agreement approved under Clause 4.3 shall include the hosting call and application and selection framework and shall form the basis of the contractual arrangements for each edition. It shall specify the application requirements, evaluation criteria, due diligence process, conflict of interest rules and conditions of selection.

The Secretary administers the process, the Executive Board evaluates eligible applications and may recommend an applicant, and the International Board alone selects the Host Country and approves the Host Organization.

7.3. The representative of an applicant Host Country and any other International Board or Executive Board member with a direct personal, institutional or financial interest shall not participate in the relevant evaluation or selection vote. Selection is conditional upon compliance with the recorded conditions and timely execution of the Hosting Agreement.

7.4. The Hosting Agreement shall be executed by the Host Organization. The Host Organization may execute a jurisdiction-specific Hosting Agreement approved by the International Board and then signed by the President of the IBFO, under which it assumes the hosting obligations in its own legal name.

The IBFO shall not be named as a contracting party. An acknowledgement or certification by the President or Secretary does not make that officer a party, guarantor or surety.

7.5. The Host Organization has primary legal, financial, operational and safeguarding responsibility for delivery of the edition and remains responsible for its partners, contractors and Steering Committee. Its services, milestones, reporting, budget, records, insurance, security, intellectual-property, confidentiality, liability, contingency and final-reporting obligations shall be specified in the Hosting Agreement.

7.6. The Host Organization shall notify the Secretary promptly of a material threat to delivery. The Executive Board may require corrective action and adopt temporary protective measures where immediate action is necessary. The International Board shall decide any cancellation, relocation or replacement of the host. Withdrawal, force majeure, termination, handover and their financial or legal consequences are governed by the Hosting Agreement and applicable law.

8.1. Only the International Board may amend this Statute. A proposal shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary with exact wording and brief reasons and circulated before the meeting or vote. Adoption requires the affirmative votes of at least two thirds of all International Board members entitled to vote.

8.2. The International Board may adopt or amend the Syllabus, Jury Procedures, the standard form of the Hosting Agreement and the Competition Rounds and Awards in accordance with Article 4.

Other official procedures or recorded decisions may be adopted, amended or withdrawn only by the competent body or official and may not override or contradict a higher-ranking document.

A material change affecting eligibility, preparation, assessment or awards shall not apply to an edition after its participation process has opened, unless the amendment is required by law or is reasonably necessary to protect health, safety, accessibility, equal treatment or competition integrity. The reasons and any transitional arrangements shall be recorded and communicated.

8.3. This Statute enters into force on the date specified in its adoption decision or, if none is specified, on adoption.

The Syllabus takes effect on 1 January of the following calendar year, unless a later date is approved. The Competition Rounds and Awards shall apply to the edition identified in that document and take effect upon official publication, unless a later date is specified.

The Jury Procedures, the standard form of the Hosting Agreement and other official procedures shall take effect on the date specified in their approval decision or, if none is specified, upon official publication or communication.

No person shall be subject to an unpublished or uncommunicated rule.

The Secretary shall record and preserve current authoritative versions and their effective dates.

8.4. The English text of every governing document is authoritative.

The Secretary may record and publish a correction of an evident typographical, formatting, numbering or cross-reference error that cannot affect meaning. A substantive correction requires the applicable amendment procedure.

8.5. The IBFO is a governance and competition framework and is not a legal entity. Nothing in this Statute shall be interpreted as creating a partnership, employment relationship, agency or joint liability among the Participating Countries, the Host Organization, the institutions coordinating national participation or their respective officials and participants. Each legal person or organization remains responsible for its own acts and obligations.

No person may bind another person or organization without express authority. Every commitment shall identify the legal person responsible.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, a member of the International Board, the Executive Board, the Steering Committee or the Jury, or an Official Contact, Team Leader, Contestant, Observer, employee or volunteer, shall not incur personal liability merely by holding an IBFO role or performing authorized duties in good faith.

Nothing excludes liability for that person’s own unlawful act or omission, fraud, wilful misconduct or liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

8.6. If a competent judicial or regulatory authority determines that a provision of this Statute is unlawful, invalid or unenforceable in a particular jurisdiction or context, the provision shall be applied with the minimum lawful modification necessary to preserve its purpose or, if that is impossible, treated as inoperative only to the affected extent.

The remaining provisions are effective, and the International Board shall consider any necessary amendment without undue delay.

8.7. Upon its entry into force, this Statute supersedes every earlier version and any inconsistent rule governing the same matter.

Valid prior appointments, decisions, registrations, host selections and agreements remain effective until completed, expired, amended or withdrawn, unless their continuation directly contradicts this Statute.

The International Board may adopt recorded, published and time-limited transitional measures for initial implementation, including first elections, calculation of terms and alignment of governing documents.

Transitional measures shall not be used to avoid Clause 8.1.

8.8. The adoption of this Statute and every amendment to it shall be recorded. The record shall state the date and method of the vote, the number of members entitled to vote, the number participating, the votes cast in favour and against, any abstentions and the effective date.

The President and Secretary shall certify the adopted text. Certification is evidentiary only and creates no personal liability.