THE REFEREES
Tower Referees
In Kırkpınar Ceremony, there is a tradition that the refereees, cazgır and other officers are selected by Aga. Since Edirne Municipality is responsible for the organization of wrestlings for a long time, this selection is made by Municipal Officers now. Two referees ( hakem) officiate in Kırkpınar Wrestling. The referee who rules the wrestling on grass is called field refree and the other one working in the tower is called tower refree.
It was tradition that the tower refree was chosen among the wrestlers that have been champion. Now two members of Wrestling Federation take place among the tower referees, selected by the Municipality of Edirne. These members are usually lightweight wrestlers.
For not letting Sectionalism be, they should pick and choose the referees. Famous retired wrestlers become tower referee.
Field Referees
The referees managing the wrestling competitions in Kırkpınar are called as field referees. The field referee is responsible for making the contests pass fairly and telling the result of the contests to the tower referee.
Traditionally, field referees are not chosen among the champion wrestlers and as tradition tells, a Kırkpınar Champion is never charged as field referee but chosen among the başaltı (steerage) wrestlers. The other referees related to the field referee are chosen among big middle, small middle and deck wrestlers. The drum and horn team can state a result which the field refereecan not see and announce it to the tower referee by shrilling.
