Regulation 2023

Regulation 2023

GOLDEN RACE ALGARVE – MILLION EURO PIGEON RACE 2023

ORGANIZATION- AGR.-ALGARVE PIGEONS RACE

PARTICIPATION RULES

1 – Admission is open to all pigeons, national and international, and all must have an official ring approved by the Federation/Association 2023, and their owners must be members of the AGR.

2 – In order to guarantee the health of the pigeons, with quarantine, vaccination, and creation of immunity groups, the reception of pigeons will be as follows:

-March- days 1 to 15. -April- days 1 to 15. – May- days 1 to 31.

3 – Each team will be composed of 5 pigeons, pigeons nº 1 and nº 2, (ACTIVE) competing in all competitions and prizes in dispute, and of pigeons nº 3 and nº 4 and nº 5, (RESERVE). The price to pay per team is €1.000 .

- When registration forms are not received properly filled out and not mentioning information on the order of the pigeons, the AGR organization will register the pigeons in ascending order of the number of rings. Changes can only be made in the entries of the pigeons up to 5 days before the start of the official races, that is, until the 20th of August 2023.

- Pigeons registered in a team cannot change teams even if the owner is the same.

- All participants must be partners/participants of the AGR-Algarve Pigeons Race.

- The initial amount to be paid (2 active pigeons), €1000, 50% is a member fee (tax/VAT free) and 50% is registration in the race (vat included at a rate of 23%).

- Bank charges for transfers to the AGR-Algarve Pigeons Race bank account are the responsibility of the participants. Transfers from outside Europe Union, need add 15 € to the registration fee for each bank transfer made, charged by banks in Portugal (Europe).

- The registration in the race only becomes effective and definitive after all amounts due have been paid, and if these payments are not made, the amounts earned and payable by the AGR, whether prizes or values ​​for the purchase or sale of pigeons, revert to the Organization, which it will then hand over to charities.

- The 3 RESERVE pigeons of each team are the pigeons described in the registration form as R1, R2, R3, and are RESERVE of the 2 ACTIVE, and become ACTIVE by order of the registration form, first number R1, then number R2 and then R3, whenever one of the 2 ACTIVE pigeons of a team goes astray, and if the astray returns later, it becomes a RESERVE pigeon.

- RESERVE pigeons participate with prizes in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd races, Azaruja- 170 km, Monforte- 205 km and Portalegre - 230 km.

- Pigeon owners can activate RESERVE pigeons for the semi-final and final, until September 14, 2023, upon payment of €500 per pigeon.

- In the semifinal Castelo Branco 300km, and final Bragança 500km, only ACTIVATED pigeons are entitled to prizes.

- RESERVA pigeons that are not activated by the owners until September 14, 2023 participate in the Castelo Branco semi-final- 300 km, but without the right to prizes.

- Pigeons that return from the Castelo Branco semi-final can be activated by third parties (anyone) until September 24 , 2023, to participate in the Bragança-500km final, which will have full rights over the pigeon, being entitled to the prizes won from this date , and %% on auction sale ( 35 %). The price of each registration/activation per RESERVE pigeon will be 500 euros.

- For activations contact agent in your country, or send email to golden.race.algarve@gmail.com . Reservation requests will be sorted in order of arrival of the request to the email, and only validated after enter Money in account bank AGR

- All pigeons not activated by owners or third person until 25 September 2023, will be held back in the loft – They will not be basketed for the final, and these pigeons will become the property of the organization, that will offer them to pigeon clubs or other social organizations.

- Each participating member may register number teams that want, paying the amount equivalent to one member fee (500€) and one entry fee (500€), for each team that is registered , total 1000€.

When registering 10 teams, the participant will be entitled to 1 free entry team (2 pigeons activated)
For every 10 activated reserve pigeons, the participant is entitled to one free.
- If any pigeon is lost in the adduction, it can be replaced until the 31st of May, with no extra registration costs.

- For shipping prices contact the agent in your country or the Organization.

- Pigeons with any type of painting will not be accepted.

4 – Pigeons must be vaccinated against PMV, within 20 days before shipping, and must be between 45/60 days old. They will be sent to the Loft AGR-Algarve Pigeons Race, or to Faro Airport, or to representatives in the various countries (see agents).

5- The space in the loft is limited to a maximum of 8,000 pigeons. Places will be provided on a first come, first served basis whereby places will be guaranteed to teams that have been registered / reserved first. To register, simply send your registration/membership form, to the email golden.race.algarve@gmail.com , or to agents in different countries, after which you must make a deposit of 100 euros for each team to be registered within 15 days, to guarantee a place in the loft. In case of cancellation, this amount is non-refundable. All 2022 participants are guaranteed a place in the loft for 2023, and for that, you must make your reservation by December 31th, 2022. After this date, no seats are guaranteed to participate.

- The amounts payable as stipulated in the Prizes document (gross amount subject to IRS tax 25%) in the first (Monforte), second (Portalegre), third (Évora), and fourth (Castelo Branco) races, Final race, and Ace pigeon , will be paid within 15 days following the completion of the final race, but the competing member need send original documents from the Iban of the bank account, and the document proving tax residence / rfi and tax number to the AGR adress by post. The prizes are made available to the winners after AGR has received the documents described above.

6- After entering the loft, the pigeons are under the care of the organization AGR-Algarve Pigeons Race, remaining property of the competitor partner. The pigeons that arrive from the final Bragança race will be mandatorily auctioned to national or international sites, that will pay to the owner 35% of the sale amount.

The first 30 classified in the final race, plus the first 5 Ace pigeons will be sold at Pipa. Other pigeons in auction websites to be defined.

If any pigeon is not sold first time that go to auction, the competitor loses the right to the 35% of the sale amount.

-If a pigeon is sold and not paid for by the buyer, the first time it goes to auction, the pigeon goes to auction a second time, and the owner is entitled to 35% of the value of the second sale, if paid by the buyer.

- If any pigeon is not paid 2 times, pigeon do not go again to auction

- The values ​​referring to % of the sale of pigeons at auction will be paid, by the auctioneers to the owners and AGR, after all auctions have ended, and the pigeons are paid by the buyers. If any pigeon is sold and is not paid by the buyer, it will be auctioned a second time. The percentage for the owner is the value of 35% of the paid sale.

7- All pigeons must be accompanied by a card/property title (mandatory) and pedigree in a sealed envelope that will only be opened by the organization after the final release. Pigeons that do not have a complete pedigree (father, mother and grandparents), the owner will not be entitled to a percentage of the sale price. The organization will only receive pedigrees up to 8 days after the Bragança final race.

As it is now mandatory by the Portuguese Federation for all pigeons to have a property card/title to participate in the final Bragança race, all pigeons that do not have ring card, the Organization will have to ask the National Federation for duplicate copies, and the cost will be of the responsibility of the participant (2€ each), since originals have not been sent. The Organization accepts to receive cards/titles until 8 days before the final.

8- All pigeons that enter the loft will be given an electronic ring.

9- Basketing for the final race will be organized by the AGR Organization, with the supervision and participation of independent entities, and where all the pigeons will be stamped on a wing with the word ALGARVE. A list of all the pigeons participating in the final Race will then be made available to those that are present, the press and the website of the event and Benzing. The pigeons will be accompanied to the release site by independent entities that will supervise the release, which will be carried out with the support of a national meteorologist.

10- All values ​​announced for prizes are based on the entry of 1500 teams, of 5 pigeons each (paid) and the Organization reserves the right to change the prize values ​​in percentage, up or down, as more or fewer teams entered.

11- In the loft, the National rules on the non-use of drugs will be followed and the pigeons will be analyzed regularly by the official Veterinary.

12- All training and events to be disputed and scheduled may be changed for meteorological reasons, or other reasons outside control of Organization. The Organization's decision is final.

13- Any eventuality that gives rise to conflict, not covered by this regulation, will be resolved by the organization, governed by the National laws of Portugal, and this decision will be final. The official regulations will be in Portuguese and posted on the event's website, as any translation into another language may have misunderstandings.

14- The system for confirming the arrival of pigeons in training and competitions is an authorized electronic system.

15- The pigeons will be housed in a loft built for the purpose and so that all pigeons have the same conditions; the lofts will only have perches and there will be no separation of sexes.

16- The participant with the best Ace Pigeon, from each country, in final classification Ace Pigeon (with at least 20 teams registered), is entitled to 1 team of 2 ACTIVE pigeons with free entry to the next edition. All offered teams will be entitled to participate with 2 free ACTIVE pigeons.

17- Due to the date of the event, the "daylight" system will be used because of the moulting of the pigeons' feathers.

SPECIAL REGULATION

-The organization will send invitations to all schools in the county, and social solidarity institutions in the region (1 pigeon per entity), a maximum of 30 invitations. The pigeons that enter the loft resulting from the invitations described above will have free registration, and will participate in the first 8 trainings and in the first 3 oficial races, that is, until the Portalegre race, being entitled to all prizes in dispute. The best pigeon of these entities, in the ranking of the Ace Pigeon, after the 3rd Portalegre race, will have the right to participate in the semi-final and in the Golden Race final, beeing the won prizes delivered to the entity that registered the pigeon.

The revenue from the auction of these pigeons will be entirely for the participating entity (less expenses with the auctioneer). All entities that show interest in participating must request the pigeons from their members, friends or any fancier, and will have to present information about who will benefit from the amounts won. The Organization will give priority, in schools, to projects that are presented in which the revenue raised will be donated to the neediest students, for the purchase of books and computers. In Social Solidarity Institutions, we will give priority to projects in which the revenue also goes to the neediest, and in particular the purchase of books, computers, etc.

The organization will do everything to publicize these pigeons and the entities, publicizing the proposed projects, in order to attract funds for the projects.

In addition to the support described above, resulting from participation, the Organization guarantees that part of the revenue from pigeons sold or auctioned will be for the purchase of school books, computers and others, to needy children in the region.

1- FINAL RACE- BRAGANÇA – SEPTEMBER 30 - 500 km

- All ACTIVE pigeons participate in this race entitled to prizes .

- RESERVE pigeons only participate in the final, if one of the first 2 ACTIVES of a participant has been lost, or its owner has activated it until 14 September 2022

2- SEMIFINAL RACE - CASTELO BRANCO - SEPTEMBER 18TH - 300 Km

- Participate in this RACE all ACTIVE and RESERVE pigeons activated by the owners until 14 September 2023, entitled to prizes; and RESERVE pigeons not activated by the owners, without the right to a prize.

3- FIRST 3 OFFICIAL RACES - AZARUJA-170KM, MONFORTE-205KM AND PORTALEGRE-230KM

- Participate in these 3 races all pigeons entered the loft, ACTIVES and RESERVES, all entitled to prizes.

4- INITIAL TRAININGS- All pigeons entered the loft take part in the 9 training trainings, without the right to any prize.

CALENDAR 2022

- 1st Training - 21 July - Aerodrome - 3 km

- 2nd Training - 25 July - Monte Francisco - 5 km

- 3rd Training - 28 July - Azinhal - 10 km

- 4th Training - 1 August - Pereiro - 25 km

- 5th Training - 4 August - Mértola - 50 km

- 6th Training – 8 August - Açor Baixo - 80 km

- 7th Training – 11 August – Beja- 100 km

- 8th Training – 15 August - Vidigueira - 120km

- 9th Training - 18 August - Monte Trigo - 135 km

.

- 1st RACE /Ace Pigeon - 25 August - Azaruja - 170 km

- 2nd RACE /Pigeon ACE – 1 September – Monforte – 205 km

- 3rd RACE /Pigeon ACE – 9 September – Portalegre – 230 km

- 4th RACE /Pigeon ACE – 18 September – Castelo Branco – 300 km- SEMI-FINAL

- 5th RACE /Pigeon ACE – 30 September – BRAGANÇA – 500 km- FINAL

5- ACE PIGEON - REGULATION

– All the pigeons that entered the loft, the ACTIVE pigeons 1 and 2 and the RESERVE 1-2-3 compete with the ACE pigeon. Reserve pigeons only participate in the final race and in the Ace Pigeon, if activated until September 24th, 2023. The winner will be the pigeon in which the total of the average speed in the 5 races ACE Pigeon, Azaruja, Monforte, Portalegre, Castelo Branco and the final race Bragança, divided by the number of races performed, is the highest. If after the semi-final a pigeon is activated for the final by a person other than the owner, that person is entitled to the prize that the pigeon wins on the Ace pigeon after this date.

- To win the Ace Pigeon, the pigeon must classify in all 5 Ace Pigeon races held.

- If it is not possible realize some race to count for Ace Pigeon, to find the winner count the races held

- In case of a tie after the conclusion of the Ace Pigeon competition, the pigeon with the best classification in the final race will be the winner of the Ace Pigeon.

- Absolute strictness regarding the release location, so that in all release locations, coordinates will be taken via GPS/GOOGLE MAPS.

6- RACE TIME:

- In the first 4 races, Azaruja, Monforte, Portalegre, and Castelo Branco, the classification for the ACE PIGEON ends after the race closes in the BENZING system, at least 5 hours after the arrival of the first pigeon.

- In the final race, Bragança, the classification of the ACE PIGEON ends after the end of the race in the BENZING system, at least 8 hours after the arrival of the first pigeon.

7- UNEXPECTED

- In case of any anomaly, such as covid 19, imposition of higher entities, meteorological catastrophe, act of sabotage, virus or other outside the Organization, if it is not possible to held out part or most of the official 2023 races with the right to prizes, after the pigeons having entered the loft and being paid, the pigeons will go to auctions, on national or international sites, which will pay the owners 35% of the sale value, and 2023 participants will be entitled to entry into the next edition free of charge, in the same number of teams and pigeons that participated in 2022. If something unforeseen from the previous ones happens, after some races have been carried out, they will be cancelled, as well as the respective prizes won.

8- TAXES

-The values ​​mentioned in the Regulation include VAT at the rate in force, as long as applicable, and all prizes are in euros. According to the opinion of the Portuguese Tax Authority and Portuguese law, all participants / members living in Portugal who have received money from prizes, sales of pigeons or commissions, will be responsible for paying the IRS tax (25%), referring to these amounts, with retention for part of the AGR of this amount, which will then be sent to the Tax Authority, as required by law. Non-residents in Portugal are exempt from paying the tax, with no withholding (25%), and prizes will be paid in full, but winners need send to AGR email CERTIFICATE TAX RESIDENCE, or model 21-RFI stamped; if they do not present proof of residence out of Portugal, the AGR will have to deduct 25% from the prize money, and then send this money to the Portuguese Tax Authority.

The values ​​mentioned in the Regulation include VAT at the rate in force, where applicable, and are gross values, and all prizes posted on posters are gross values ​​subject to tax, if applicable, and are in euros.

- According to the Tax Authority and Portuguese law, all participants / partners with tax residence in Portugal who receive money from prizes, sales of pigeons or commissions, will be responsible for paying the IRS tax (25%), referring to these amounts, with retention by the AGR of this amount, which will then send it to the Tax Authority, as required by law.

Those who do not have tax residence in Portugal and who reside in countries where there is an agreement with Portugal not to double taxation, are exempt from paying the tax im Portugal, with no withholding (25%) from AGR, and the premium will be paid in full, provided that send to AGR certificate of tax residency out Portugal, or model 21-RFI duly completed and stamped in the country of origin, and if do not present doc proof of tax residency outside Portugal the AGR will have to deduct the value of 25% from the prizes, and then send that money to the Portuguese Tax Authority.

9- COLLABORATION

Veterinary Support, Dr. Luís Martins

Meteorological Support, Mr. Captain Fernando Garrido

National and International Collaborators to be disclosed on the event website, www.goldenracealgarve.com

Provisional Regulation 2023