Officiating

Following the completion of the games, the governing bodies will again openly communicate in regards to results, doping and ensuring that athletics events were concluded in line with the code of conduct and are determined to be a success. Athletics Australia will measure the success of the games based on medals and top 8 finishes, participation rates in athletes, coaches and officials which usually spikes after a particularly inspiring performance and financial capability.

Officiating is a crucial aspect of the commonwealth games by helping presiding over the sports and making sure the rules are followed. Officiating can make or break the successfulness of the games for example in deli 2010 where Sally Pearson was disqualified from her gold medal after winning the gold medal race.

A devastated Pearson broke down upon hearing the news on a farcical night at the Nehru Stadium on which she was almost awarded the 100m gold medal. Pearson crossed the line first ahead of Nigeria's Osayemi Oludamola and Natasha Mayers of St Vincent and the Grenadines , with England's Katherine Endacott fourth. England protested after Pearson avoided disqualification for a false start on the second of three attempts to run the final. She and England's Laura Turner jumped the gun but referees awarded a red card only to Turner on the grounds that her reaction time was the quicker. After a long argument with Turner, the referees relented and allowed her to race under protest. Pearson finished first. But England claimed that Pearson should also be disqualified as she appeared to move off the blocks before Turner. Pearson was in the stadium hall waiting to walk out to the medal ceremony – the Australian flag was already laid out waiting to be raised - when she heard that a protest had been lodged against her and had been disqualified. Pearson admitted in a post-race interview that she had "twitched first".

To avoid issues like these Australia will have to train officials as well as the selection process due to the mass amounts of officials needed for the games to avoid issues like this repeating.  For the Glascow 2014 approximately 1200 technical officials will be required to officiate at the Games, ensuring that all sport specific rules and technical regulations are implemented. Scotland has created a specialist programme, the first of its kind in Scotland, has been launched which could give up to 600 Scots the unique opportunity to train as world-class technical officials for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The development programme aims to identify and support Scottish technical officials to ensure that the maximum number is qualified, experienced and available to be considered for selection. The programme will also contribute to the legacy of the Games. Not only will it provide each Scottish Governing Body with skilled technical officials capable of overseeing Scottish national competitions, but it will provide Scotland with a pool of skilled technical officials, capable of officiating in top internationals competitions around the world.

Athletics Australia has already started attempting to recruit officials for athletic events stating as the standard of competition rises, more highly trained Technical Officials will be required. It is Athletics Australia’s responsibility to make sure that Technical Officials are recruited, trained and given the necessary structure and support to perform their duties. Getting to the commonwealth games stage will be a long and time consuming process due to the multiple levels for officials to make sure they are qualified at every level. There are 3 levels of officiating in Australia:

C Level

To achieve this level of qualification, you will need to have a few days experience, then sit for a series paper. This is a multiple choice, open book exam which is based on the IAAF Handbook. Officials can also be tested for this exam verbally.

C Level qualifications are the minimum required to officiate at a state championships or Athletics Australia event.

B Level

To achieve a B Level qualification, you will need to have held your C Level qualification for at least 12 months before sitting for the B Level exam. The B Level test is similar to the C Level in that it is a written test. The knowledge required to achieve B Level is significantly greater.

A Level

This is the top qualification level in Australia. To achieve an A Level, you will need to have held your B Level qualification for at least 2 years before sitting for the A Level exam. The exam is an in-depth written exam that tests not only knowledge of the rules, but a person's ability to interpret the rules and make decisions about certain incidents based on them. This ability to interpret the rules is tested because this is the key part of being an event referee or chief. The highest level of official qualification in the world is an International Technical Official (ITO

International Technical Official

The on-line learning programme provides an accessible way of educating and training potential Technical Officials and is a mandatory part of the IPC Athletics International Technical Officiating Pathway (see Figure - Stage 1 of the pathway).

Successful completion of the on-line learning programme, together with a recognized National Technical Official (NTO) qualification by an IAAF National Federation member organization, is a prerequisite for entry to the international pathway to become an IPC Athletics International Technical Official (ITO) (Stage 1). Adequate Knowledge of English is also required.

Individuals are then eligible to attend an on-site IPC Athletics ITO Programme. Upon successful completion of the ITO Programme individuals shall be awarded an IPC Athletics Trainee ITO status (Stage 2). These competencies based Programmes are run by certified IPC Athletics Educators.

The final stage (Stage 3) is for an IPC Athletics Trainee ITO to undertake the Practicum component of the pathway where they are required to assist in officiating in IPC Athletics Competitions whilst being mentored and observed by the IPC Athletics Educators

 officiating will be an important aspect of the commonwealth games and due to the fact that there will be  a lot of officials that are needed for the games so Australia will have to train officials due to the huge amount of officials needed.