1 – Entry is open to all national and international pigeons, all of which must have an official ring approved by the Federation/Association of the Year of the Race.

2 – In order to guarantee the health of the pigeons, with quarantine, vaccination and the creation of immunity groups, the reception of the pigeons will be from March 15 to May 15, and the organization reserves the right to create immunity groups depending on the dates of entry.

3 – Each team will consist of 7 pigeons, pigeons no. 1, no. 2, no. 3 and no. 4 (ACTIVE) are competitors for all the races and prizes in dispute, and pigeons no. 5 and no. 6 and no. 7, (RESERVE) only in case they are activated before the first race. The price to be paid per team is €600 (4 activated pigeons). After the first race, all unpaid or unactivated pigeons will be placed in a team identified as “Free for Activation” and may be activated by a third party, gaining the right to all conditions as if they were the original participant. Unpaid or unactivated pigeons lose the right to all prizes in dispute and the pigeons will pass to the new entrant or to the organization as a gift.

 3.1 – Each team must be registered online. https://form.algarvegreatderby.com/en/

If this is not possible, you can always contact the agent in the country where you live (see our list of agents on the website). The agent will help you register.

When the entry forms are not received duly completed and with the information on the order of the pigeons, the AGD organization will register the pigeons in random order. Changes can only be made to pigeon registrations up to 5 days before the start of the official races.

 3.1.1 – The entry fee can be paid by bank transfer. The entry fee must be paid before the pigeons are sent to our loft.

3.1.2 – If the entry fee is not paid, entries may be excluded from the prizes. The participating team may receive a reminder to pay. If payment is not made within 1 week of the notice being sent, the organisation may return the pigeons to the sender. The return costs will be borne by the sender.

3.1.2 – All unpaid entries will be placed incognito on the Benzing and organisation website and the pigeons offered for activation by third parties.

3.2 – The 3 RESERVE pigeons of each team are the pigeons described on the entry form as R1, R2, R3 are RESERVE of the 4 ACTIVE, and become ACTIVE in the order of the entry form, first number R1, then number R2 and then R3, whenever any of the 3 active pigeons of a team are lost, or if they are ACTIVATED by the owners or another person on a date to be stipulated by the organization.

3.3 – Pigeons entered in a team may not change teams even if the owner is the same from the start of the official races.

3.4 – RESERVE pigeons can be activated after the ACTIVATION Race.

3.5 – The race entry fee is subject to VAT at 23%.

3.6 – The bank charges levied by the banks for payment of the entry fee are the responsibility of the participant.

3.7 – If a team’s entry fee has not been received or has not been received on time and has been credited to the bank account, the management may decide not to pay the prize money to the team in question.

3.8 – There will be the following promotions, which are independent from another. All teams must have the SAME name and be registered over ONE participant only!
3.8.1 – Registration from a second until fourth team will benefit from a 5% discount.
3.8.2 – When sending 5 teams, all the pigeons will be automatically activated at no extra cost.
3.8.3 – When registering 10 teams, the participant will be entitled to 1 free team and all activated pigeons.

3.9 – If pigeons are lost – for whatever reason – before June 1st, the organization will contact the owner of the pigeons (directly or through the agent). Lost pigeons can be replaced free of charge until the deadline of June 15th. There is no need to pay an entry fee for the replacement. The transportation costs of the replacement will be borne by the owner.

3.10 – Only ACTIVE + Activated RESERVE pigeons are entitled to prizes.

3.11 – Pigeon owners can activate their RESERVE pigeons for the official Ace Pigeon races until the date stipulated by the organization, paying 150€ per pigeon value subject to VAT at the legal rate in force (23%).

3.12 – RESERVE pigeons that are not activated by their owners by the date stipulated by the organization for this purpose will take part in the official Ace Pigeon races, but without the right to points nor prizes, this prize reverting to the organization, if they qualify for a prize, and after returning from a race, they may be activated for the following races by their owners by the date to be stipulated. Points won earlier will not be retroactive.

3.13 – Pigeons not activated by the owners by the date to be stipulated may be activated by third parties, with the right to the prizes won from that date onwards. Reservation requests will be sorted in order of arrival of the request to the email, sending the email is mandatory, and it may not be sufficient for the activation of the pigeons only the bank receipt, this alone may not guarantee the activation of the pigeons, and the organization is neither responsible nor guarantees, activations that are not accompanied by the email requesting such activations.

3.14 – All pigeons that are not fit will not be basketed for the final.

3.15 – There will be an exclusive activation period for the owner and the last 72 hours of the activation period will be extended to third parties if the pigeons have not yet been activated, this information will be exclusively on the www.algarvegreatderby.com website so it is essential to consult it.

3.16 – Bank charges for wire transfers are the responsibility of the transferor. Transfers from outside the European Union, in addition to the registration of each bank transfer, will be charged by the banks in Portugal (Europe).

3.17 – Entry to the race only becomes effective and final once all the amounts due have been paid, and if these payments are not made, any amounts won will revert to the Organization.

3.18 – If a Participant’s RESERVE pigeon wins an amount in a race that has not yet been ACTIVATED, that amount reverts to the organization.

4 – Pigeons must have been vaccinated against PMV within 30 days prior to transportation and be between 45 and 60 days old. They will be sent to Pombal AGD – Algarve Great Derby, Faro Airport, or representatives in the various countries (see agents).

5 – Space in the loft is limited to a maximum of 3000 pigeons, so places in the loft will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The priority lies on the registered Teams.

5.1 – All participants from the previous year are guaranteed a place in the loft for the following year, and must make their reservation by January 1st of the year prior to the year of the event. No places are guaranteed after this date.

6- After entering the loft, the pigeons remain in the care of the AGD-Algarve Great Derby organization and remain the property of the participating member. Pigeons arriving from the final race must be auctioned or sold to national or international websites by the owner. The participant agrees to sell the pigeon to the organization for 35% (VAT included) of the final value of the auction.

7- If the pigeons are not sold at the auction, they become the property of the organization as a gift of the participant. The organization may decide to re-offer unsold pigeons at auction or through other sales channels.

8 – The amounts payable to participants in the competition or the amounts payable after the auction will be paid within 30 days of the participant’s request for reimbursement.

In order to make payments to participants, the organization needs the participant’s IBAN bank account number.

Participants must provide the organization with proof of their country of tax residence. If this proof is not provided, the organization may decide not to pay any prize money from the races and the proceeds of the auction to the participant in question, or to pay with the deduction of the applicable tax rate in accordance with Portuguese tax legislation. Participants can obtain written proof by requesting it from their country’s tax authorities.

9 – If pigeons have been sold at the auction but have not been paid to the auctioneer by the buyer, the organization will not purchase the pigeon from the participant. Unpaid pigeons are not sent to the final buyer without payment to the auctioneer, and therefore remain the property of the participant. Unpaid pigeons are put up for auction again.

10 – All pigeons must be accompanied by their ownership card/title (compulsory) and pedigree in a sealed envelope which will only be opened by the organization after the final release. If the pigeons are not accompanied by 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 the pedigrees up to 7 days after the Final Race.

11 – The Portuguese Pigeon Federation has a mandatory rule that all pigeons taking part in races in Portugal must have a title/ownership card. If there are no title/ownership cards, the Portuguese Pigeon Federation can provide so-called duplicate title cards. The organization will request these duplicates from all pigeons that do not originally have them and will charge the owners for obtaining them (5 euros for each duplicate).

12 – All pigeons entering the loft will be given an electronic chip.

13- The basketing for the final race will be organized by the organization, with the supervision and participation of independent entities, where all the pigeons will be stamped on a wing. A list of all the pigeons taking part in the final race will then be made available to those present, the press and the event and Benzing’s website. The pigeons will be accompanied to the place of release by independent entities who will supervise the release with the support of a national meteorologist.

14- All prize values announced and published are based on the entry of a minimum number of 2200 paid pigeons. The organization reserves the right to change the value of all prizes, proportionally up or down, depending on whether there are more or fewer pigeons entered in the race.

15- National rules on the non-use of drugs will be followed in the loft and the pigeons will be regularly examined by the official veterinarian.

16- Training and racing dates may be changed by the organization due to weather and/or other reasons. The organization’s decision is final. The decision cannot be contested in any way.

17- If the rules do not provide for conflicts, Portuguese law applies. Consequently, any legal action must be brought before a Portuguese court.

The official rules will be in Portuguese and published on the website. The organization is not responsible for translations of the Algarve Great Derby regulations into other languages.

18 – The system for recording the arrival of pigeons in training and races is an authorized electronic system.

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

20 – Due to the date of the event, the “Daylight” system will be used to control the moulting of the pigeons.

21 – ACE PIGEON – REGULATIONS

21.1 – All pigeons entered in the loft will compete in the Algarve Great Derby Summer.

21.2 – To win the ace pigeon championship, it is mandatory that the pigeon obtain points in the final race.

21.3 – If 1 or more of the 5 races cannot take place, the ace pigeon race is determined by the races that have taken place.

21.4 – In the event of a tie after the conclusion of the Ace Pigeon Races, the pigeon with the best classification in the final race will be the winner of the Ace Pigeon Championship.

21.5 – The winner of the Ace Pigeon competition is determined by the highest number of points accumulated in the 5 races.

For the classification, 50% of the pigeons sent in each race will count, and the score will be calculated based on the number of pigeons sent in the first race. EX. 1000 pigeons sent, the score will be as follows:

1. = 500 points

2. = 499 points

3. = 498 points

and so on up to the pigeon arriving in the position equivalent to 50% of the pigeons sent. All other pigeons will not receive points.

22 – Arrival time criteria:

22.1 – In the first 4 races, the classification for the ace pigeon championship ends after the arrival of 50% of the sent pigeons or until the closing of the race in the BENZING system, at least 8 hours after the arrival of the first pigeon and at the latest by the end of the second day of racing. In the Half-Final and Final the maximum period will be extended to the end of the third day of racing if 50% of the pigeons have not returned.

23 – Unforeseen events

23.1 – In the event of any anomaly, such as a pandemic, imposition by higher authorities, meteorological catastrophe, sabotage, or other events beyond the organization’s control, which make it impossible to hold all the official races, with the right to prizes, after the pigeons have entered the loft and have been paid for, the organization will sell the pigeons at auction, maintaining the same criteria as in paragraph 6, and that year’s participants will be entitled to enter the next edition free of charge, in the same number of teams and pigeons that took part that year. In the event of any of the above occurring after some races have already been held, they will be annulled, as well as the respective prizes won.

24- TAXES

24.1 – The amounts mentioned in the Regulations include VAT at the rate in force, where applicable, and all prizes are in euros. In accordance with the opinion of the Tax Authority and Portuguese law, all participants/members resident in Portugal who receive money from prizes, sales of pigeons or commissions, will be responsible for paying the respective tax (25%) on these sums, with the AGD (Organizing Club) withholding this amount, which will then send it to the Tax Authority, as determined by law. Non-Portuguese residents are exempt from paying the tax, and there will be no withholding tax (25%), the prizes will be paid in full, as long as they present a certificate of tax residence abroad and the duly completed and stamped Mod. RFI-21. If they do not provide proof of tax residence outside Portugal, the AGD will have to deduct 25% from the prizes and then send the money to the Portuguese Tax Authority.

25 – It is possible for pigeons from third countries to take part, but these pigeons will be subject to a quarantine period at the Quarantine Center of the Federacao Portuguesa de Columbofilia, which will be the responsibility of the Participating Members.

26 – Payments for entries should be made to :

IPR Europe Unipessoal, Lda.

VAT Nr.: 517491923

IBAN : LT25 3250 0741 0543 5618

SWIFT: REVOLT21

27 – Any eventuality that gives rise to a conflict not covered by these regulations will be resolved by the organization, which will be the sovereign decision.

28 – COLLABORATION Meteorological Support Provided by the FPC’s National and International Collaborators, to be published on the event’s website. Official Veterinarian of the Columbódromo, Dr. Ruben Jerónimo. The system for checking the arrival of pigeons in training and races is an official electronic system authorized by the FPC from the Benzing brand. The AGD loft is equipped with the new Speed antennas capable of recording more than 1000 pigeons per minute without missing a single record.

29 – The organization will send invitations to institutions in the municipality of Olhão, with the aim of obtaining their participation so that these athletes can take part in the Algarve Great Derby. The proceeds from these pigeons, once the costs of organizing the auction have been removed, will go entirely to the participating entities. These pigeons will take part in all the races up to the semi-final and the best of these pigeons classified in the ace pigeon will win the right to take part in the final race of the Algarve Great Derby.

30 – The Organization may provide Venture Birds to be activated by participating members or third parties, these Venture Birds will cost 150€ VAT included and will participate in the races winning the amounts in dispute from the moment they are activated.

Official AGD racing regulations, approved at the board meeting on May 12, 2024 in Olhão, Portugal