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

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 1 September to 1 November 2025, with the AGD reserving the right to create immunity groups depending on the dates of entry.

3 – Each team will consist of 6 (4+2) pigeons. 4 pigeons will be activated and are eligible for a prize. The entry fee for a team is 500 Euros. 4 activated pigeons + 2 reserve pigeons that can be activated for €125 before the first official race by the original participant. It is possible to enter the race with a team of less than 6 pigeons, and the entry fee is 125 € without the right to send a reserve pigeon.

After the first race, all unpaid or unactivated pigeons will be placed in a team labelled ‘Free for Activation’ and can be activated by a third party, earning 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 organisation 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.

Another possibility for assistance is to use our contact page on our website.

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

3.2.1 – 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.

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

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

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

3.5 – Bank charges levied by banks for payment of the entry fee are the responsibility of the participant.

3.6 – 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.

3.7 – There will be the following promotions, which are independent from another.
3.7.1 – Registration from a second until fourth team will benefit from a 5% discount.
3.7.2 – When sending 5 teams, all the pigeons will be automatically activated at no extra cost.
3.7.3 – When registering 10 teams, the participant will be entitled to 1 free team and all activated pigeons.

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

4 – The pigeons must have been vaccinated against PMV within 30 days prior to despatch. Valid documents, signed by an official veterinarian, will be given by the participants to the carrier of the pigeons and will serve as proof that the pigeons have been properly vaccinated. If these documents are missing on arrival at our loft, AGD may refuse the pigeons or decide to return them. Return costs are the responsibility of the participant.

5 – After entering the loft, the pigeons remain in the care of the organisation and remain the property of the participating member. The pigeons that arrive and remain after the final race must then be offered for auction. These are auctioned and sold on national and international websites.

5.1 – The organisation will coordinate and promote the compulsory auction. The participant agrees to sell the pigeon to the organisation for 35% (VAT included) of the final auction value.

5.2 – If the pigeons are not sold at the auction, they become the property of the organisation at the participant’s bidding. The organisation may decide to re-offer unsold pigeons at auction or through other sales channels.

6 – The amounts to be paid to participants in the competition or the amounts to be paid after the auction will be paid within 30 days after the refund request made by the participant.

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

Participants must provide the organisation with proof of their country of tax residence. If this proof is not provided, the organisation 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 the tax authorities in their country.

7 – If pigeons have been sold at the auction but have not been paid to the auctioneer by the buyer, the organisation 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.

8 – All pigeons must be accompanied by a pedigree in a sealed envelope that will only be opened by the organisation after the final race. If the pigeons do not have a complete pedigree (father, mother, grandparents), the pigeon will not be purchased by the organisation and will remain as a gift from the participant to the organisation. Pedigrees will be supplied by the owners at the latest before the start of the auction.

9 – 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 organisation 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).

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

11 – The basketing of the pigeons for the final race will be organised by the organisers. All pigeons will be stamped under one wing with ‘AGD’. The basketing and stamping will be covered by video and then publicised on a social media channel.

12 – The release and arrival of the Winter Race 2025 final will be covered by video on a social media channel.

13 – All prize values announced and published are based on the registration of a minimum number of 2100 paid pigeons.  The organisation reserves the right to alter the value of all prizes, proportionally upwards or downwards, depending on whether there are more or fewer pigeons entered in the race.

14 – National rules on the non-use of drugs will be complied with in the loft and the pigeons will be regularly analysed by the official veterinarian.

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

16 – If the regulations do not predict some conflicts, Portuguese law applies. Therefore, any legal action must be brought before a Portuguese court.

The official regulations will be written in Portuguese and an English version will be published on our website. The organisation is not responsible for translations of the Algarve Great Derby Winter Race 2026 regulations into other languages.

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

18 – 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 genders.

19 – ACE PIGEON – REGULATIONS

19.1 – All pigeons entered in the loft will compete in the Algarve Great Derby Winter Race.

19.2 – To win the ace pigeon championship, the pigeon must compulsory get points on the final race.

19.3 – If 1 or more of the planned races cannot be held, the ace pigeon race is determined by the races that have been held.

19.4 – 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.

19.5 – The winner of the Ace Pigeon race is determined by the highest number of points accumulated in the planned races.

For the classification, 50% of the pigeons sent in each race will count, and the score will be calculated on the basis of 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 per cent of the pigeons sent. All other pigeons will not receive points.

20 – Time of arrival criteria:

20.1 – In all race except for the Final Race, the classification for the ace pigeon championship ends after the arrival of 50% of the sent pigeons or until the race closes in the BENZING system, at least 8 hours after the arrival of the first pigeon and at most until the end of the second day of racing if 50% of the pigeons have not returned. In the Final Race the maximum period will be extended to the end of the third day of racing if 50% of the pigeons have not returned.

21 – Unforeseen events

21.1 – In the event of any anomaly, such as a pandemic, imposition by higher authorities, meteorological catastrophe, sabotage, or other events beyond the control of the organisation, which make it impossible to hold all the official races, with the right to prizes, after the pigeons have entered the loft and been paid for, the organisation will sell the pigeons at auction, maintaining the same criteria as in paragraph 5 of these regulations. Participants from that year 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 cancelled, along with the respective prizes won.

22 – TAXES

22.1 – 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, and the organisation will withhold this amount at source and then send it to the Tax Authority, as required by law. Non-Portuguese residents are exempt from paying the tax, so there will be no withholding tax (25%), and the prize will be paid in full, provided they present a certificate of tax residence abroad and a duly completed and stamped Mod. 21-RFI. If they do not provide proof of tax residence outside Portugal, the organisation will have to deduct 25% from the prizes and then send the money to the Portuguese Tax Authority.

23 – Registration fees must be paid to the organiser:

IPR Europe Unipessoal, Lda.
NIF: PT517491923

IBAN : LT25 3250 0741 0543 5618

SWIFT: REVOLT21

24 – Any eventuality that gives rise to a conflict not covered by these regulations will be resolved by the organisation, this decision being sovereign.

25 – COLLABORATION Meteorological Support Provided by the FPC’s National and International Collaborators to be published on the event website. Official Veterinarian of the Columbodrome, Dr Ruben Jerónimo. The system for checking the arrival of pigeons in training and races is an official electronic system authorised by the FPC from the Benzing brand.

26 – The organisation will send out 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 Winter Race. The proceeds from these pigeons, once the costs of organising 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 Winter Race.

Official regulations for the Algarve Great Derby Winter Race 2026, approved at the Board meeting on 28 May 2025 in Olhão, Portugal.