Competition Policy in South Africa

The 1998 Competition Act heralded a new era of active competition enforcement in South Africa. Since then, South Africa has developed a robust and admirable competition system. To some extent, the enforcement of competition law has contributed to an increase in more affordable goods and services. Furthermore, it has contributed to creating a market environment that encourages economic participation by all South Africans, increases the competitiveness of South African firms, and facilitates inclusive economic development. However, the South African economy remains highly concentrated, strategic barriers to entry protect incumbents, and the spread of ownership and economic participation remain skewed. The competition system has not delivered on all of its promises to address South Africa’s problems. This chapter provides a critical review of many of the developments that helped shape and mature the competition system into one of the most outstanding and path-breaking in the developing world. It also offers reflections on current challenges and opportunities.

Participation tactics of elite freestyle wrestlers in competition system in 2013-2016 Olympic cycle

Background and Study Aim. Tactics is one of the basic terms underlying the management of competitive activities of athletes. In freestyle wrestling, the participation tactics of athletes in the competition system is covered fragmentally and needs proper justification. The purpose of the study was to determine the features of the participation tactics of elite athletes in the competition system in freestyle wrestling during 2013-2016 Olympic cycle. Materials and Methods. This study analyzes the dynamics of performances and results of 24 elite freestyle wrestlers who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Games of XXXI Olympiad 2016 in Rio de Janeiro in different weight categories (four athletes in each of six weight categories). To do this, we used athletes’ individual profiles on the United World Wrestling. Used an expert assessment devoted to the issues of tactics and tactical training. The experts (n = 8) were well educated (3 among them held Ph.D. diplomas) and experienced – 2 coaches of Ukrainian national team, and 1 athlete–national team’s member. On average, experts had almost 10 years of experience in training wrestlers of different ages. The results were processed using Microsoft Excel software. Results. The volume of competition practice of elite athletes during 2013-2016 changed in each season. In the 2013 season, the average group number of competitions in which athletes participated was 3.84 ± 2.06, in 2014 – 3.50 ± 1.79. In the 2015 season, those indicators were the highest – 4.17 ± 1.87, but in 2016 they decreased to 3.71 ± 1.52. The participation tactics in the competition system in freestyle wrestling during the season and the four-year cycle differed depending on the dynamics of sports results. Four types of tactics used by the elite athletes in freestyle wrestling in 2013-2016 were identified: leadership holding, gradual improving of results, combined, leadership returning. It was found that during 2013-2016, most athletes (58.33-79.17%) used a variety of tactics that involved performances in one Olympic weight category. In 2014 and 2015, some athletes (20.83 and 25.00%, respectively) used different options in other weight categories, choosing one of them as a priority and one or two – as additional. Conclusions. There are four types of participation tactics in the competition system in freestyle wrestling. In 2013-2016 Olympic cycle they included leadership holding, gradual increase of results, combined, leadership return. The main differences between types of tactics are the volume of competition practice, the dynamics of results, the choice of weight category. The most relevant was the type of tactics with performances exclusively in the Olympic weight category during four seasons.

Football in the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic – considerations regarding competition organization

In this paper, we aim to complement the experience acquired so far in pandemic times by addressing the current problem of football from certain specific directions, in the conditions of COVID-19 infection. This study used some models (SIR, SEIR and SIRD) that tried to determine the evolution of the pandemic on the basis of a few defining aspects. In a championship involving 20 teams and 38 stages, an officially registered squad for each team can consist of 34 players (30 field players and 4 goalkeepers), and competition organization in the form of a tournament can include: 14 days competition period + 7 days break => 4 games scheduled every 3 or 4 days; 10 x 14-day modules with 9 x 7-day recovery modules will be required for the competition. The current context is completely new and, in order to train and play during the pandemic, we need to consider the following aspects: the competition system of national football leagues should take the form of the model proposed by us, promoting young players from the academy; the competitions of the national team should take place in the form of tournaments; the referees’ activity should be reorganized in relation to the competition system.

Speed determinacy of the traveling waves for a three species time-periodic Lotka-Volterra competition system

In this paper, speed selection of the time periodic traveling waves for a three species time-periodic Lotka-Volterra competition system is studied via the upper-lower solution method as well as the comparison principle. Through constructing specific types of upper and lower solutions to the system, the speed selection of the minimal wave speed can be determined under some sets of sufficient conditions composed of the parameters in the system.