I am a member of a team that participated in the 2024 ICPC Asia East Continent Online Contest. In the second round, the organizing committee made the decision to cancel the results of all teams from our school due to what was deemed a violation by one team. This decision feels deeply unfair and leaves us with no way to fight back.

One of our school’s teams was flagged because a member input a Chinese translation of the problem’s English text into the code editor, intending to help their teammates better understand the problem. This translation was typed manually and only appeared on their computer—it wasn’t shared across devices or used in any way beyond the functionality of a notepad. While the proctor did not consider this cheating, the committee still chose to invalidate the results of all teams from our school in that round. Such a broad punishment feels disproportionate and unjust.

A Crushing Blow

For us, this contest was more than just another competition. It represented a chance to showcase years of hard work and dedication. My teammates and I have been preparing since our first year of university, working relentlessly to improve our programming skills. We never imagined that a single team’s minor infraction would result in the erasure of all our efforts.

This decision has left us feeling powerless. It’s not simply a matter of following the rules; it’s about fairness and principle. We were not involved in the violation, yet we are suffering the consequences. Our hard work, which had nothing to do with this incident, has been swept aside. It feels like we’re being punished for something we didn’t do.

Years of Effort, Dismissed

This contest was especially significant for one of my teammates, who is now a senior and saw this as his last chance to compete before graduating. Last year, our school came close to qualifying for the onsite finals, but fell just short. This year, we worked even harder, hoping to succeed, only for this sudden decision to wipe away our progress.

The ruling by the committee, canceling our second-round results, has effectively dismissed our effort and preparation. We played by the rules, respected the competition, and gave it our best shot. Now, all of that has been taken from us—not because of our actions, but because of a decision that treats all teams the same, regardless of their involvement.

A Call for Fairness

We are deeply disappointed. It’s incredibly disheartening to see our hard work go unrecognized. We fully understand the need for rules and the importance of punishing those who violate them, but we strongly believe that it’s wrong for innocent teams to pay the price for actions they didn’t commit.

All we ask is for the organizing committee to reconsider this judgment. Don’t let the dedication and passion of honest teams be erased. This collective punishment does not serve justice and only discourages those who have poured their hearts into this competition.

I don’t know what to do anymore. What should we do?