The referee shall indicate his decision by raising his arm and clearly showing the points with his fingers. If the referee and judge agree, the decision is announced. The mat chairman is not entitled to influence or change a decision if the referee and judge are in agreement except if he calls for a consultation or after a challenge.

If a vote is taken, the judge and mat chairman must indicate their votes using paddles or an electric score board. There are 11 paddles in Greco Roman style and 9 paddles in Freestyle. They are painted in different colours: blue, red and white.

For Greco-Roman wrestling: one white, five red, four of which are numbered 1, 2, 4, 5 to indicate the points and one of which is an unmarked paddle intended for cautions and to attract attention to the wrestler concerned; five blue paddles, four of which are numbered like the red paddles, with one paddle unmarked. For Freestyle, the two paddles numbered with 5 do not exist.

They must be kept within easy reach of those who are to use them. Under no circumstances may the judge abstain from voting. He must express his decision clearly, leaving no room for ambiguity.

In case of a disagreement, the mat chairman makes the decision. This decision, in which he must decide between the opposing opinions of the referee and judge, obliges the mat chairman to vote in all cases for one or the other of the views given.

If the match lasts until the end of the allotted time, the mat chairman's score sheet will be taken into consideration when designating the winner. The public scoreboard must conform to the mat chairman's score sheet at all times during the bout. If there is a difference of 1 or more points between the judge's and mat chairman's score sheets, only the score on the mat chairman's score sheet will be considered.