World Sports Photography Awards 2027

What disqualifies you

AI-generated or AI-rendered content is disqualified — and RAW files can be demanded to prove it.

• Ai generation Camera-made images only. No synthetic or AI-generated images; generative fill means automatic disqualification; AI enlargers (Adobe Super Resolution, Topaz Photo AI) are banned. Limited Denoise, auto adjustments and object selection for local edits are tolerated at the judges' discretion. Forensic checks apply. “All images entries must be created with a camera; no synthetic or AI-generated images are allowed, and using AI-powered generative fill will result in automatic disqualification from the awards.”
• Image format Photojournalism-style integrity rules: no adding, removing, moving or distorting content; no software multiple exposures, polyptychs or stitched panoramas; no staging to mislead (posing must be captioned); no significant hue shifts. “Content of a photograph cannot be altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects within the frame.”
• Capture date after Up to 10 images, taken between December 2025 and November 2026. “Eligibility: Up to 10 images taken between December 2025 – November 2026”
• Copyright ownership Entrant must own the entire copyright and not have licensed conflicting rights. “They own the entire copyright and any other intellectual property rights throughout the world in each image”
• Image format Photographer's name and capture date must be embedded in the image metadata. “The photographer’s name and the date the image was taken must be added to the metadata of the image.”