The
Referee of a
fencing match is sometimes also known as the
director of the match.
The latter term is more colloquially used, but it is not actually a valid
title for the position; the
United States Fencing Association rulebook
never uses the term "director".
It came to be used back in the days where multiple referees were needed
for a bout, before electrical scoring devices. There were often as
many as five referees and judges presiding over a single match, and the
head referee became known as the director to clearly distinguish him from
the other officials. Even though all the scoring has been machinized
for decades, the term remains.