Tournament directors typically perform a number of key functions at competitive sporting and gaming events of all kinds. The extent of the tournament director's duties varies depending on the size of the tournament, the nature of the competition, and the number of other officials to whom roles can be delegated.

Examples include:

• Referee
  Referee
  A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...
  
  ing game play
• Organizing elimination tournament
  Elimination tournament
  Elimination tournament may refer to any of several types of tournament in which each player has a set number of loses before elimination from the competition.*Single-elimination tournament, in which a player is eliminated after losing to a single opponent...
  
   brackets, or pairings of a Swiss system tournament
  Swiss system tournament
  A Swiss-system tournament is a commonly used type of tournament where players or teams need to be paired to face each other for several rounds of competition. This type of tournament was first used in a Zurich chess tournament in 1895, hence the name "Swiss system". The Swiss system is used when...
  
  
• Tracking scores and statistics
• Enforcing rules and regulations
• Arbitrating disputes
• Officiating awards ceremonies