Newbie here. Can I use Inkscape for design contests?

I was reading the guidlines and saw that "- Designs must be created with Illustrator, CorelDraw, Fireworks or Flash. " I just spent days learning Inkscape. lol So, Inkscape can't be used at all? If so, why? 

hi there, fyi, business platform nowadays sees business perspective and surely they need common poweful tool for their needs. In graphic design industry one of the most reliably used application is Adobe Illustrator... If there has to be an option for including inkscape in the market, with its paid version fully furnished with incredible features, maybe someday it will be endorsed for use.

However, I myself consider inkscape work as good as adobe illustrator. Its learning curve is easy to handle than illustrator.