[Manjovovic]

RULES

- Remember the rules are subject to change before December 10, based on player feedback. Once the competition begins the rules are set in stone.

1. Both group stages are 6 minutes per half. All matches from the last eight knock out stage to the final are 8 minutes per half.

2. Players are free to choose any controls they wish (assisted, semi or manual)

3. December 24, 25, 31 and January 1 which will be rest days. To accommodate players in Australia those matches will start around 1pm Central European Time. See the fixtures on page 5 or 6 for the schedule. Wherever possible based on seedings/rankings we placed a few Australians and Americans in the same group respectively to help with time zones.

Both players of a match are welcome to come to an arrangement and reschedule their fixture as long as it is completed before the day of your next match. If one player wants to stick to our scheduled time and the opponent cannot make it then the ready player will receive three points for the win and the unavailable opponent will receive zero points. If both players agree to change the time of their match or day of the match, they must confirm those details with us so that we can first update the fixture list.

After that and once again if an opponent doesn’t show up then he receives zero points and his opponent gets three points. If both players don’t show up then both players receive zero points. For a failure to attend your match no further punishment will be given and you can participate in your next match.

4. Players are free to choose any team they wish, based on either default squads or Adidas Live Season. No created custom teams or created players are allowed. All matches should be played as a ranked match online, but if you're unable to create a ranked session then you are also allowed to play your opponent as a friend (unranked).

In order to create a session the home team must create a session for ranked game with "20 percent DNF or less" chosen. For the rest of the variables "any" is chosen. The away team will search for this exact session and find your opponent in the ranked game. To learn how to do this contact us. If you still don't know how to do it then add your opponent as a friend and invite him to a game which will probably just be an unranked match. But it will count as an official result for this tournament. You could also play a match from the ranked lobby section if you want.

5. You are only allowed to enter one team in the competition. We mean you cannot enter yourself more than once. But you can change teams (such as Spurs or Leeds) from match to match if you wish. Of course this means we can have Barnsley vs Barnsley if so desired.

6. All matches are played on world class level.

7. Lag Rules

Due to different servers all over the world lag is beyond our control. If there is lag in your game then matches will still have to be completed.

After the match you can report the lag to Derdocar on Xbox Live or to Manjovovic here. Explain how this effected you in your match. Also take note of your opponents DNF rating. Opponents with bad connections, DNF ratings of over 15 percent will be made note of. Those over 20 percent will be vulnerable to complaints. Each case will be treated uniquely as we don't want a system to be abused. However players will NOT be subtracted points for lag. Knock out round results will be final with or without lag.

If you have a DNS stat of over 20 percent please inform us before your match about the problem. Note this relates to your connection speed and disconnections. We will discuss the circumstances. If you haven't contacted us before the tournament or your match then you are at a disadvantage.

8. If this points system is too complicated for you to understand. This is what you must do:

All you need to do is play your match until the end, until there is a winner. You just report back your exact score to us, by telling us whether the match was won in normal time, extra time or penalties. We will calculate the points correctly. You don't have to worry about anything else.

This is how we work out the points (you don't have to understand):

Unique Fair Points System in the Group Stage

Win in normal time: 5 points
Win in extra time: 4 points
Win on penalties: 3 points (this will be regarded as a draw)
Lose in normal time: 0 points
Lose in extra time: 1 point
Lose on penalties: 2 points (this will be regarded as a draw)

As you can see in the group stage if the score is tied after 90 minutes then matches will go to extra time. If the scores are still tied the match is considered a draw. Since penalty shoot-outs are an important skill in the game then we will play the shoot-out with the winner receiving a bonus point (as already stated in the points system above).

If both players have not read these rules and stop their game at either full time or after extra time without playing a penalty shoot out. Then the following will occur:

Draw stopped after 90 minutes: both teams get 1 point
Draw stopped after extra time: both teams get 2 points
No further punishments will be given, because by not completing the match or playing penalties you are already punishing yourself.

Here follows the points system with effect of walk overs and withdrawn gamers:

There is concern over the unfairness of a gamer receiving five points for a walk over or withdrawn player, while a rival received four points for a hard fought victory earlier in the group. The single point difference could decide the fate of progression or elimination. For this reason we've added this section which only comes into place if there is a walk over or withdrawal of a gamer. The rule is that if there is a withdrawal or walkover then the gamer still benefits with 5 full points. However players who had earlier beaten that player in extra time and received 4 points will now receive full five points for that win. This doesn't apply to penalty shoot outs because those are regarded as draws even if you get three points it will remain as three points. This rule is to revert to an actual victory whether its in extra time or normal time to be equal in a case of a walkover and withdrawn player. Hopefuly such a complication never arises and all gamers play all their matches. Withdrawals which leave groups in controversy will be banned for the next season.

9. The knock-out round follows normal rules of extra time and penalties in one eight minute match.

10. If a match is disconnected due to a poor connection then both players should arrange to reconnect their match. If you had 15 minutes remaining, just play the first 15 minutes of the next match. If the score was 0-0 before 30 minutes is played, then replay the whole match. You have an extra day between matches to find a solution. If you are unable to reconnect and a solution cannot be found, both players should contact us with their version of what happened (a reported complaint) and we will decide how to award points for this match. If both players had connection problems due to their server, we will consider rescheduling the match later in the same group stage during one of your break days.

We recommend inserting your email address on your profile online to instruct XBOX LIVE to email reports of each match. This will be handy in case there's a dispute about the score. If you don't know how to do this contact us for help. False reporters (saying you won when you actually lost) could be banned or subtracted points. You can all report a player to us for any reason and over the season we can pick up on repeated offenders. If a player is deemed to cause repeated problems with opponents then that player can be disqualified from the competition. That player can appeal and a final decision will be made before his next match. This disqualified player will also receive an automatic ban for the next season. So he can rejoin the following season in the qualifying round (but not the proper group stage). We encourage sporting behaviour and honest reports of your matches. If you want you can record your matches for video evidence if there's a serious problem. Note that we do get automatic updates of your goals as they're happening. Hopefully we won't have troublemakers in this competition.

11. If an opponent offers you to fix a match, asks you to score or concede a goal, offers you to play for a draw, win, lose or fix a particular scoreline or any type of match fixing scenario - this is what you must do:

Ignore all his requests. Complete the match as usual. After the match this opponent must be reported to Manjovovic on private message here or to Derdocar on Xbox Live. We will investigate this matter using feedback from all opponents who came up against this player and other evidence. Match-fixing is going to be taken very seriously in this tournament and under our discretion a player could be disqualified or deducted points depending on the nature of the incident. It is also possible for both players to be disqualified or deducted points if it's found out that they planned to fix a match together.

12. Each player will be ranked/seeded for this competition so we can draw balanced groups. As tournament organiser we will draw the groups. All players are seeded but just the top 16 are viewable. The groups are created based on the seeds who are then placed into pots and drawn into groups.

Knock out round fixtures will also be drawn before the competition begins (similar to how a World Cup draw is made) and unlike the Champions League where the draw is made after the group stage.

Each entrant is recommended to answer the following questions in the PLAYER ENTRY FORM (see below) for us to determine his rank/seeding. If you leave any question blank then it will be assumed you are a below standard player in that section and it could cause your seeding to be lower. The exception will be for players who confirm their high rank or level.

See Player Entry form directly below