SEGL – CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REGULATIONS 2021

1. GOALS

- To determine the strongest European men’s goalball club team in SUPER EUROPEAN GOALBALL LEAGUE (SEGL – Champions League);

- To allow the best European goalball club teams to compete with each other;

- To proclaim goalball and to motivate people with visual disabilities to practice this sport;

- To support creation of goalball fan clubs and encourage their activity;

- Improving the visibility of goalball in media and spreading the knowledge of this sport around Europe and World wide.

2. MANAGEMENT

European Goalball Club Association (EGCA) executive board is managing the league in co-operation with the organizing clubs of the SEGL stages.

EGCA executive board is responsible for:

- The dates of the stages of the season;

- Exchanging contacts in order to provide information;

- Determining participating teams of the stages by using an digital registration system;

- Determining the regulations of the season in co-operation with the organizers of the stages;

- appointing a representative of EGCA for each stages of the season.

2.1. Responsibilities of the club which prepares one of the SEGL Season stage:

A. To conduct the tournament smoothly;

B. To choose and invite referees according to the list of IBSA level II and III referees;

C. To provide teams with information related to SEGL – Champions League as soon as possible;

D. To control preparation for the tournament and attempt to help solving possible problems;

E. To organize the prize giving at the end of the tournament;

F. To look for sponsors for the league;

G. To release information related to the SEGL – Champions League to the media;

H. To give information to the EGCA executive board after the stage;

I. To create Facebook event for the stage, which includes information about the event;

J. To publish results and other info during the tournament on www.goalballchampionsleague.com website and on social media channels;

K. To get officials to fill the game sheets of the tournament electronically on www.goalballchampionsleague.com;

L. To organize livestream by Goalball TV YouTube channel for raising the knowledge and the coverage of goalball and offering a chance to all goalball fans all around the world to follow the tournament;

M. To work with people, introduce them to the game, explain goalball rules, organize sport events and let people try to play the game. In this case we could attract more crowds to our competitions and create fan clubs which could advocate this sport, collaborate with goalball teams and support them;

N. To ensure that all the information about team line-ups, participating referees and the game schedule will be updated on www.goalballchampionsleague.com not later than 14 day before the start of the tournament.

2.2. Responsibilities of the EGCA representative

A. To represent the Association with the official entities present in the event;

B. Ensure good tournament organization within fair play;

C. Assist the club organizer;

D. Collect information and data for communication platforms;

E. Prepare a report on the organization.

3. COMPETITION FORMAT

- There are two SEGL division around Europe (North & South Division);

- There are two stages in both divisions during the season, and the main clubs of the division will organize these tournaments;

- After two stages in the divisions, three best teams from both divisions will secure their spots to the final stage;

- The host club of the final stage are qualified to the final stage automatically;

- The fourth best club of the opposite division of the country, where the host club of the final stage comes from will be also qualified to the final stage.

3.1. Official date of competition

- Competition date is to be published in official competition schedule which is approved by the EGCA executive board;

- Tournaments are on weekends (from Friday - Sunday), except the final stage from Wednesday / Thursday to Sunday;

- Competition dates can be changed only due to objective reasons (weather conditions, transport breakdown, pandemic lockdown etc)… If such situation occurs, the clubs should inform the person responsible for the stage immediately;

- Dates of the stages are approved by the EGCA executive board regarding this model:

A. 1st Stage January to February 2021.

North: 26.2 – 28.2, Vilnius, Lithuania, Tournament Director - Nerijus Montvydas

South: 12.2 – 14.2, Rostock, Germany, Tournament Director – Mario Turloff

B. 2nd Stage March to April 2021

North: 26.3 – 28.3, Moscow, Russia, Tournament Director – Dmitriy Shipilov

South: 9.4 – 11.4, Prague, Czech Republic, Tournament Director – Jan Bosek

C. The Final Stage should be organized on June

- 1st – 6th June 2021 in Odivelas, Portugal Tournament Director – Márcia Ferreira

D. By the end of May 2021 the teams can apply for the organization of stages of season 2022;

E. The stages and the final phase of the season 2022 will be announced at the end of the SEGL final stage.

3.2. Divisions

Europe is divided geographically for two divisions and there are countries ranked by order of last European Championships (A, B and C-Divisions). Ranking will be update always on 1st July. There are also countries, which haven’t participate to European Championships last years, but there are club teams in these countries.

North in the order: Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Great Britain, Russia, Hungary, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belarus (not participated), Latvia (not participated), Slovakia (not participated)

South in the order: Germany, Turkey, Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, Portugal, Israel, Slovenia, Montenegro, Romania, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Austria (not participated), Bosnia (not participated), Kosovo (not participated), Macedonia (not participated), Serbia (not participated)

4. COMPETITION RULES

SEGL is played under existing IBSA rules with the changes applied by these regulations.

In just any of the 5 stages, arbitration support technologies may be used with approval from the EGCA Executive Board up to 30 days before the tournament and with information in the EGCA media.

Goalball rules tests can be used in just any of the 5 stages, as proposed by IBSA and with approval by the EGCA Executive Board up to 30 days before the tournament and with information in the EGCA media.

4.1. Participating Teams

- Clubs must register their teams and players according to the registration regulations.

- There are maximum eight participating teams in one division as following order:

A. Two main clubs of a division

B. The champions of national league from each country of the division. We use order, which is the position of country in European Championships (the highest ranked country first);

C. 2nd best team from countries, which have own national league;

D. If there are still free spots in a division, a place will be given in order for a club, which comes from a country, which has the highest position in European Championships.

- Aim is, that the same teams will participate to both stages of the season in the division.

4.2. Composition of participating teams

The rules for the composition of the participating teams are defined in the registration regulations:

- In each game, a club can register only 6 players;

- An athlete from the country of the club's nationality and classified according to IBSA regulations must be at stake;

- Each team can register only 2 foreigners per stage.

- Due to the difficulty of classification verified, clubs can register unrated players who compete in official competitions in their countries through the respective federation.

- Due to the accomplishment of several stages, each club can register a maximum of 10 players in its Elite Male team in SEGL - Champions League;

- Qualifying phase SEGL-Champions League, there can be a maximum of six players registered in a team in the qualifying phase; players registered on the GP team cannot be registered;

- Final stage of SEGL - Champions League, 6 players registered with the club and 2 U-23 players can be registered;

- Failure to comply with team rules results in a 10-0 loss in the game.

4.3. The Foreign Player

- A player is a foreign player, if one of following parameters is actualized:

A. A player is not an official member of the club;

B. A player doesn’t participate actively in weekly trainings of the club;

C. A player doesn’t play for the club in national league or national championships.

- These parameters are not concerning about players, who come from the same country than the club.

4.4. Registration

- There is an electronic platform for registration for the division stages on www.goalballchampionsleague.com;

- Registration is open between 1st September – 15th November 2020;

- EGCA will inform the clubs, which are qualified to the divisions on 16th November 2020;

- Qualified clubs must pay a registration fee (500 € / stage, total 1000 €) to the organizers finally on 15th December 2020;

- A club is officially approved to the SEGL – Champions League 2021, when it has paid the registration fee;

- The registration fee will be discounted from the participation fee by stage organizers;

- If a club cancelled its participation to one of the division stages the registration fee will be not returned and a stage organizer can keep it as a cancellation fee;

- The registration fee can be returned only in some force majoire cases for example some pandemic restrictions and lockdown, but EGCA executive board will make always a decision about the return;

- A stage organizer must send the invoices for the participation fee to the clubs not later than 50 days before the start of the stage;

- Clubs must have made team & player registration completely and the participation fee paid not later than 30 days before the start of the stage;

- A stage organizer must send all the relevant information about the tournament for the participating clubs not later than 14 days before the start of the stage.

5. DIVISION STAGES

5.1 Play System

- Play system at the division stages will be always round robin:

A. With four team double round robin

B. With five – eight teams single round robin

- If there are over six teams in the tournament, the tournament must begin on Friday;

- There can be maximum three matches for one team during one game day;

- There must be always minimum one and half hour break for a team between two matches.

5.2 Points

- Teams will earn 3 points from a victory, 1 point from a tie and 0 points from a loss;

- Teams ranking in the tournament with single or double round robin will be determined as follow:

A. Earned points;

B. Goal Difference;

C. Made Goals;

D. If parameters A - C are equal between two teams, better is a team, which has won their respective match;

E. If the respective match has finished tie, better is a team, which has led at half time;

F. If parameters are still equal and two teams are competing the victory of the stage, there will be organized extra throws competition to determine the winner of the stage.

- There is also a ranking extra point system to sum: Winner =10 points, 2º=8 points, 3º=6 points, 4º= 5 Points, 5º= 4 Points, 6º= 3 Points, 7º= 2 Points, 8º 1 Point. The importance of this system is clarified in the section 5.3

5.3 After two stages

- Three best teams of the division will secure their spots to the final stage;

- Three best teams will be determined with following parameters:

A. Earned points;

B. If there are two teams with equal points, better is a team, which has competed at both stages;

C. Earned ranking points;

D. Goal Difference;

E. Made Goals;

F. If parameters are still equal between two teams, better is a team, which has earned more points in their respective matches;

G. If points from respective matches are equal, better is a team, which has better goal difference in respective matches;

H. If all parameters above are still equal, there will be organized extra throws competition to determine the ranking of teams.

- If a team, which has secured a spot to the final stage will cancel the participation to the final stage, the spot will be given to the 4th best team in the division;

- There will be awarded the best team of the division by a trophy, which is given by two main clubs of the division;

- There will be also given the award for the best scorer of the division.

6. THE FINAL STAGE

6.1 Play System

- There will be eight participating teams at the final stage:

A. The organizing club

B. Three best teams from both divisions

C. The fourth best club in the opposite division the host country of the final stage

- There are two groups of four teams;

- There is a single round robin played in the groups;

- The ranking of teams in single rounds will be determined as in section 5.2;

- After the round robin, the quarter finals will be played in the pairing 1-4 and 2-3 of the opposite groups,

- the winners of quarter finals will continue to the semifinals;

- The losers of the quarter finals will play for places 5 – 8;

- The semifinal losers will dispute the bronze medal;

- The winners of the semifinals will dispute the gold medal;

- Top three teams will receive SEGL – Champions League Season 2021 medals;

- The best scorer as well as the MVP of the final stage will be awarded.

6.2. Pools

Up to 30 days before the start of the final phase, groups must be drawn.

The draw must be broadcast live on Goalball TV.

The clubs will be divided into 2 groups of 4 clubs (A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B2, B3 and B4).

The host country club will be the A1

3 pots will be placed in the draw:

Pot 1: 1st place in each division, will be distributed in A2 and B2

Pot 2: 2nd place in each division, will be distributed in A3 and B3

Pot 3: 3rd place in each division and 4th place in the opposite division of the host country, will be distributed in B1 and A4 and B4

6.3. Schedule of the final stage

- Wednesday evening (arrival of teams)

- Thursday: Group stage games

- Friday: Group stage and quarter-final matches

- Saturday: placement matches, semifinals and finals

- Sunday (departure of teams)

7. RESPONSABILITIES OF THE ORGANIZER

Each main club have to organize one competition stage in its own city.

Host club is responsible for:

- transportation from the airport and to the airport, accommodation, meals (dinner on arrival day, breakfast, lunch and dinner on competition day / days, breakfast and lunch on departure day). All fees are paid by stage organizers;

- if walking distance is over 1000 meters, the stage organizers must organize transportation between the hotel and the venue;

- allowing (if possible) the teams to practice 1 hour in the main play hall one day before the competition starts;

- determining an entry fee for participating teams (money collected from these teams, organizers can use up to their own needs). Maximum amount of the fee / person is 200 € between Friday and Sunday, except the final stage, which will be 250 € / person from Thursday to Sunday or 300 € from Wednesday to Sunday;

- finding prizes for the winning team, the best scorer and the MVP of a stage;

- Offering local transportation, accommodation and meals for free of charge to another main club of the division (there are no money transfers for the participation fees between the main clubs);

- There can be maximum nine members in the main club for free of charge.

8. REFEREES

- Table officials and goal judges are from the host country;

- The referees must be level III and / or II of the official IBSA classification

- 5-7 referees are invited according to the list of IBSA level II and III referees;

- Half of the referees must be out of the host country of a stage.

The referees cannot whistle 3 consecutive matches, they refer according to these models:

A. 1 match on the court + 1 match 10 sec. + 1 rest;

B. 2 games on the court consecutively + 1 rest.

In some stages technological assistance may be introduced to the referee.

8.1 Chief Referee

The organizing team of a stage will name in co-operation with EGCA Executive Board a chief referee, who has following responsibilities:

A. Organize work of goal judges and table officials (except 10 sec timers):

B. Fill in the tournaments’ protocols and provide teams with this information;

C. Take care of the courts’ technical requirements, change game balls, remove all defects as soon as possible;

D. Check the athletes' identity according to the registration regulations.

9. PROTEST

Protest will be analyzed only in case if officials‘ mistake may have influenced game score for the benefit of one team.

If after a match a coach is sure that officials made a harm to the team, he/she may write a protest. Protest is equivalent to 100 Euros. It is given to the chief referee within half hour after the end of the match. If the protest is acknowledged, the money is given back. If not, the money goes to SEGL prize fund.

9.1 Infractions, reasonable for a protest:

A. Mistakes in running the main game clock (video records can be provided);

B. Infraction of the 10 seconds rule (8-12s) (video records can be provided);

C. Goal from out of court line is scored (video records can be provided, if recorded from the back of the Goal line);

D. Players took off their eyeshades when the match had not finished yet (video records can be provided);

E. A player has cheated during the match and effected to the results (video records can be provided);

F. Violation of the team constitution rule;

G. Other rude mistakes of the referees.

Video clips for the protest must be taken from the official live stream record.

The protest is considered if the mistake of the official / referee could change the result of the match and one team would get an advantage.

10. RULES FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF SPORTS TRUTH

Sport Truth

- The European Association of Goalball Clubs, defends the appreciation of the athlete for his / her work and the reflection of his / her overcoming, condemning any and all actions that alter the sports truth;

- EGCA is betting on the forefront of technological innovation that allows human error to be reduced as much as possible, which can influence results;

- EGCA condemns any and all fraud or cheating initiatives by an athlete or club;

- Tournament directors at EGCA have a duty to uphold the values of ethics and prevent illegal acts in competitions, as well as comply with and enforce the World Anti-Doping Agency's World Anti-Doping Code;

- Consequently, athletes competing in EGCA tournaments can be subjected to doping control tests at any time, with or without notice.

10.1. Cheating Act

- EGCA requires strict compliance with article 29 of the goalball rules;

-If any athlete manipulates glasses or eye patches to obtain any benefit from the vision, they will be automatically expelled from the game by Personal Unsportsmanlike Conduct;

- If a player is ejected, the referee must report this action to the Chief Referee. Chief Referee, together with the EGCA Delegate will then, without delay, decide if a player will be suspended from further competition in that tournament;

- The EGCA executive board will address any cases of cheating / doping after the tournament by the report of the chief referee and the EGCA delegate and will make a decision on disciplinary proposals;

- The suspension period will be determined by the seriousness of the infraction and the previous history of an athlete / club.

10.2. Doping control

Any player, who is playing in an EGCA tournament may be asked to perform a doping control test.

Refusal to perform the test will lead to the immediate expulsion of the player and an immediate 2-year suspension from all EGCA competitions.

10.3. Disciplinary procedures

- Every player has the right to defend during the disciplinary procedure, and must submit their defense in writing, within a maximum period of 30 days after the occurrence;

- The EGCA executive board will address any cases of cheating / doping after the tournament by the report of the chief referee and the EGCA delegate and will make a decision on disciplinary proposals;

- The suspension period will be determined by the seriousness of the infraction and the previous history of an athlete / club;

- The maximum duration of the suspension for cheating is two years;

- All disciplinary reports will be sent to IBSA and the respective national federation, which may increase the penalty.