GFL 2021 Rules

1. The chess.com "Global Football League" (hereinafter GFL) of 2021 will start in December 2020 and be played between chess.com clubs representing worldwide football teams. The Final Results & winners of the 2021 season will be determined only after all matches have been decided or after the cut-off date of 5th November 2021, whichever comes first.

PARTICIPATION

2. Only chess.com clubs consisting of supporters of the football clubs are allowed to play in the GFL.

3. In order to participate, a club should notify the GFL Admins about it's intention and should have at least two active admins, to ensure that matches start on time.

4. The Public Profile of each club must make it clear that the club is for fans & followers of the said team. The Public Profile must not state or suggest that the club is open to chess.com members regardless of whether they are a fan/follower of the said team. If a team violates this rule, it may, at the GFL Directors' discretion, be regarded as being unsuitable to participate in the league.

5. The number of chess.com members in a participating club must not exceed 400. If, at the start of a match, a club has more than 400 members, the club will be declared loser by forfeit. If both opponents have more than 400 members, both clubs will get zero points.

6. The average rating of chess.com members in a participating club must not exceed 1700. If, at the start of a match, a club has an average rating that is greater than 1700, the club will be declared loser by forfeit. If both opponents have an average rating greater than 1700, both clubs will get zero points.

DIVISIONS

7. The GFL will be played in 3 Divisions: Division One (12 teams), Division Two (12 teams) & Division Three (12 teams).

8. The cut-off date for promotion and relegation is 5th November 2021. It is expected that the three best teams from Division Two & Division Three will be promoted, respectively, to Division One & Division Two. Similarly, it is expected that the three last teams from Division One & Division Two will be relegated, respectively, to Division Two & Division Three. In the event that some teams decide not to continue their participation in the 2022 season, more teams might be promoted and/or fewer teams might be relegated. The make-up of the Divisions for the 2022 season will be decided by the GFL Directors, in accordance with rule 23 "Directors Discretion".

9. In order to play in Division One each Team must be able to provide at least 15 players for each match.

10. In order to play in Division Two each Team must be able to provide at least 10 players for each match.

11. In order to play in Division Three each Team must be able to provide at least 5 players for each match.

12. Division One, Division Two and Division Three will be played by 11 Round Robin Team Match tournament.

MATCH RESULTS AND SCORING

13. All matches should be started according to the 2021 season schedule.

14. The winner of the match will get 1 point , the loser will get 0 points. In case of draw both teams will get 0.5 point.

15. Match challenges should be issued and accepted no later than 5 days before the match is due to start, according to the 2021 season schedule. If a team (or both teams) fail to start a match on time, the team(s) will be declared loser by forfeit. If a team fails on 3 or more occasions to start a match on time, that team will be disqualified for the whole season and none of their matches will be counted for final standings.

LEAGUE SCORING, WINNERS

16. The Team that has scored most points in Division One by the end of the season is declared the winner of the Global Football League.

17. For each division, if two or more teams score equal number of points, the following tie-break measures are used to determine their final positions (in order of importance):

a) the Neustadtl (Sonneborn-Berger) score;

b) the results of the direct encounter(s) between the teams involved.

RESTRICTIONS, DISCIPLINARY MEASURES AND OTHER RULES

18. During the 2021 season, each player should play for only one of the teams taking part in the GFL tournament, no matter what division the teams are in. Exceptionally, a player might accidentally play for another team on one occasion. However, if a player plays in two or more matches for another team, he/she will be deemed to be a MULTI-TEAM PLAYER.

PENALTIES :

a) Multi-team players will have ALL of their match scores adjusted (to zero or 1, see below) for the WHOLE of the 2021 season. A player whose opponent is subject to such an adjustment will receive 2 points. If both players are subject to such an adjustment, the points will be split 1:1 regardless of the actual result.

b) If a team repeatedly fails to remove multi-team players from their rosters, that team could be disqualified for the whole season and none of their matches will be counted for final standings. Such a decision would be taken in accordance with rule 23 "Directors Discretion".

19. Team match scores will be adjusted for all CLOSED ACCOUNTS for all relevant games for the WHOLE of the 2021 season. A player whose opponent is subject to such an adjustment will receive 2 points. If both players are subject to such an adjustment, the points will be split 1:1 regardless of the actual result.

20. If a team fails to provide the minimum number of players required for a team match in their respective division, the team will be declared loser by forfeit. If a team loses 3 or more matches by this type of forfeit, that team will be disqualified for the whole season and none of their matches will be counted for final standings.

21. Under no circumstances shall admins discourage to join their Club low rated players, remove any players from their roster especially low rated, unless these players play for more than one Team or has a time out ratio (for last 90 days) of more than 25%. If a team breaks this rule, that team could be declared loser by forfeit for the relevant match; such a decision would be taken in accordance with rule 23 "Directors Discretion". If a team loses 3 or more matches by this type of forfeit, that team will be disqualified for the whole season and none of their matches will be counted for final standings.

22. All Teams should start their matches according to the 2021 season schedule at 11:00 AM Pacific time which is 19:00 GMT - new start time feature should be used.

DIRECTORS DISCRETION

23. Exceptionally, in order to obtain and maintain fair and effective operation of the GFL, the Directors may reach decisions on the basis of a unanimous vote and subject to a minimum of three Directors voting. ("Unanimous" means all directors voting are in agreement; e.g. if there were 5 directors and only 4 voted, but all 4 were in agreement, that would be sufficient. "Subject to a minimum of three Directors voting" means that if there were less than 3 Directors, the 1 or 2 remaining would not be able to exercise any discretion.)

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