REGULATIONS – SEGL – CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2022 – EGCA – EUROPEAN GOALBALL CLUB ASSOCIATION

On this page you can read all the regulations of the SEGL – Champions League on season 2022.

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 and athletes to compete with each other;
To proclaim goalball and motivate people to practice this sport;
To support creation of goalball fan clubs and encourage their activity;
To improve the visibility of goalball in media and spread 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 – Champions League stages.
EGCA executive board has responsibilities to determine:
-Organizing clubs and dates for stages of a SEGL – Champions League season;

Participating clubs of the season by using a digital registration system;
Regulations of the season in co-operation with participating clubs;
a representative of EGCA for each stages of the season.

and to share:

Results, statistics and standings of the season on EGCA’s website and social media.

2.1 Responsibilities of the EGCA representative;

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

B. To ensure good tournament organization within fair play;

C. To assist the club organizer;

D. To collect information and data for communication platforms;

E. To prepare a report on the organization.

3. COMPETITION FORMAT

There are two SEGL divisions around Europe (North & South Division);
There are two stages in both divisions during the season;
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;

3.1 Official date of competition

Competition dates are to be published in official competition schedule which is approved by the EGCA executive board;
Depending on amount of participating clubs a division stage can run from Thursday or Friday till Sunday. The final stage can stay maximum five days;
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 from February to March 2022;
North: 17th – 20th February, Vilnius, Lithuania, Tournament Director – Nerijus Montvydas (nerijus.montvydas@gmail.com)
South: 20th – 22nd May, Prague, Czech Republic – Tournament director Jan Bosek (goalball@post.cz)

B. 2nd Stage from July to August 2022;
North: 5th – 7th August, Brussels, Belgium – Organized by Ha. Vi. 2 Bruxelles (havibruxelles@gmail.com)
South: 22nd – 24th July, Niksic, Montenegro – Tournament director Milos Ranitovic (npcmneparalympic@gmail.com)

C. The Final Stage is planned to be held

27th – 31st October, Rostock, Germany – Tournament director Mario Turloff (mario.turloff@outlook.de)

D. Registration for host candidates of SEGL season 2023 will begin on 16th August 2022 and the deadline of registration will be on 16th October 2022;

E. Division stages as well as the final stage of the season 2023 will be announced during the final stage of the season 2022.

3.2 Divisions

Europe is divided geographically to 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 January;
There are also countries which haven’t participated to European Championships last years, but there are club teams in these countries;
North in the order: Lithuania, Belgium, Russia, Finland, Poland, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belarus, Latvia, Slovakia
South in the order: Ukraine, Turkey, Germany, Montenegro, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Israel, Bulgaria, France, Serbia, Romania, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Moldova, Austria, Bosnia, Kosovo, North Macedonia

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 organizing 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 who comes from a country that 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 foreign players per stage and only one of these two players can come out of Europe;
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;
Division stages SEGL-Champions League, there can be a maximum of six players registered in a team in a division stage;
Final stage of SEGL – Champions League, 6 players registered with the club and 2 U-23 players can be registered;
Failure to comply with registration 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 October – 27th December 2021;
EGCA will inform the clubs who are qualified to the divisions just after the deadline of registration;
Qualified clubs must pay a registration fee (500 € / stage, total 1000 €) to the organizers finally on 17th January 2022;
A club is officially approved to the SEGL – Champions League 2022 when it has paid the registration fee;
The registration fee will be discounted from the total participation fees by stage organizers;
If a club cancelled its participation to one of the division stages the registration fee will be not refunded and a stage organizer can keep it as a cancellation fee;
The registration fee can be refunded only in some force majoire cases for example some pandemic restrictions and lockdown but EGCA executive board will make always a decision about the refund;
A stage organizer must send the entry form and invoice for the participation fee to the clubs not later than 40 days before the start of the stage;
Clubs must have returned a completely filled entry form to the organizer and the participation fee paid not later than 20 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 competition 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. Missed Goals;
D. If parameters A – C are equal between two teams, better is a team who has won their respective match;
E. If the respective match has finished tie, better is a team who 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 of a stage =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. Goal Difference;
C. Missed Goals;
D. Earned ranking points;
E. If parameters are still equal between two teams, better is a team who has earned more points in their respective matches;
F. If points from respective matches are equal, better is a team who has better goal difference in respective matches;
G. If all parameters above are still equal, there will be organized extra throws competition to determine the ranking of teams.
If a club who has secured a spot to the final stage will cancel its participation, 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 that is provided by two organizing clubs of the division;
There will be also given the award for the best scorer of the division.

5.4 Case of cancellation
If one or more division stages should be cancelled during the season clubs will be qualified to the final stage in following system:

If the 1st stage of a division would be cancelled the final ranking of the division will be determined at the 2nd stage;
If the 2nd stage of a division would be cancelled the ranking of the 1st stage will remain as the final ranking of the division;
If both stages of the division will be cancelled the whole season 2022 of the SEGL – Champions League will be withdrawed;
The stage organizer should inform participating clubs immediately about the cancellation and refund all the payments that clubs have already paid to the stage organizer.

6. THE FINAL STAGE

6.1 Play System

There will be seven participating teams at the final stage:
A. The organizing club
B. Three best teams from both divisions
There is a single round robin played in the groups;
There will be played single round robin (each team will meet each other, total 6 games / team);
The ranking of teams in single round robin will be determined as in section 5.2;
Four best teams of the round robin will continue to the semifinals: 1st of the round robin will take on 4th of the round robin and 2nd of the round robin will take on 3rd of the round robin;
5th of the round robin and 6th of the round robin will meet in the placement game;
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 2022 medals;
The best scorer as well as the MVP of the final stage will be awarded.

6.2 Schedule of the final stage

Thursday 27th October evening (arrival of teams)

Friday 28th October: morning (arrival of teams), round robin games in the afternoon and evening

Saturday 29th October: Round robin games

Sunday 30th October: Round robin games

Monday 31st October: Semifinals, placement game, medal games, medal ceremony

7. RESPONSiBILITIES OF THE ORGANIZER

Responsibilities of a club who prepares to host 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 (keep up good communication, send invoices for registration fees and participation fees as well as the entry form in time);

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

F. To look for sponsors and partners 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 that includes information about the event;

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

K. To provide officials to the tournament (table officials and goal judges) and take care that they are well educated before the games;

L. To provide all the equipments that are needed in goalball as tactile cord, high quality floor tape, eye batches, goalballs, timers and official table equipments;

M. 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 games;

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

O. To organize some demonstration events of goalball around the stage to get people playing the sport, be familiarized with rules of the game and start to follow goalball actively;

P. If a stage would be cancelled the organizer must inform participating clubs immediately and refund all the fees that participating clubs have already paid.

7.1 More exact oblications for an organizer

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

if walking distance is over 1000 meters the stage organizer must arrange 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 and 250 € from Thursday to Sunday. The final stage will cost maximum 300 € / person;

If extra night / nights are needed an organizer should arrange them with maximum cost 50 € / person / night;

finding prizes for the winning team, the best scorer and the MVP of the stage. The organizer of the final stage will provide also medals for the best three teams of the season;

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

There can be maximum eight members in the organizing club for free of charge;

Ensuring that there are enough game balls in the tournament (one ball can be used maximum in four games)

Providing together with another stage organizer of a division the prizes for the winning team and the best scorer of the division to be awarded at the end of the 2nd stage of the division.

8. REFEREES

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

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

6-10 referees are invited by a stage organizer 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 club 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 that team line-ups and athlete identities are following SEGL – Champions League 2022 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 result (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 or by using video assistant referee.

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

European Goalball Club Association 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 Unsporting 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.