EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

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ITSF RULES OF TABLE SOCCER

EUROPEAN

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Version 2021

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CONTENT :

GENERAL INFORMATION: .............................................................................................. 3

ITSF LEAGUE REQUIREMENTS: ..................................................................................... 4

ITSF TEAM QUOTAS: ....................................................................................................... 5

ECL QUALIFYING PERIOD: ............................................................................................. 6

“1 PLAYER, 1 CLUB”: ........................................................................................................ 6

PLAYER REQUIREMENTS: ............................................................................................... 7

All Male players willing to participate in the Men ECL: ................................. 7

All Female players willing to participate in the Women ECL: ..................... 7

Player Transfers & General requirements: ....................................................... 7

CHEATING: ......................................................................................................................... 8

FORMAT OF PLAY: ........................................................................................................... 8

TABLE CHOICE: ................................................................................................................ 8

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GENERAL INFORMATION:

 Each ITSF Member is having the right to send one or more teams (depending on their

quotas) to take part in the ECL in case they meet the ITSF League requirements.

 If a country is temporally having more than one member associations accepted in ITSF:

- In case there are two teams that are qualified for the men / women ECL due to fitting

the minimum number of teams criteria for a wild card team - each association should hold

a National League and have the right to send the winning team to the women / men ECL

(2 teams send);

- In case there is one team that is qualified for the men / women ECL due to not fitting

the minimum number of team criteria for a wild card team, each association should hold

a National League and the winners of the team league competitions should play additional

qualifications until one team is elected. The format of play is to be determined by the ITSF

mediator responsible for the corresponding country.

*Note: No women player can take part in the men ECL and no men can take part in the women

ECL. Regulations for the National level / National leagues are decided by each national

federation.

is a team competition held

once per season – in November or December. It is played in two categories

separately – Men* and Women*.

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ITSF LEAGUE REQUIREMENTS:

Each ITSF member is required to fit the following criteria before being able to send a team to

the ECL:

- Organize a National League or championship event at least once so that a team is

nominated. This event should be confirmed by the Sport Commission (and the

Federation Assessment Commission in case there are more than two ITSF members from

a country);

- All players taking part in the National League Event should be ITSF Licensed players

only;

- The National League should have at least 4 clubs taking part in the event;

- The results of the National Competition should be announced within 3 days of its

completion and minimum two months before the ECL. It should be communicated

publicly – on the website, official pages or web platforms, emails etc.; The announcement

should include as a minimum:

o Names of the participating clubs and teams

o List with all the players that participated

o Official info package or tournament information

o Final results of the game

o Photos of the event

o Any additional information

- The National League should be announced officially at least one month before the

event takes place;

- All European federations must publish their qualifying league if they have one. Each

Qualifying League is the highest league organized by the ITSF Member Federation.

- If the winner of the National League is not able to participate in the ECL it should

announce it at least three weeks before the date of the ECL. Then, the federation can

send the next ranked team (the runners-up).

In case some of the ISTF members are not fitting the necessary criteria for participation, their

case will be revised by the Sport Commission.

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ITSF TEAM QUOTAS:

 Each ITSF Regular member federations can send teams to participate in the ECL as

follows:

 Associate member federations can send teams to participate in the ECL only after

approval by the ITSF federation assessment commission.

 In addition to this the defending champions are qualified as well.

MEN:

o ITSF Members which have at least 6 teams in their National Leagues can send

1 qualified team;

o ITSF Members which have at least 16 teams in their National Leagues can

send 2 qualified teams;

WOMEN:

o ITSF Members which have at least 4 teams in their National Leagues can send

1 qualified team;

o ITSF Members which have at least 8 teams in their National Leagues can send

2 qualified teams.

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ECL QUALIFYING PERIOD:

“1 PLAYER, 1 CLUB”:

Players cannot represent a club in the ECL if they have played for another club in one of the

Qualifying Leagues during the ECL Qualifying period.

A player who plays in more than one qualifying league is "outlawed" regarding the ECL and

leads to the ECL disqualification of the clubs with which he/she has played. The player will have

to face Disciplinary Committee and can be suspended.

EXCEPTION: Women players can play for both a Men and Women National Leagues (on

national level) if so allowed by the National Member Federation. However, no women players

will be allowed to compete for the Men ECL teams.

All ECL Qualifying League events must be held and announced publicly between

January 1st of the ECL Season and two months before the date of the ECL.

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PLAYER REQUIREMENTS:

Only player member of an ITSF National Federation, or players with at least one year’s residence

in that country, having a public national league, can play the European Champions League. (Not

applicable for Non-European Players).

All Male players willing to participate in the Men ECL:

1. Their national federation, or the country where their residence has been for more than one

year, is organizing a Public National League during the ECL Qualifying period.

2. They are not allowed to play in any National League for any other club during the ECL

Qualifying period.

All Female players willing to participate in the Women ECL:

1. Their national federation, or the country where their residence has been for more than one

year, is organizing a Public National League* in the season of the ECL.

2. They are not allowed to play in any National League for any other club during the ECL

Qualifying period.

Player Transfers & General requirements:

The decision if players (who are not playing ECL) are allowed to play in different national

leagues is under the responsibility of each single National Federation.

* The Public National League can be either men, women or mixed. Women players are

allowed to play ONLY women ECL and cannot play for the men ECL.

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CHEATING:

In case an ITSF Member is submitting false or corrupted information and it is verified by ITSF, it

will be sanctioned in correspondence with the penalty ruling decided by ITSF.

FORMAT OF PLAY:

 Same format as the one used at the 2019 World Cup in Spain

 Same format for both Men & Women teams

TABLE CHOICE:

Each team is obliged to choose 1 table (only one for the whole tournament) form the official

ITSF tables for the corresponding season of the ECL. In case an ITSF member has the right to

send more than one teams, they can choose different tables.

6 + 3 reserve players