These rules are necessary for the smooth running of the Tournament. They are reasonable and easy to comply with. It is hoped that all participating teams will abide by the rules to make the tournament as enjoyable and challenging as possible for all teams.
The Cup will be a 48 team group/knockout type competition. The 48 participating teams will be sorted into 8 groups of 6 teams each.
All TOC games will be played under "Cup Rules" challenges.
GROUP STAGE FORMAT
The group stages will consist of 5 games. Each team will play each other once, with venues to be announced by the hosts, taking into consideration the "Flags" each club already has in their "collection". If the game is tied after 90 minutes, the match will continue on to Golden Goal or Penalties. In this case, both teams will receive 1 point each for the Draw with the winner of the game (either via Golden Goal or Penalties), receiving 1 Bonus Point.
32 teams will qualify for the Knockout stage, with the top 4 teams in each group after the five matchdays continuing into the brackets.
In the event that 2 teams have the same number of points at the end of the Group Stage, then the following criteria will be used to select the higher ranked team:
The team with the better goal difference; if this is equal then:
The team that has scored more goals; if this is equal then:
The team that has scored more away goals; if this is equal then:
The team that has conceded fewer goals; if this is equal then:
The team that has conceded fewer goals at home; if this is equal then:
Coin Flip
KNOCKOUT STAGE FORMAT
The Knockout Stage of the Tournament will consist of the Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final.
As in TOC III, there will no 2nd legs in TOC IV.
As per the Group Stage, if a game is tied at 90 minutes, it will proceed to Golden Goal or Penalties with the winner progressing to the next round.
The Quarter-finals will be played by the 8 winners from the Round of 16.
The four QF winners meet in the Semi-finals. The Semis will be played at neutral venues, which will be determined by the teams during the course of the Tournament.
The two winners of the semis meet in the Final, which will be played following the final league matches of the season. The venue for the Final will be announced during the cup.
The winner of the Final will, of course, be declared the CHAMPION!!!
International friendlies can only be organised between Thursday and Tuesday.
ALL games are to be organised under "Cup Rules" (as noted above). Please check this when challenging/accepting challenges. However, if a game is incorrectly organised under "Normal Rules", then the result of the game will be determined at 90 minutes. If the result is a draw at 90 minutes, then both teams will simply get 1 point each (no bonus point).
The HOME team must issue a challenge to the AWAY team, no later than Saturday 14:00 HT Time. The AWAY team must accept this challenge no later than Monday 08.00 HT Time.
In the event that the HOME team has not issued a challenge by the due date and time, the AWAY team must send a HT Mail to TOC Admin. In the event that a challenge has been issued by the HOME team, and the AWAY team has not accepted the challenge by the due date and time, the HOME team must send a HT Mail to TOC Admin.
This is to determine which team should benefit from the Walkover as detailed below.
In order to deter teams from playing their full "A" squad in this tournament, a restriction will apply where only a maximum of 4 players* who played in the team's weekend league match can be selected in the starting 11 for the Tournament games (although other "A" squad players can be listed as substitutes). PLEASE NOTE - Substitutes who are brought on in your team's weekend league match are still eligible to play in the mid-week game. This rule only applies to players listed in the first 11 of your team's league game.
There will be no restriction on which "position" players can be selected (eg. Defenders, Wingers etc). This option will allow the weaker teams a degree of flexibility to ensure that their teams can compete. *select teams may have a different limit imposed by admin due to the strength of their teams. If this is the case, all teams in that group will be notified of the change.
NOTE: Games will be selected at RANDOM to ensure that teams are complying with this rule.However, it is the responsibility of ALL the participating teams to "check out" their opponent's line up either during or after the game.
Remember that teams can have A squad players listed as substitutes. So, if one of your opponent's players suffers an injury, an A squad player can replace him. That means that your opponent could finish the game with more than 4 A squad players on the field. This will not constitute an offence under this rule. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS!!
Teams that have confirmed that their opponent has broken this rule should report it to TOC Admin immediately. If this is not reported to TOC Admin by the following Monday 14.00 HT Time, then no action will be taken against the offending team.
Breaking the above rule will result in the following:
in the first instance, the offending team will be penalised with a 3-0 defeat. However, if the offending team loses the game by more than 3 goals, then the result obtained in the game will stand.
in the second instance, the above will apply. In addition, the offending team will be excluded from the tournament and replaced with another team.
if both teams are guilty, then both will receive Zero (0) points and the above will apply.
In the event a team is excluded from the competition or is replaced once the Tournament has started, the replacement team will be awarded the same number of points as the team coming 3rd in the group, minus 1 point (as long as the replacement team does not get less than zero points).
For example, if, after 3 games, the standings before the replacement are as follows:
Team A - 9 points Team B - 6 points Team C - 3 points Team D - 0 points
and Team B is replaced, then the new standings will be as follows:
Team A - 9 points Team C - 3 points Team R - 2 points (replacement team) Team D - 0 points
This is to give the replacement team some chance of being competitive during the tournament without being unduly unfair on the other teams in the group.
