I. Guidelines and regulations
EntriesThe
Champions’ Cup is the world championship for clubs. Each association enters its
champion, while some highly-ranked associations are permitted to enter additional teams.
The
Globe Cup is a competition between clubs which fell short of qualifying for the Champions’ Cup, joined by those which are eliminated from the Champions’ Cup over the course of the season. Each association may enter
three teams.
The
Series B Champions’ Cup is a competition for the top teams in second-division leagues. Each association may enter
three teams from outside its top-flight championship. Teams which competed for the association’s first-division championship during a season are not eligible to qualify for the Series B Champions’ Cup; if your league has only one tier, it may not enter teams in the Series B Champions’ Cup.
The
Super Cup is an end-of-season competition between the winners of the Champions’ Cup, Globe Cup, and Series B Champions’ Cup.
The
Youth Cup is a competition for under-19 teams. Each association may enter its
youth champion. The youth teams of the clubs which advance to the group stage of the Champions’ Cup also participate in the Youth Cup.
Entries to these competitions may be posted at any time in the
International Domestic Soccer NewsWires thread. The following format should be used for entries:
Samplestan (XYZ) qualifiers
Champions’ Cup: Sampleville United
Globe Cup: Sampleville City, Sampleville Wanderers, Sampleville Athletic
Series B Champions’ Cup: AFC Sampleville, Sampleville Rovers, FC United of Sampleville
Youth Cup: Sampleville Orient
It is important that the heading be in this exact format, with your nation name, a trigram in parentheses, and the word “qualifiers”. List your entries in the order of their qualifying position, with the highest-placed teams first; these teams will enter the competition in later rounds. You may include entries to other, non-UICA competitions in the same box, as long as they are listed
after the entries for UICA competitions.
A deadline for entry to each season of UICA competition will be posted at least one week in advance. All entries posted between the start of the previous season and the deadline will be accepted. After the deadline has passed, results of the competitions will be posted roughly twice a day.
You may enter
no more than two of your nations in UICA competitions in a single season (with one
complex exception). When entering a puppet nation, please declare the master nation it is in your entries box, with a line under the heading like “Puppet of Samplestan.”
Additional entry informationTo be eligible to enter UICA competitions, a club must have qualified on sporting merit within the last two seasons. This means that once you have entered teams for one season, you may enter those same teams a second time if you have not completed another league season before the deadline for entries, but you may not use these same entries for three consecutive seasons.
A club must only enter the highest UICA competition for which it qualifies: a club which qualifies for the Globe Cup may not enter the Series B Champions’ Cup, and a club which qualifies for the Champions’ Cup may not enter the Globe Cup or Series B Champions’ Cup. However, a club which enters one of the three senior competitions may also enter the Youth Cup.
The clubs entering UICA competitions must each be independently-operated entities, with the exception that a club entering the Series B Champions’ Cup may be subsidiary to a club entering the Champions’ Cup or Globe Cup.
Along with your entries, you may also post bids to host the finals of one of UICA’s three main competitions, as long as your nation has entered teams at least once before. To bid, you must say which competition you are bidding for—the Champions’ Cup, the Globe Cup, or the Series B Champions’ Cup—and the name of the stadium, the city in which it is located, its capacity, and some descriptive information. All this information should be in a box like this:
Samplestan (XYZ) final site bids
Champions’ Cup: Old Sample, Sampleville (capacity 76,000)
Old Sample is the largest stadium in Samplestan, and is home to 1093-time Samplestan Premier League champions Sampleville United. It is popularly known as “The Theatre of Samples.”
Again, it is important that the heading be in this exact format, with your nation name, a trigram in parentheses, and the phrase “final site bid(s)”.
For the Champions’ Cup final, it is required that the stadium seat at least 60 000; for the Globe Cup, 40 000; and for the Series B Champions’ Cup, 25 000. The site of the Series B Champions’ Cup final will also host the semifinals and final of the Youth Cup, as part of a combined week-long event.
If a stadium name includes a reference to a commercial sponsor, the bid should include an alternative name which does not. If no such name is provided, UICA will invent one for its own use.
The site of each final will be chosen at random, with a bias towards bids with detailed descriptive information.
Occasionally, bids will also be accepted for a commercial sponsor for UICA competitions, known as a UICA Partner. Instructions for these bids will be posted in the NewsWires thread at the conclusion of a UICA season.
Competition formatThe three main competitions consist of a series of preliminary rounds, a playoff round, a qualifying round (only in the Globe Cup), a group stage, and a series of knockout rounds culminating in a final at a neutral site. All rounds prior to the final are played home and away. Teams from the same association may not be drawn against each other prior to the quarter-finals.
For home-and-away ties, if the aggregate score is level, the following criteria decide which team advances:
- higher number of goals scored away from home,
- extra time,
- higher number of goals scored away from home after extra time,
- kicks from the penalty mark.
In a group stage, three points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. If two or more teams finish with the same number of points, the following criteria decide their ranking:
- higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question,
- superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question,
- higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question,
- higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question,
- superior goal difference,
- higher number of goals scored,
- higher number of goals scored away from home,
- higher number of wins,
- higher number of wins away from home,
- lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points),
- Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup: higher club coëfficient ranking,
- Series B Champions’ Cup and Youth Cup: drawing of lots,
- Super Cup: kicks from the penalty mark.
In the Super Cup, only criteria 1, 5, 6, and 11c apply.
Champions’ CupThe preliminary and play-off rounds are divided into two paths. The champions of each association play in the champions’ path, while the runners-up of associations 4–32, third-placed teams of associations 4–6, and fourth-placed teams of associations 1–3 play in the non-champions’ path. Teams’ starting rounds are determined according to their association coëfficients, while the draws for each round up to the group stage are seeded according to club coëfficients. All teams eliminated in the preliminary and play-off rounds enter the next round of the Globe Cup. Eight champions and eight non-champions advance from the playoff round to the group stage, while the titleholder, the champions of associations ranked 1–12, and the runners-up of associations ranked 1–3 qualify directly for the group stage, which consists of eight groups of four. Seeding for the group stage is determined by club coëfficient, except that the titleholder and the champions of the top seven associations are seeded in pot 1. The top two teams in each group advance to the eighth-finals, while the third-placed teams enter the Globe Cup sixteenth-finals. Group winners play the second leg at home in the first knockout round. Open draws are used for the quarter-finals onward.
Globe CupTeams’ starting rounds are determined according to their qualifying place and association coëfficient. The draws for each round up to the group stage are seeded according to club coëfficients. Thirty-two teams advance from the qualifying round to the group stage, while the first-seeded teams of associations 1–12 and second-seeded teams of associations 1–3 qualify directly for the group stage, which consists of twelve groups of four. The top two teams in each group advance to the sixteenth-finals, joined by the eight third-placed teams from the Champions’ Cup group stage. Group winners and the top four third-placed teams from the Champions’ Cup group stage play the second leg at home in the sixteenth-finals. Open draws are used for the eighth-finals onward.
Series B Champions’ CupTeams’ starting rounds are determined according to their qualifying place and association coëfficient. Thirty-two teams advance from the play-off round to the group stage, which consists of eight groups of four. The top two teams in each group advance to the eighth-finals, with group winners playing the second leg at home. In all other rounds, no seeding is used; the only draw restriction is that teams from the same association may not play each other prior to the quarter-finals.
Super CupThe three teams play a single round-robin, with the Globe Cup winner hosting the Series B Champions’ Cup winner first, followed by the Series B Champions’ Cup winner hosting the Champions’ Cup winner, and finally the Champions’ Cup winner hosting the Globe Cup winner. If any two or all three teams remain tied after the three matches, kicks from the penalty mark will be played after the final match.
Youth CupThe Youth Cup is divided into two paths. The clubs which qualify for the Champions’ Cup group stage play in the Champions’ Cup path, which is a group stage using the same groups and schedule as the Champions’ Cup group stage. The youth champions (exculding any which are in the Champions’ Cup path) play in the youth champions’ path, which consists of a series of home-and-away knockout rounds. In the play-off round, the eight group runners-up from the Champions’ Cup path play the eight winners from youth champions’ path, with the youth champions playing the single match at home. In the eighth-finals, the eight group winners from the Champions’ Cup path play the eight winners from the play-off round, with the venue for the single match decided by the draw. The quarter-finals use an open draw, again with the venue for the single match decided by the draw. Both semi-finals and the final are played at a neutral site, which is the same site as for the Series B Champions’ Cup final. Extra time is not used at any stage of the competition; drawn knockout ties are decided by kicks from the penalty mark.
Squad rulesIn all competitions except the Youth Cup, each team may register up to twenty-five players on List A, of which at least two must be goalkeepers, and an unlimited number of players aged 21 or under at the start of the UICA season on List B. List A may be freely amended between each round up to and including the group stage, and between the final and the Super Cup. It may be also amended with up to three changes between the group stage and first knockout round. Additionally, subject to UICA approval, a goalkeeper on List A who suffers a long-term injury or illness may be replaced at any time. List B may be amended at any time.
In the Youth Cup, players may be freely registered before each match. All players must be aged 19 or under at the start of the UICA season, except that up to three players aged 20 at the start of the season may be registered. Any player who plays in three or more matches in the Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup during a season becomes ineligible to participate in the Youth Cup for the rest of the season.
No player may play in the Champions’ Cup, Globe Cup, and Series B Champions’ Cup for more than one club during a season.
The equivalent age of non-human players for the purpose of these regulations is determined by UICA after consultation with the associations concerned.
Multiassociational leaguesA multiassociational league is a unified competition between teams from two or more associations which determines their qualification for UICA competitions on a collective basis. It may be a first-division league, determining Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup qualification; a second-division league, determining Series B Champions’ Cup qualification; a youth league, determining Youth Cup qualification; or may include all of these.
A multiassociational league may have no more than two primary associations. A single user may have all of his associations entering UICA competition in a single multiassociational league, in which case two of his/her associations may be primary associations. Alternatively, a user may enter one association separately from a multiassociational league, in which case only one of his/her associations in the multiassociational league may be a primary association.
The one or two primary associations may contribute their places in UICA competition to the multiassociational league as long as the primary associations have the opportunity to compete for all of their own places. This means that there can be no rule guaranteeing any number of places for non-primary associations, and a primary association must have at least as many teams in the league as it has UICA places.
For primary associations ranked 33 and below, the Champions’ Cup place may only be taken by the champion (highest-placed team) of an association; it cannot go to a second team from an association which already has a Champions’ Cup entry. For primary associations ranked 13–32, the same rule applies to one of their two places. For primary associations ranked 1–12, all but one place must be reserved for teams from that specific association. For primary associations ranked 1–32, one Champions’ Cup place may be taken by any team which earns it, champion or not.
No association may enter more than four teams in the Globe Cup (unless granted an extra place due to titleholder rules) or Series B Champions’ Cup. No association may enter more than one youth champion in the Youth Cup.
When entering teams from a multiassociational league, primary associations should have the phrase “Primary association” written below the heading for their entries. If a primary association is entering fewer teams than it would be entitled to under normal rules, then the names of the teams from that association which would have qualified under normal rules must be added to the entry list, in square brackets, to aid in verification that the entry complies with multiassociational league rules. For example, consider the following league, in which Jasĭyun is entitled to three Champions’ Cup places and Capitalizt SLANI to two:
Élite League One
1 Yuba United COM
2 Carter FC JSY
3 Chorion Bluffs Knights COM
4 Jamaica Giants JSY
5 Kagoshima Phoenix COM
6 Medoria Löwen COM
7 Sonoma Center Panthers COM
8 Árgos LP COM
9 Griffin Zebras JSY
10 Sokojiwa Dosi CK COM
11 CF Aéropag ACF
12 Forest Hill FC JSY
13 Afton FC JSY
14 Yûpo CCK JSY
15 Qidade Savana JSY
16 San Diego Iguanas COM
Élite League Two
1 New Haverford Albion JSY
2 Lisda Lokado Goji Salamjĭ JSY
3 Washington Tigers COM
4 High Mountain Buffalo JSY
5 Sokojito Dosi Gyulhabdwen COM
6 South Coast United JSY
7 Sokojito Dosi Dalamjwijĭ JSY
8 Dûsanto Mojaikĭjĭ JSY
9 Kitsilano Konquerors COM
10 Noka Mariners JSY
11 Heidelstadt Falken JSY
12 Cordubovica Falcons COM
13 Natestadt Nationalisten COM
14 KQ Sirto COM
15 St Raphael B’ing Bishops JSY
16 Scarab Inferno COM
The entries for this league would look like this:
Jasĭyun (JSY) qualifiers
Primary association.
Champions’ Cup: Carter FC, Jamaica Giants, [Griffin Zebras]
Globe Cup: Griffin Zebras, [Forest Hill FC, Afton FC, Yûpo CCK]
Series B Champions’ Cup: New Haverford Albion, Lisda Lokado Goji Salamjĭ, High Mountain Buffalo, South Coast United
Capitalizt SLANI (COM) qualifiers
Primary association. Puppet of Jasĭyun.
Champions’ Cup: Yuba United, Chorion Bluffs Knights, Kagsohima Phoenix
Globe Cup: Medoria Löwen, Sonoma Center Panthers, Árgos LP, Sokojiwa Dosi CK
Series B Champions’ Cup: Washington Tigers, Sokojito Dosi Gyulhabdwen, [Kitsilano Konquerors]
Association francophone (ACF) qualifiers
Additional puppet of Jasĭyun.
Globe Cup: CF Aéropag
Note that a total of six distinct clubs appear in Jasĭyun’s Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup entries, since it was entitled to three Champions’ Cup and three Globe Cup places, and that Griffin Zebras appears twice, as a hypothetical entrant for the Champions’ Cup and an actual entrant for the Globe Cup.
Coëfficient rankingThe association coëfficient is used to determine the number of places allocated in the Champions’ Cup, and the starting round of teams in the Champions’ Cup, Globe Cup, and Series B Champions’ Cup. It is also used to calculate the scorinator ranking points for all teams. The club coëfficient is used to seed teams in the draws for the Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup up to and including the group stage, and as a tiebreaker in the group stage if teams are tied on all sporting criteria.
A club receives two points for each win and one point for each draw in Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup matches from the group stage onward. Matches played prior to the group stage only count toward the association’s coëfficient. Matches played in the Series B Champions’ Cup, Super Cup, and Youth Cup do not count toward either coëfficient.
Clubs eliminated from the Globe Cup in the antepenultimate preliminary round receive 0.2 points; clubs eliminated in the penultimate preliminary round receive 0.4 points; in the ultimate preliminary round, 0.8 points; in the play-off round, 1.2 points; and in the qualifying round, 1.6 points.
In addition to points earned from matches played, clubs participating in the Globe Cup group stage receive two bonus points and clubs in the Champions’ Cup group stage receive four bonus points. Clubs which advance to the Champions’ Cup eighth-finals receive four additional points, and clubs which reach the quarter-finals, semi-finals, or final of either competition receive one bonus point for each round.
Furthermore, every club receives 20% of its association’s coëfficient, including any club not listed in the ranking.
An association’s coëfficient is based upon the sum of its clubs’ coëfficients. In addition, the association receives one point for each win and one-half point for each draw by any of its clubs in the preliminary, play-off, and qualifying phases of the Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup. For each season, this sum is divided by the mean of the number of clubs from the association which participated in the Champions’ Cup and Globe Cup, and the number of clubs which the association was entitled to enter. If, because of titleholders or participation in a multiassociational league, an association entered more clubs than it would ordinarily be entitled to, the sum will be divided by the number of clubs which it actually entered.
Associations and clubs are ranked according to the sum of their coëfficient points over the last five seasons. In the event that two or more associations or clubs are tied on total coëfficient points, the tie will first be broken according to points earned in the most recent season, followed by the second most recent season,
et cetera.
Medals, trophies & UICA StarForty gold medals are presented to the club which wins each UICA competition, and forty silver medals to the runner-up. Forty bronze medals are presented to the third-placed club in the Super Cup. Additional medals may not be produced.
The club which wins a UICA competition is entitled to keep the competition’s trophy until two months prior to the next season’s final, at which point it will receive a four-fifths scale replica of the trophy for its permanent collection.
If a club wins a competition three times consecutively or five times in total, it is permanently awarded the trophy, and a new trophy will be created for the next season. The club is also awarded the UICA Star, a special mark of recognition which may be worn by the team on the left shirt sleeve in future matches of the competition in which it was won. Alternatively, a club which is awarded the UICA Star in the Champions’ Cup may integrate the design into its logo, subject to UICA approval. Once a cycle of three consecutive of five total titles has been completed, a club may earn another trophy after starting a new cycle from zero, but no club may be awarded two UICA Stars in the same competition.
At UICA’s discretion, a trophy may be retired and awarded to a club. In this case, the club will not be awarded another trophy when it next completes a cycle of three consecutive or five total titles in that competition.