1. Overview

The PS4 Tournaments: FIFA 20 Challenger Series (“FIFA20CS” or “Competition”) is operated by Turtle Entertainment (alternatively “ESL” or “Tournament Organizer).   

The FIFA20CS is a video game competition conducted using EA Sports FIFA 20 (“FIFA 20”) for the PlayStation®4 console (“PS4”). FIFA20CS will have 3 Stages (“Stage 1”, “Stage 2”, “Stage 3”) of online tournaments with differing prizes for each stage. 

PS4 Tournaments is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, EA Sports

2. Player Eligibility

2.1 Registration and acceptance of official rules
Participants must sign up for FIFA20CS using the integrated tournament app on the PS4 (“Tournament App”) or the ESL Play landing page to be considered for eligibility.  Participants who meet  the eligibility requirements in the Player Eligibility section below (individually a “Player” or “competitor” or “Participant”) must also (1) own or have access to FIFA 20 on the PS4; (2) own or have access to a PS4 and compatible controller; (3) have a valid account for PlayStation Network (“Account for PSN”) and an associated PSN ID; (4) have a valid subscription to an active PlayStation Plus membership; (5) be residents of an applicable jurisdiction as outlined in Appendix B.   
Player must link their Account for PSN to their ESL account on the Tournament App or on the ESL Play tournament hub page. Player must read the FIFA20CS ruleset and relevant privacy policies, including the ESL privacy policy, and agree to these rules before entering the tournament. Once a Player has registered, they are considered for eligibility for the entire FIFA20CS, as outlined in Section 3. Competition Structure

2.2 Age
Players must be eligible to play FIFA 20 according to their local age restrictions, at the point of tournament registration, as outlined in Appendix B: Countries & Age. 


2.3 Employees & Conflicts of Interests
Employees of ESL, Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (“PlayStation”), EA Sports (alternatively “Publisher”) and its respective affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, advertising, promotion and publicity agencies, and the immediate family members or persons living in the same household of such employee are not eligible to participate in the competition.

3. Competition Structure 

The FIFA20CS will be run in the following regions:

• Europe

• North America

• South America

• Middle East

• Asia

• Japan (Not in Asian)

The full list of countries per region is available in Appendix B: Countries & Age

The Tournament Series is a tournament ladder that sets players of similar skill level to play with and against each other. Players qualify and advance through stages within the season.

Each tier yields different rewards and caters to different skill levels in order to keep a level playing field. Rewards vary from game to game and the prizes value increases in each successive stage.

Players qualify and advance through stages within the season. Each stage is an individual tournament, and each stage tournament qualifies for the next stage tournament.

Each season lasts for 2 months and consists of 3 skill stages:

• Stage 1: Player’s starting point. Swiss system, 4 rounds, players with score 4-0 and 3-1 advance into the next stage. Digital rewards.

• Stage 2: Only accessible by those who qualified from Stage 1. Single elimination, top 16 advances to the next stage. Digital rewards.

• Stage 3: Only accessible by those who qualified from Stage 2. Double elimination, major rewards both digital, cash prizing, and event qualification.

Player eligibility resets every season. Players who qualified for Stage 2 or 3 in previous seasons need to qualify again through Stage 1 in the current season.

3.1 Stage 1

Registration
All players who did not yet qualify for Stage 2 or Stage 3 are eligible to participate in Stage 1 tournaments.

Tournament Format Details

• Mode: 1on1

• Random player seeding

• Tournament system: Swiss*

• Number of rounds: 4

• No eliminations

*Swiss is a cup system where you won't get kicked out of a Swiss cup after your first loss, you will stay in the Swiss cup until a certain loss-threshold has been reached or the cup has finished. Every Swiss cup has a fixed amount of rounds. In every round you will be matched against opponents of your skill group, based on the current player score (for example, players who have a 1-1 score face others with the same score). A ranking will be shown at the end of the cup based on the points of every contestant's performance.

3.2 Stage 2

Registration

Players who qualify from Stage 1 will be invited to the upcoming Stage 2 tournaments from the current season. Invited players will be able to see their invitation via email and in their PS4 Notifications. Invited players need to sign-up and check-in to the eligible tournaments in order to participate. Players who qualify to Stage 3 are unable to participate in upcoming Stage 2 tournaments from the current season

Tournament Format Details

• Mode: 1on1

• Random player seeding

• Tournament system: Single Elimination

3.3 Stage 3

Registration

Players who qualify from Stage 2 will be invited to the upcoming Stage 3 tournaments from the current season. Invited players will be able to see their invitation via email and in their PS4 Notifications. Invited players need to sign-up and check-in to the eligible tournaments in order to participate.

Tournament Format Details

• Mode: 1on1

• Random player seeding

• Tournament system: Double Elimination

• Final: Double Grand Final

3.4 Match Rules

Match start time

All matches are played on the scheduled match time. To see the match schedule, access to the match event page in your PS4 by going to My Events.

Joining your game lobby

1. Access the match event page (you will be able to see it in the “My Events” tab)

2. Click "Join Now" option

3. The result will be automatically submitted at the end of the match

Match details

• Game mode: Head to Head 1on1 (not FUT)

• Match duration: 12 minutes (6 minutes per half)

• Controls: Any

• Game Speed: Normal

• Squad Type: Online

• In case of draw: Golden goal match

No show

Each player has 10 minutes to show up to a match. (scheduled match start time +10 minutes). Not showing up within 10 minutes results in a default loss. The player that is waiting must create a Support Ticket (which is available in the match event page).

Results

Results are automatically submitted by the system at the end of the match.

Disconnection

• In the event of a player disconnect that player will forfeit the entire game, not just a round. It will be the responsibility of the player that got disconnected to connect to his opponent within 5 minutes

Match Disputes

• If any issues are encountered in a match, it’s the players responsibility to create a dispute and reach out to the admin team.

• In order to create a dispute, go to the match page in your PS4 and select the option “Go to Support Page”

• Players are responsible for providing proof of match results in case of disputes. This can be done with screenshots of each victory or video replays uploaded to website such as Youtube or Twitch.

3.5 Match Media

The following match media are acceptable forms of proof during match reporting and protests:

• Twitch livestream VODs (with clear naming of the players, selected fighters, date, tournament round)

• Screenshots (or photographs) showing both players and the result/issue

4. Prizing

4.1 Prizing breakdown per season

The following prizes for the tournament series will be distributed to the Players based on their finishing position/point of exit from the tournament series as stated below:
 
(1) Stage 1

The first 100.000 (read: one hundred thousand) players in each region that finish a Stage 1 tournament winning at least 3 out of 4 matches, are eligible for one digital prize in form of a “FIFA 20 PS4 Theme”

Starting with Season 3 the first winners of Stage 1 in the season earn 1-month PS Plus

• North America: First 4,000 players earn 1-month PS Plus

• Europe: First 8,000 players earn 1-month PS Plus

• Middle East: First 6,000 players earn 1-month PS Plus

• South America: N/A

• Asia: N/A

• Japan: N/A

 (2) Stage 2

One digital code for PlayStation 4 FIFA 20 In-game Currency worth:

• 1st place – 4,600 FIFA Points = 39.99 USD

• 2nd place – 2,200 FIFA Points = 19.99 USD

• 3rd & 4th place – 1,600 FIFA Points = 14.99 USD

• 5th – 8th place – 1050 FIFA Points = 9.99 USD

• 9th – 16th – 500 FIFA Points = 4.99 USD

Starting with Season 3 there will be additional prize money worth:

• 1st place: $100 USD cash or equivalent in local currency

• 2nd place: $75 USD cash or equivalent in local currency

• 3rd and 4th place: $40 USD cash or equivalent in local currency

• 5th to 8th place: $20 USD cash or equivalent in local currency

• 9th to 16th place: $10 USD cash or equivalent in local currency

• 17th to 32nd place: $5 USD cash or equivalent in local currency

 (3) Stage 3 

 One digital code for PlayStation 4 FIFA 20 In-game Currency/ Prize money worth: 

• 1st place - $1,000USD cash or equivalent in local currency* + 12,000 FIFA Points = 99.99 USD

• 2nd place - $750USD cash or equivalent in local currency + 12,000 FIFA Points = 99.99 USD

• 3rd & 4th place - $400USD cash or equivalent local currency + 4,600 FIFA Points = 39.99 USD

• 5th – 8th place - $200USD cash or equivalent local currency + 2,200 FIFA Points = 19.99 USD

• 9th – 16th place – 1,600 FIFA Points = 14.99 USD

Special Additional Stage 3 Prizing for European Region (not Middle East)

Europe Region FIFA 20 Challenger Series Season 1 – Grand prize for the Stage 3 winner to include 2 tickets + flights + accommodation for a Champions League match of their choice, from the Knockout stage (Ro16, March)

Europe Region FIFA 20 Challenger Series Season 2 - Grand prize for the Stage 3 winner to include 2 tickets + flights + accommodation for a Champions League match of their choice, from the Knockout stage (Ro16, March)

Europe Region FIFA 20 Challenger Series Season 3 - Grand prize for the Stage 3 winner to include 2 tickets + flights + accommodation for the Champions League Final match in Istanbul, May 30th 2020.

Japan Specific Prizing 

(1) Stage 1

The first 100.000 (read: one hundred thousand) players in each region that finish a Stage 1 tournament winning at least 3 out of 4 matches, are eligible for one digital prize in form of a “FIFA 20 PS4 Theme”

 (2) Stage 2

One digital code for PlayStation 4 FIFA 20 In-game Currency worth:

• 1st place – 1050 FIFA Points = 9.99 USD

• 2nd place – 500 FIFA Points = 4.99 USD

 (3) Stage 3 

 One digital code for PlayStation 4 FIFA 20 In-game Currency worth: 

• 1st place – 2,200 FIFA Points = 19.99 USD

• 2nd place – 1,600 FIFA Points = 14.99 USD

• 3rd & 4th place – 1050 FIFA Points = 9.99 USD

• 5th – 8th place – 500 FIFA Points = 4.99 USD

4.2 Prizing Terms and Conditions

Prizes are not transferable.  No substitution of Prizes for other goods and services is permitted, except ESL reserves the right to provide a substitute Prize of approximately equal value if the advertised prize is unavailable. All expenses not specified above, including, without limitation, all federal, state and local taxes, and international tariffs, are the sole responsibility of the individual Winner.

 Receiving a prize is contingent upon compliance with these Official Rules; all prizes claimed in accordance with these Official Rules will be awarded. In the event that a potential winner is disqualified, or the prize is forfeited for any reason, ESL will award the applicable prize, time permitting given the nature of the prize, to the next eligible runner-up Competitor.  Only 3 alternate runner-up winners will be chosen, after which the tournament organiser retains the discretion to donate the applicable prize to a charity of ESL’s choosing. Potential winners may be required to provide a shipping address to claim prize. Allow up to 3 months for delivery of prizes.

5. Game Coverage

PlayStation reserves exclusive right to the coverage of PS4 Challenger Series matches. This includes all forms of transmission, including IRC Bots, Shoutcast-streams, live broadcasts on platforms like Twitch, Youtube and the likes. PlayStation can assign the coverage rights of a match or of several matches to a third party or to the actual players themselves. In this case, terms and conditions would have to be arranged with PlayStation management, or ESL as tournament organizer, before the match.

In general, PlayStation or ESL as tournament organizer, will contact any player or team if they wish to broadcast one of their matches. If no contact is made, individual players are allowed to arrange their own broadcasts.

6. General Terms 

Participants’ personal information will be subject to ESL’s Privacy and Cookie Policy, available at for the purposes listed therein. Furthermore, Participants’ personal information will be processed for the purpose of organizing, running and monitoring the Competition and prize fulfilment, including, if Participant wins a prize, publishing (i) their name on the Winner(s) List and (ii) their name and country of residence online or in any other media in connection with the Competition.

Personal information will be processed in the United Kingdom or any other country in which, ESL, its subsidiaries, or third party agents operate. By entering the Competition, you consent that your personal information may be transferred to recipients in the United States and other countries that may not offer the same level of privacy protection as the laws in your country of residence or citizenship.

Participants have the right to access, withdraw, and correct their personal information.

By participating in this Competition, each Participant further agrees:

(a) (To the extent permissible by law) assumes sole liability for injuries, including personal injuries and/or damage to property, caused or claimed to be caused by participating in any tournament or acceptance, possession, or use of any award; and
 
(b) To the extent allowable under applicable law and, in Australia, subject to and without excluding, restricting or modifying any rights or remedies to which the participant may be entitled as a consumer under the consumer guarantee provisions of the Australian Consumer Law in relation to the operation of the Competition and any prize won, to release and hold harmless ESL and its agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss, damage, right, claim or action of any kind arising from or in connection with this Competitions or any Competition-related activity or the receipt, possession, use or misuse of any prize won, except for residents of the United Kingdom and France with respect to claims resulting from death or personal injury arising from the Tournament organizer's negligence and for residents of the United Kingdom with respect to claims resulting from the tort of deceit or any other liabilities that may not be excluded by law; 

By participating in this Competition, each Participant acknowledges: (1) In regard to the Prize and any other products or services given by Tournament Organizer and its affiliates free of charge, Tournament Organizer shall only be liable for intent and gross negligence. (2) In all other cases, the Tournament Organizer shall only be liable to cases of intent and gross negligence. In case of slight negligence, however, Tournament Organizer is only liable for the breach of essential contractual obligations, such as delay or impossibility of performance, which Tournament Organizer can be made responsible for. The liability in the event of breach of such an essential contractual obligation is limited to the typical contractual damage, whose occurrence could be expected by Tournament Organizer upon conclusion of the contract on account of the circumstances known at that time. “Essential contractual obligations” as previously stated are those obligations whose fulfilment is essential to enable the proper implementation of the contract and the achievement of its purpose and whose observation you as an end consumer may rely upon. The foregoing limitations of liability shall not apply in the case of explicit guarantees by Tournament Organizer, in case of malice and injuries to life, body or health as well as in the case of mandatory statutory regulations.

(c) That the tournament organiser’s decisions will be final and binding on all matters related to this Competition;
 
(d) The Competition is governed by the laws of the State of California and all claims must be resolved in the United States.

Nothing in these Official Rules shall have the effect to deprive you of the consumer protection rights granted to you by the laws of your residence that cannot be derogated from by agreement.

(e) The Tournament Organiser reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Competition, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Competition, as determined by Tournament Organizer in its sole discretion. If terminated, Tournament Organizer may, in its sole discretion, determine the winners from among all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of such action using the judging procedure outlined above.  Tournament Organizer, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Competition or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or those of any other Competition, or the PlayStation Network Terms of Service and Users Agreement,  or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and void all associated entries.  Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Competition may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Tournament Organizer reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys’ fees) from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Tournament Organizer’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

(f) By accepting any of the prizes, you acknowledge and agree that the Tournament Organiser and its designees have the right to use the below information and any other information provided in the FIFA20CS in the administration, marketing, and promotion of the FIFA20CS, without further consent or compensation to you, unless otherwise noted below:

Background info: Full name, country of residency, age, platform, persona (including PSN ID), likeness
Social Media info: Twitter handle and Twitch account (if applicable)
 

(G) THE PLAYERS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GIVING AND TAKING BRIBES ARE ILLEGAL.  THE TOURNAMENT ORGANIZER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY, AT ITS SOLE DISCRETION, ANY PARTICIPANT THAT IS INVOLVED WITH ANY ILLEGAL ACTIONS.
Nothing in these Official Rules shall be deemed to exclude or restrict any of the Winner’s or the Entrant’s statutory rights as a consumer. 

Commercial Rights.

All commercial rights (including without limitation any and all marketing and media rights) relating to the FIFA20CS belong to Tournament Organizer and its licensors.
Participant shall not associate themselves with the FIFA20CS, ESL, EA Sports, or PlayStation in any commercial manner, nor use any intellectual property rights of those parties, nor shall they permit any third parties to do so, without the prior written consent of Tournament Organizer or the applicable rights holders, which consent may be granted or withheld in each of their sole discretion.
Any Participant or Participant ad sponsor wishing to carry out or facilitate any promotional or marketing activities with respect to the FIFA20CS, will need prior written consent from Tournament Organizer or from the respective rights holders, which may be granted or withheld in each of their sole discretion.
The recording and dissemination of images or footage of the FIFA20CS for commercial purposes by or on behalf of Participant is strictly prohibited. 
 

“PlayStation” and “PS4” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

    Appendix A: Code of Conduct

The below Code of Conduct applies to all Players in the FIFA20CS at all levels of the competition unless otherwise specified.  The tournament organiser reserves the right to levy penalties, sanction or disqualify any player at its discretion.

PLAYER BEHAVIOR
Competitor must conduct themselves in a reasonable manner, maintaining an appropriate demeanour to spectators, members of the press, tournament administrators, and to other Players.  These requirements apply to both offline and online, including with respect to social media conduct and activity on live streams.  All Players are expected to adhere to these standards of sportsmanship.  

DURING THE TOURNAMENT: 
Players must conduct themselves in a reasonable manner, maintaining an appropriate demeanour to spectators, members of the press, tournament administrators, and to other Players. These requirements apply to both offline and online, including with respect to social media conduct. All players are expected to adhere to the standards of good sportsmanship at all times.
Players will refrain from using vulgar or offensive language.
Abusive behaviour, including harassment and threats is prohibited.
Physical abuse, fighting or any threatening action or threatening language, directed at any Player, spectator, official or any other person is prohibited.
Any action that interferes with play of a game, including but not limited to purposely breaking a game station, interfering with power, and abuse of in-game pausing, is prohibited and can result in match forfeiture and/or disqualification from the competition.
Gambling, including betting on the outcome of games, is prohibited.
All Players must not disclose any confidential information provided by the tournament organiser or any of its affiliates to any other people or groups of people, including via social media.

COLLUSION POLICY
Collusion is defined as any agreement among two or more Players to disadvantage other Players in the Competition. Collusion between Players is strictly prohibited. Any Players determined by the tournament organiser at any phase of the FIFA20CS to be engaging in Collusion will be removed from the competition, be forced to return any compensation and prizes they’ve received from Live Events.

Examples of collusion include, but are not limited to:

Intentionally losing a match for any reason.
Playing on behalf of another competitor, including using a secondary account, to aid them.
Any form of match-fixing.
Agreeing to split prize money.

PENALTIES
Violation of any part of these Official Rules will, at the Tournament organiser's election, result in (a) sanction(s) and/or (b) loss of winner status. All Players must follow the tournament organiser's directions. All decisions and rulings of the tournament organiser are final and binding. The Tournament organiser reserves the right to sanction any Player in competition at any level, at any time for any reason. Sanctions may include, in no particular order, the following:
 

Warning
Reprimand
Forfeiture of single match
Forfeiture of all matches
Loss of awards (including prize money and other paid expenses)
Disqualification from the FIFA20CS
 

The tournament organiser also has the right to publicly announce penalties that have been levied on Players. Players who have been penalized by the tournament organizer hereby waive any right of legal action against the FIFA20CS and PlayStation, and/or any of its affiliates.

PLAYER SPONSORSHIP
Players in the FIFA20CS have the ability to acquire ad sponsors. Ad sponsorship acquisition is limited, however, to exclude certain categories and industries. If the ad sponsor falls under the below limited categories, then the ad sponsorship may not be displayed by the Player in conjunction with or during the FIFA20CS. Tournament Organizer and its designees reserve the right to update the below list at any time. The following is a nonexclusive list of prohibited ad sponsors:

Gambling or gambling websites
Alcohol, Tobacco, and/or Non-“over-the-counter” Drugs
Firearms or any type of weapons
Pornographic or adult material
Products or services from direct competitors of PlayStation, its partners, and its other subsidiary brands
Direct competitors of PlayStation
 
Tournament Organizer reserves the right to prohibit any third party at their sole discretion.

    Appendix B: Countries & Age

“PlayStation” and “PS4” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.