Rules

eLeague rules

General

By registering, a player accepts these rules. Not having read them does not excuse a breach. The organisers are the Bulgarian Football Union and esports.bg. They may add to the rules. Anything these rules do not cover is decided by the organisers, and that decision is final. Unsportsmanlike conduct toward players, organisers, or the audience can mean removal from the competition.

Qualifiers

Qualifiers are played on the announced dates. While a place is open for entry, the club column shows TBA. The winner is named and chooses a club that has not already been chosen by the winner of an earlier qualifier.

League phase

Fourteen clubs take part. Each club plays every other club once: 13 matches per club, in 13 rounds of 7 matches. A match is a single game (best of one). A win is worth 3 points, a draw 1 point for each club, and a loss 0 points.

Standings

The order is decided as follows:

1) more points from all matches;

2) better results in the head-to-head matches between the clubs on equal points;

3) better goal difference in all matches;

4) more goals scored in all matches;

5) a play-off for the place.

Places 1–4 qualify for the playoffs as seeded clubs. Places 5–8 qualify as unseeded clubs.

Playoffs

The bracket is single elimination. Quarter-finals and semi-finals are first to two wins (best of three). The semi-final winners play the final for first and second place, first to three wins (best of five). The semi-final losers play the third-place match. The champion of Bulgaria represents the country and their club in the eChampions League and in the qualifiers for the FC Pro World Championship.

Prize fund

The prize fund is 6,000 euro: 3,000 for first place, 1,500 for second, 1,000 for third and 500 for fourth.

One championship

There is one championship of 14 clubs. Separate rating divisions, including Icons and Heroes limits used in other championships, are not used.

Kick-off and no-shows

A time in the schedule is the kick-off. A player who is not ready at that time loses the match by a 0:3 forfeit. More than three no-shows removes the player from the competition and may mean disqualification.

Disconnects

After a disconnect the match continues from the score and the time remaining. A player who does not return within 15 minutes, or who cannot continue, loses by a 0:3 forfeit, or by the greater margin if that margin already stood when the disconnect happened.

Conduct

Insults, messages, and any attempt to distract an opponent, including through someone else, are forbidden. Deliberately degrading your own connection or your opponent's connection or gameplay is forbidden.

Reporting

The winner reports the score on the website immediately and attaches a photo of the final score. The score then replaces the match number.

Disputes

A dispute is sent to the organisers. If the score is disputed, they may ask for a recording of the match or a photo of the final screen showing the players and the score. A player who passes the ready screen confirms the match settings and cannot dispute those settings afterwards. A dispute about a squad limit announced by the organisers must be raised before the second half. One raised after that may be left unheard.

Communication

Talk between the players about a match goes through the channel named by the organisers.