1 General Rules
1.1 Rule Changes
The Tournament administration reserves the right to amend, remove, or otherwise
change the rules outlined in this Rulebook, without further notice. The Tournament
administration also reserves the right to make a judgment on cases that are not
specifically supported, or detailed in this Rulebook, or to make judgments that even
go against this Rulebook in extreme cases, to preserve fair play and sportsmanship.
1.2 Validity of the Rules
If any provision of the Rulebook shall be invalid or impracticable in whole or in part
this shall not affect the validity of the remaining part of this Rulebook. In lieu of the
invalid or impracticable provision, an appropriate provision shall apply which is
nearest to the intent of to what would have been the intention in keeping with the
meaning and purpose of the Rulebook.
1.3 Confidentiality
The content of protests, support tickets, discussions or any other correspondence
with Tournament officials and administrators are deemed strictly confidential. The
publication of such material is prohibited without a prior written consent from the
tournament administration.
1.4.1 Code of Conduct
All Teams and Players agree to behave in an appropriate and respectful manner
towards other Teams and Players, spectators, the press, the broadcast team,
tournament officials, and Tournament administration. Being role models is the
occupational hazard of being a Player or organizer and we should behave accordingly. Any sort of harassment should be reported to the official Tournament
administrators immediately. Harassment includes but is not limited to
● offensive statements or actions related to gender, gender identity and
expression, age, sexual orientation, disability,
● physical appearance, body size, race, religion.
● also considered harassment are things like sexual images in public spaces,
deliberate intimidation, stalking, following,
● harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other
events, inappropriate physical contact and
● unwelcome sexual attention.
Similar restrictions apply not only to the Teams and Players, but every single person
involved with or present at a stage of the Tournament. Anyone breaking this code of
conduct may be punished, including expulsion and possibly criminal prosecution.
1.4.2 Prohibited Substances and Methods
1.4.2.1 Doping
1.4.2.1.1 Refusing to be tested
Refusing to be tested in case testing needs to be carried out is considered doping.
Punishments will be the same as for severe cases of substance abuse.
1.4.2.1.2 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods
The List of Prohibited Substances and Methods created by the World Anti-Doping
Agency (WADA) is valid for the Tournament. The list can be found here:
http://esl.pm/prohibitedlist
1.4.2.1.3 Prescribed medication
If Players have an active prescription for a substance on the WADA list, they must
send proof to the Tournament administration before the first day of the Tournament.
They may still be subject to a doping test, but a positive result for the prescribed
substance will be disregarded.
1.4.2.1.4 Categories of Doping
Mild cases of doping will be punished with a warning and possibly minor penalty
points for the participant. Severe cases (i.e. use of drugs containing performance-
enhancing substances, like Adderall) will be punished with higher penalties such as
a ban for the Player and (a) default loss(es), as well as possibly disqualification of the Team.
Repeated cases of doping by the same Player will be punished harder, up to a
lifetime ban for the Player.
Repeated cases of doping on the same Team (but by a different Player) will also be
punished harder for the Team.
Repeated cases of doping by the same Player on the same Team will be punished
harder for both the Team and the Player.
If a player is found guilty of a severe case of doping only after the last match of the
tournament has already been over for at least 24 hours, the player will still get a ban,
but the tournament result will remain in place and there are no consequences for the
team. Mild cases will not be punished at all, after that time.
1.4.2.2 Alcohol or other psychoactive drugs
To play a match, be it online or offline, under the influence of alcohol or other
psychoactive drugs, even if not among the punishable substances, is strictly
prohibited, and may lead to severe punishment. Moderate consumption of alcohol
outside the active tournament hours for a participant is permitted if not in conflict with
local/national law.
1.5 Additional Agreements
The Tournament administration is not responsible for any additional agreements, nor
do they agree to enforce any such agreements made between individual Players or
Teams. The Tournament administration highly discourages such agreements taking
place, and such agreements that are contradicting the Tournament Rulebook are
under no circumstances allowed.
1.6 Match Broadcasting
1.6.1 Rights
All broadcasting rights of the Tournament are owned by the tournament organizers. This includes but is not limited to: Video streams, TV broadcasts, GoTV, shout-cast streams, replays, demos or live score bots.
1.6.1.1 Waving these rights
Waving these rights is not possible. No one except the tournament organizer owns all broadcasting rights to the tournament.
1.6.2 Teams Responsibility
Teams cannot refuse to have their matches broadcast by TE Cup-authorized broadcasts, nor can they choose in what manner the match will be broadcast. The broadcast can only be rejected by the Tournament administration. The Teams agree to make sufficient accommodation so that broadcasting of matches can take place.
1.7 Communication
1.7.1 E-Mail
The main official communication method of the Tournament is email, the Tournament will use the email that has been provided by the user/team at the time of registration of the team, and therefore this email address should always be kept updated and checked regularly so that no important announcements are missed.
1.8 Conditions of Participation in the Tournament:
The following conditions must be met in order to participate in the Tournament.
1.8.1 Age Restriction
All Players participating in the Tournament have to be over 14 years of age. If the player is less than 14 years of age, then a parental written approval letter is to be submitted to the tournament organizer before participating in the Grand Finale.
1.8.2 Home Country/Region
A player's home country is the country where his main place of residence is. The tournament is open for minimum 3 players resident and residing in India.
1.8.3 Residence/Nationality and Number of Players in a Team
The Team roster can hold a maximum of five Players. Minimum three team members need to be residents of India and be residing in India at the time of participating in the tournament.
Each qualified team for Online Finale has the option to replace one player from their registered team by informing the tournament organizer in advance.
1.8.4 Game Accounts
Every Player must have their own SteamID with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in order to play in the tournament and must submit it during registration. The same cannot be changed once a tournament has begun.
1.8.5 Team Names
The participating team’s name may not have any extensions such as “CS team”.
1.8.6 Changes on the Team Accounts
Any changes in the Team account should be approved by the Tournament administration before the changes are allowed to take place.
• Adding or removing Players
• Changing the Team name
• Changing the Team logo
If a Team is for any reason unable to compete any more in the Tournament and is removed before the replacement deadline, the next best possible replacement team will be given the available slot by the tournament organizer.
1.9 Replacement Deadline
Replacements will only be entered into the Tournament stages until a reasonable time before the beginning of that stage. If by then no replacement could be found, the stage may start with one less participant instead.
1.10 Prize Distribution Ceremony Attendance
Each team has to ensure that the entire team of 5 players are present for the prize distribution. In case a team fails to attend the prize distribution as a whole, their tournament prizes may be forfeited by the tournament organizer.
1.11 Match Start
1.11.1 Punctuality
All matches in the Tournament should start as stated on the website, no changes to the time can be requested. All Teams and Players in a match should be on the server or in the game lobby and ready to go at the latest 15 minutes before the match is to start.
1.11.1.1 Request a new game server or lobby
Teams must report game/server issues no later than five (5) minutes before the scheduled start time of the match. Failure to do so will forfeit a Team’s right to request a game server change at the Tournament administration’s discretion.
1.11.2 Delaying the Match
Match starts are absolute unless changes have been confirmed by the Tournament administration. Not starting a match as scheduled will result in penalties. After 10 minutes of now show or unable to start the match, the team in question is considered as no show.
1.11.3 No show
If a Team is not ready to play 10 minutes after the official match starting time, the Team will be considered as no show and will receive a default loss and will be disqualified from the Tournament.
1.12 Match Protests
1.12.1 Definition
A protest is for problems that affect the match outcome; a protest may even be filed during a match for things like incorrect server settings and other related issues. A protest is the official communication between the Teams and the Tournament administration and can be filed to the tournament organizer over email.
1.12.2 Match Protest Rules
1.12.2.1 Deadline for Match Protests
The latest time that Teams are allowed to issue a match protest is the earliest of the three following:
• 6 hours after the scheduled starting time of the match and before 24 hours.
• The beginning of the next match for either of the two Teams (a minimum of 10 minutes has to be kept between two matches by all Teams)
1.12.2.2 Contents of a Match Protest
The protest must contain detailed info about why the protest was filed, how the discrepancy came to be and when the discrepancy occurred. A protest may be declined if proper documentation is not presented. A simple “they are cheaters” will not do.
1.12.2.3 Behaviour in Match Protests like Insults and flaming are strictly prohibited and may result in penalties or the protest being ruled against the insulting party.
1.13.1 .stop Function
If a Player has a problem that prevents him from playing on, he is allowed to use the pause function, by issuing a .stop, which the other team must agree to. The round will be reset to the beginning of the round. The .stop function must be used only if no kills have taken place in the said round. If no reason is given, the opponent may choose not to stop the game and continue playing.
Calling a .stop without sufficient reason may lead to consequences for the team.
1.13.2 .pause Function
Every team can take up to 4 pauses of 30 seconds each as tac. timeout.
1.14 Interviews
For every game that is broadcasted, one Player from each Team (preferably the captain) must be available for an over-the-phone or Skype interview in case required by the tournament organizers. The Team must provide contact information via the team sheet for an interview in that case. In addition to this, players may also be required for interviews with members of Press and/or of tournament organizers throughout the tournament. On Main Event, organisers are allowed to take interview with any member of the team.
1.15 Entry Restrictions
Teams and players should not have any financial interest in the success of any team that they are competing against. To participate in the tournament, players and teams are required to affirm that they have no business entanglement (including, but not limited to, shared management, shared ownership of entities, licensing, and loans) with any other participating team or its players. If teams or players have an agreement or business arrangement that may be of concern, then please reach out to the tournament officials for further discussion.
It means, that an organization can only have 1 team participating in the tournament for the game.