The AMD™ European Soccer Challenge 08 is an online EA FIFA games tournament and shall consist of two parts: 1) a first phase composed of four successive, but independent, ladders based on the ELO ranking system; 2) a second phase consisting in a single elimination tournament (the "Finals tournament") to be played on June 15th.
The players may register to play in one of the ladders at any point during the registration period (registration is closed two days prior to the end of each ladder):
- AllStar Tournament: April 26 15:00 CET
- Ladder 1: April 26 ~ May 7 (Registration ends on May 5)
- Ladder 2: May 8 ~ May 19 (Registration ends on May 17)
- Ladder 3: May 20 ~ May 31 (Registration ends on May 29 )
- Ladder 4: June 1 ~ June 12 (Registration ends on June 10)
- Finals Tournament: June 15
Gamers from around the world are welcome to join the ladder phase of the tournament.
As the tournament is primarily focused on Euro 2008 fans, the second phase of the tournament shall be restricted to European gamers residing in Europe.
No age restriction is applied other than the minimum age required to purchase the game in the player's country of residence.
On April 26, prior to the opening of the AMD European Soccer Challenge 2008, an invitational AllStar tournament shall take place for 32 top European players. These Top 32 players, selected by a panel of WCG referees, will not be allowed to play in the following "AMD European Soccer Challenge 2008" tournament.
The tournament is to be played using the officially licensed PC version of EA FIFA Soccer 08. All official EA updates to the game are to be installed.
All protests must be made via the protest forum which can be accessed here.
The players are responsible for making sure that their computer and their broadband connection are fully functional for the tournament.
English is the tournament's official language. Support requests made in other languages shall be disregarded.
All time schedules are to be considered in Central European Time (CET).
Following the registration schedules, players may register for one or more ladders. However, the top 4 players at the end of each ladder (should they be European players residing in Europe) shall automatically qualify for the second phase of the tournament and, therefore, they shall not be allowed to join subsequent ladders.
Should a NON-European player win a ladder, he will win the prize to which he is entitled as a ladder winner but he will not be able to play in the second phase of the tournament.
Should one or more of the top 4 players of each ladder not be European, the European player or players following them in the tables shall replace them.
The ladder ranking system is based on the ELO ranking system.
During the course of each ladder, you may not play against the same opponent more than twice.
Should two players be tied at the end of a match, extra time is to be played. Should they still be tied after extra time, penalty kicks are to be taken until there is a winner.
The second phase of the tournament (aka the "Finals tournament") shall take place on June 15th.
The tournament is a single elimination tournament.
Top 4 European players of each ladder are allowed to play in this phase.
The first player to win two out of three games against his opponent wins the match.
The exact schedule of each match shall be determined by a referee on the forum.
Should a player be more than 15 minutes late for his match, he shall lose the match (his opponent moves on to the next round).
After 90 minutes, if the game ends in a draw, extra time of twice 15 minutes shall be played. If the score is level after extra time, penalty kicks shall be taken to determine the winner of each game.
To determine which player has the right to host the first game and the possible third game, the following criteria shall be adopted: the player with the highest ranking in the ladder shall have the right to host. Should this be the same, then the player that played in the previous ladder will have the right to host the first game. Therefore, for example, if the player that arrived 4th at the end of "Ladder 2" has to play against the player that arrived 4th at the end of "Ladder 3", the "Ladder 2" player will have the right to host the first game.
Difficulty Level = World Class (with the PadPatcher enabling it)
Keeper Level = World Class (with the PadPatcher enabling it)
Half Length = 6 minutes
Injuries = OFF
Offside = ON
Bookings = ON
Radar = Any
Camera = Any
Time/Score Display = ON
Game Speed = Fast
Power-up Speed = Default
Home/Away Auto Switching = ZERO or 1
Passes and crosses = Manual
Every player must pay extreme attention to the following:
1) Players must kick-off with a backward pass at the beginning of each half and after every goal is scored.
2) Players are not allowed to shoot the ball directly onto the bar from a corner kick in order to get a chance for a header when the ball rebounds.
3) it is not allowed to score a goal from one's own half of the field.
4) It is forbidden to make a throw in directly into the opponent's penalty area. Should a player throw the ball directly into the opponent's penalty area he shall be warned. Should he persist, he shall be disqualified from the tournament. Any goals resulting from a throw in into the opponent's penalty area shall be disallowed.
5) Should a goal be scored against you as a direct result of a throw in into the penalty area, you are allowed to file a protest after the match has been completed. For a protest to be valid, the Demorec or the Fifa replay of the action that lead to the goal is mandatory. If a referee confirms the wrongdoing the goal(s) will not be considered and the offending player shall be sanctioned.
In any case, a goal scored due to the use of a "forbidden move" shall be disallowed.
Should a player persist in playing with forbidden moves, he may be disqualified from the tournament.
All complaints shall be dealt with after the match has been completed
The official licensed "FIFA Soccer 08" product must be used together with all the official patches released by EA.
The abilities of the teams and players cannot be modified in any way.
Players on both sides must use the latest version of the "PadPatcher" to set difficulty level and the game speed as required by the "game settings".
In the first phase of the tournament, should a disconnection occur, the player responsible for the disconnection (for whatever reason) shall be debited with a loss.
In the second phase of the tournament, should a disconnection occur, each case shall be evaluated separately.
It is recommended that you turn off all P2P programs while playing.
If the opponent's game cannot be seen, connect using Direct IP mode. (The IP is displayed in the GamOn window).
If you are behind a router, port forwarding must be enabled to play in the tournament. To learn more about how to setup port forwarding for your router, visit the excellent port forwarding guides page at Port Forward. Find your router and then follow the guide for FIFA 2007.
Upon discovery of any player committing any violations regarded as unfair play, that player may be warned, sanctioned with a loss or, in worst cases, disqualified from the tournament.
During the course of the tournament, the operations staff and/or referee may determine other actions to be considered "unfair play" issuing a warning or a direct disqualification.
Use of foul or offensive language in the chatting area of GamOn lobby will lead to automatic disqualification.
Any form of "cheating" (to be determined case by case by the referees) shall lead to automatic disqualification from the tournament.
In any case, two warnings shall lead to the disqualification from the tournament.
If deemed necessary by the organizing staff, the "AMD European Soccer Challenge 2008" rules are subject to modification without prior notice.
EA and FIFA is not affiliated with AMD European Soccer Challenge 08. EA and FIFA does not sponsor, endorse, approve or have any responsibility for this promotion.
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