CANADA CUP SPRING TOURNAMENT

Rules and Regulations


The Canada Cup Tournament shall be open to teams comprised of properly registered youth players (as defined by the rules of the 

affiliated organization) in all age groups listed in the “Tournament Rules”, provided such team is in good standing with its youth association. 
Teams applying to this tournament must, at a minimum play in an Ontario Soccer Regional League, Quebec AA league or equivalent level.

Super Group ( U13 - U17 )  

The tournament management committee will review all team applications and at its sole discretion, will determine the acceptance 

of a team application and the committee’s decision is final.


1.    AGE GROUPS / TOURNAMENT DATES

This tournament is open to teams comprised of players who were born on or after the first day of January in the age groups listed below;

Ø Under 13 – born in the year 2010 or later


Ø Under 14 – born in the year 2009 or later

Ø Under 15 – born in the year 2008 or later


Ø Under 16/17 – born in the year 2007 / 2006 or later


       NOTE 1: The tournament committee reserves the right at its discretion to combine two age groups if registration numbers warrant. 

    TOURNAMENT DATES:

  Friday April 7th ( if required) 

Saturday, April 8th, 

 Sunday, April 9th   

2. ELIGIBILITY:

Teams and players must be registered with their governing body (Provincial, State, or National Association).  Player registration cards, complete with pictures, names, registration numbers and birth year, issued by the team’s governing body Registrar, are required and must be presented to the Tournament Committee at registration and be available for presentation, if and whenever required, to the Field Marshal or other Tournament Official.

All teams will be playing Ontario Soccer Regional leagues, Quebec AA or equivalent level. The Tournament will host a SUPER GROUP of select OPDL and Quebec AAA /PLSJQ teams.

All teams must obtain a Temporary Eligibility Permit (TEP) from their respective District Association for all guest players coming from another Club. 

Teams from outside Ontario must obtain the equivalent TRP document from their respective governing body (if such forms are used in the team’s home jurisdiction). 

Any team playing an ineligible player will forfeit all games where such a player participates or participated by a 3 -0 default score. They will also be reported to their governing body for disciplinary action.

Players may NOT play for more than one team in the tournament unless permission is provided by the tournament director under special circumstances.

3. TRAVEL PERMITS, INSURANCE AND PROOF OF PLAYER/TEAM REGISTRATION

 All teams must prove that they are registered with their District / Provincial / State soccer association and must play in an outdoor League.  In addition, all out-of-district teams (i.e. those teams whose players’ cards or passbooks do not have the individual player registration approval “stamp” or signature from the Eastern Ontario District Soccer Association (EODSA) must produce a Travel Permit from their home soccer association which authorizes that team to compete in the Showcase of Champions and certifies that all players on that team are registered to participate in this Tournament.

 In accordance with the requirements of the Ontario Soccer (OS), validly certified player passports or cards will be the only proof of player registration that will be accepted.  Improperly registered teams or unregistered players will not be permitted to participate.  All teams will also need to provide to a Tournament Official an Official Team Roster that shows the names and birth dates of all players who are members of that team as well as the team’s level-of-play (such as: Premier, Elite, Regional, “AA” etc.) during the regular outdoor season.  

In addition, an copy of the Official Team Roster for the regular outdoor team for each Guest Player, where the roster shows the player’s name and birth date and their regular outdoor team’s level-of-play will need to be provided and verified by Tournament Officials.  All teams are to keep these documents available should they be required during the competition.

Finally, teams must carry and supply proof of injury and liability insurance while participating in this event.

4. GUEST PLAYERS:

Teams may include up to 3 guest players on their roster.
Guest players MUST meet tournament eligibility to participate in the tournament as outlined in Section 3 above.


5. LAWS OF THE GAME:

All matches will be played in accordance with the FIFA Laws of the Game.

6. SUBSTITUTIONS:

6.1. Teams may register up to 20 players on their roster and all 20 players can be on the game sheet and be eligible to play.

 
Substitutions may be made at the following times, with the consent of the Referee:

Ø on any goal kick;

Ø on a team’s own throw-in, or on the opposing team’s throw-in if the team is making a substitution;

Ø after a goal is scored;

Ø at half-time;

Ø  in replacement of an injured player; and

Substitutions will be unlimited in number. Substitutions will not be allowed for a player ejected from the game.

7. POSITION OF TEAMS

Teams (players, Coaches, Managers and other Bench Staff members) for both teams will take up position on the same side of the field but on opposite sides of, and at least ten yards away from, the center line. Players and Coaches (and other Bench Staff members) shall restrict their movements to within ten yards from this starting point going towards the nearest goal line. All spectators will take up position on the opposite side of the field across from their respective team's first-half bench. All players, Bench Staff members and spectators shall remain at least two (2) meters back from the touchline.

8. PLAYING EQUIPMENT & GAME BALLS

Uniforms:

Each team should have two sets of different coloured jerseys. In the event of a conflict of jersey colours, the home team will be required to change. The goaltender’s jersey must be distinct from those of his/her team mates and the opposing team. All players must wear shoes, which conform to the requirements of FIFA Law IV. Shin guards are mandatory for each player.

Game Balls:

 Home team is responsible to provide a size 5 game ball. 

9. GAME SHEET

Each team shall hand the Official Tournament Game Sheet to the Referee prior to start of the game. The Game Sheet will remain with the Referee during the game and will be handed over to the Field Marshal at the end of the game.

10. DISCIPLINE

10.1. The Referee’s decision in matters concerning the application of the Laws of the Game, and the decisions of the Tournament Committee regarding conduct of the tournament shall be final and with no appeal rights.

10.2 All registrant discipline will be dealt with according to the Ontario Soccer (OS) Rules and Regulations under the Discipline-By-Review System. The Tournament Discipline Committee will review the Referee's report and render suspensions as appropriate according to the Ontario Soccer (OS) Rules, Regulations and Standard Penalties for Misconduct.  All discipline not covered by the Ontario Soccer (OS)  Discipline-By-Review System or served in full during the tournament, will be referred to the Eastern Ontario District Soccer Association for further action, which may include referral of the matter to the registrant’s home association for further action.

11. PROTESTS AND DISPUTES

11.1 No protests regarding a Referee’s decision(s)- All Referees’ decisions are final.

 11.2 Protests regarding non-Referee decisions will be permitted.
All Non-Referee protests must be in writing and accompanied with a protest fee of $200 payable in cash or money order. Protest fee will ONLY be refunded if the protest in question is deemed to be valid.
All potentially affected parties will be notified of the protest and each will be permitted to make a presentation (of five minutes maximum duration) to the Tournament Management Committee or Director, which will make a decision on the same day that the protest is filed; its decision will be final and binding.

12. FAILURE TO SHOW

12.1. Failure of a team to appear at the tournament will lead to a forfeiture of the team's entry fee, and reporting of the incident to the Eastern Ontario District Soccer Association for referral to the team’s home association for further action.

12.2. Failure of a team to appear at a game, or to field seven (7) players, within 15 minutes after the game's scheduled kick-off time, will result in a 3 - 0 score being awarded to the opposing team. Should both teams fail to appear or to field seven (7) players, within 15 minutes after the game's scheduled kick-off time, neither team will be awarded points, and both will be shown having a loss, with a 0 - 0 score being recorded. In both instances of game appearance failures (as opposed to a tournament appearance failure), the Tournament Discipline Committee will decide whether the team(s) in question shall be suspended from the remainder of the Tournament.

In no case shall a team that forfeits a game be declared a division winner. The team with the next best record will advance.

13. TOURNAMENT AND MATCH SCHEDULES

The tournament is designed as follows:

Each team will play 3 games – No playoffs

Minimum number of teams at any age/flight is 4; maximum is 8.

Tournament reserves the right to have multiple flights within an age group.

Tournament reserves the right to schedule up to 2 games per day.

14. GAME DURATION:

U13 & U14 -Two x 35 minute halves, no overtime period.

U15 & U17 -Two x 40 minute halves, no overtime period.

      There will be a five-minute half-time break in all games

There will be at least one hour break between games

15. FIELD CHECK-IN TIME AND FIELD AND GAME EQUIPMENT

A.    Teams must arrive at their field 30 minutes prior to the scheduled kick-off.

B.    Players’ numbers MUST be listed on the Team Roster. Players must wear numbers visible on the back of their uniforms and these numbers shall coincide with those listed on the team's official Roster.

C.     Players shall wear shin guards in accordance with FIFA laws.

D.    No metal cleats will be allowed, and no jewelry will be allowed.

E.     Where opposing team’s uniform colors are similar, the designated 
         home team will change colors. The designated home team is    
         listed first on the schedule.

F.     A #5 ball is used for U13 through U17.

G.    Players and coaches of both teams will take the same side of the 
        field. All other supporters / spectators will take the opposite side.


16.  DETERMINATION OF GROUP WINNERS

Standings in a group will be determined by;

Game Points:  3 points for a Win    1 point for a Tie       0 points for a Loss

If Two teams Tie;

Starts with Tie breaker number 1 and proceed through each level as needed to determine a winner.

1.    Head to head competition,

2.    Most Wins,

3.    Net Goal Differential,

4.    Most goals scored 

5.   Penalty Shoot Out* in accordance with FIFA “Taking of Kicks from the Penalty Mark.”

If more than two teams are involved in a tie, tie breaker number 2 (except in the case of example 3) will be used first to rank the teams. If teams are still tied, tie breaker number 3 will be used to rank the teams, and so on until a tie is broken. Once a team has been ranked higher or lower, the tie breaking procedure begins for the remaining tied teams with number
1. If more than two teams are still tied after tie breaker number 5 a coin toss will be held with the odd team sitting out. The other two teams will then take kicks from the mark to establish a winner. The winner of this will then play the team sitting out, (kicks from the mark) the winner will advance. When all teams will advance to the playoff rounds a coin toss, as sequenced above, will decide the team’s seed in lieu of kicks from the mark.

The team whose official tournament name, as written in the schedule, is first alphabetically will call the coin toss.

17. SCORING

• 3 points for a Win    
• 1 point for a Tie      
• 0 points for a Loss  

18. TERMINATED GAMES

Games terminated for violent or uncontrollable situations will not be replayed.

The decision as to the score of such games and whether teams advance will be made by the Tournament Director after receiving reports from game officials. The decision of the Director will be final and is binding on all parties. Further disciplinary actions may be taken.

Games terminated for inclement weather:

No game will be played in an electric storm. Where a storm occurs during a game, play will be immediately suspended until the storm passes. Under no circumstances may teams withdraw from the playing field area, i.e., the parking lots, etc., until the referee has advised that they may do so. If a game is abandoned, the tournament committee will rule on its status, but every attempt must be made to complete the game as scheduled. 
When 50 % or more of the total game time has been played, and play cannot continue, the game will be automatically ruled complete and the score at the time of the game been terminated will stand.

19. REFUND POLICY

Teams that have been accepted by the tournament will not be entitled to any refunds.

20.  CANCELLATION POLICY

Should the tournament be cancelled in its entirety the Tournament Entry Fee will be fully refunded to all participating teams. The tournament Host will not be responsible for other expenses incurred by teams as a part of participating in the tournament including and not limited to Hotels, transportation etc…

 21.  UNFAVOURABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS 


Under normal weather conditions, games are to be played at the scheduled time and location. 

In the event of inclement weather, or facility restrictions due to weather the Tournament Director or official representative(s) will have the authority to:

• Relocate and / or reschedule any game(s);
• Change the duration of any game(s);
• Cancel a game(s);

A game is deemed to be complete if 50% of the game has been played when called off by a game official due to weather or playing conditions or for any other reason as the referee sees fit.

Unless previously advised by the Tournament Convener, teams must appear at the scheduled location on time, regardless of weather conditions.