LASERFORCE

Official Tournament League Rules

Guidelines For Referees/Selection Of

At least three referees are required for each tournament/league game.

Referee Selection:

There are three possible schemes for the selection of referees:

1) selection based on availability of non-playing candidates
2) selection by mutual consent
3) selection based on constraints set by tournament conditions.

1) Non-playing Candidates

Where sufficient qualified candidates are available, this should be given priority over any other referee selection process. As these referees are not playing in a current tournament/league season, they have no vested interest in the outcome of any game (ie: unbiased).

The Tournament Committee appraises all candidates and selects those most qualified for the job using whatever testing system they see as being fit.

The Tournament Committee will then select a Head Referee. The Tournament Committee can change the Head Referee at any time. For all round robin parts of the draw, all non-playing referees are to be given an equal number of games to judge.

To ensure correct and consistent calls are made during the course of the tournament, the Head Referee must sit in on all post game referee meetings. Depending upon tournament constraints, this may mean the Head Referee will be unavailable to actually referee many games. To this end, the Tournament Committee must ensure the most experienced referee is selected for this job.

Should a Team Captain believe his/her team has been unfairly penalised, or a poor judgement was made by one of the referees during a game, or they wish to request for the game to be re-played, that captain may air his/her grievance with the Head Referee. The Head Referee must then meet with all referees involved in the game in which the incident occurred and discuss the grievance. If the Head Referee believes the call was poor, the penalty must be rescinded. If the Head Referee believes the penalty was just, he/she must inform the Team Captain of that fact and the reason(s) why. The Team Captain can appeal this decision to the Tournament Committee, should he/she still believe the penalty should be rescinded. The Tournament Committees decision is final.

The Head Referee can, at any time, reduce the amount of games a referee can adjudge, or ban them from refereeing altogether, but must be able to justify his/her reasons to the Tournament Committee. These reasons may include, but are not limited to,

- poor decisions made by said referee,
- consistent bad field positioning by said referee,
- failure to follow guidelines set by the Tournament Committee or Head Referee,
- passing strategies and team structures learnt on field to opposing teams.


The Captain of any team involved in the current league mission may veto any referee. If referees are continually vetoed to the point where it seems the minimum number is unlikely to be found, the Duty Manager shall select the referees, and the Captains have no power of veto.

In this scheme, the referees are representing the integrity of their centre, not a playing team, and must therefore be fully neutral in all aspects. Referees should never take into account team allegiances, friendships, or personalities. As these people have the opportunity to view all aspects of games in motion, they should never divulge any game strategies or team make-ups to opposition teams. Referees are, however, free to interact with players and other referees off field during the course of the tournament. Referees should refrain from viewing monitors (on or off field) during or at the conclusion of any game they are adjudicating, and should never take into account final scores or possible outcomes of games when deciding penalties. Of utmost importance, referees must ensure fair play, and therefore a good time for all players involved.


2) Mutual Consent

In this scheme, each captain is responsible for the selection of an equal number of referees and must inform the duty manager of his/her choice. The Duty Manager will choose any extra referees if required. The captains may veto any referee. If referees are continually vetoed to the point where it seems unlikely that the minimum will be found, the Duty Manager shall select the referees, and the captains have no right of veto.

3) Competition Constraints

Some competition formats will make referee selection by either of the above methods impractical. For example, a three-team competition may require the non-playing team to act as referees. Under these circumstances, referee selection should be accomplished by a method determined by the tournament committee.

 

Penalty Resolution

There are two systems that can be used for imposing penalties:

a) Referee moderated
or
b) Player moderated


a) Referee moderated

After each game, the referees should meet away from the players to discuss any infringements they believe they have seen. After deliberation, any penalties that the majority of referees believe to be genuine are automatically imposed.

b) Player moderated

After each game, the referees should meet away from the players to discuss any infringements they believe they have seen. One at a time, the team captains (or their representatives) may then present a listing of their grievances. If the referees saw the alleged offence and believe it to be genuine, they may impose a penalty. Penalties marked with a star (*) may be imposed by the referees without protest.
 

Tournament Committee

A Tournament Committee shall be formed at the start of any league season for any grade of league or tournament. The committee shall consist of:
i. The Captain of each team in that grade/tournament,
ii. The Tournament Coordinator for that grade and season.

Captains may appeal against any decision made by the referees to the Tournament Committee.
 

Code of Conduct

A referees job is to ensure fair play and therefore a good time is maintained during the course of a league match. However, a referee is simply an observer, and should endeavour to minimise the effect their presence has on the game being played around them. Once stationary, a referee is considered to be an immobile part of the field, and therefore players cannot ask a referee to move, but must move around them.

Referees will often have to move around to be able to keep an eye on the action. However, it is important that they do not disturb the flow of the mission. Simply put, when players are nearby, the referee should restrict their movement unless necessary. If movement is necessary, it should be carefully considered to avoid interrupting player’s movement or aim.

All referees must carry a battlesuit pin with them into the league mission. If a player is injured or has a serious suit malfunction, that player should be pinned. While the player is unpinned, he/she should be considered fair game as long as no rules are breached.

If a referee notices a player acting in such a manner that the referee considers to be in breach of the rules, the referee may elect to issue an in-game warning to the player. The warning should be brief, to the point, and should only be issued if the referees movement and speech will not interfere with the flow of the mission. If such a warning is given and the player does not correct his/her playing style, he/she becomes liable to have the penalty imposed again. This applies for each subsequent in-game warning as well. Should the player move to a different position on the field, or adjusts his/her suit and infringe the rule again, it is to be viewed as if the player has had an opportunity to adjust his/her playing style and the player can be penalised again without warning, even if the infringement occurs in the same place as a previous rule violation.