Rules

Latvian Open 2008 is organized by Kocenu sports club (www.rubene.lv) with cooperation of Vidzeme Olympic centre (www.voc.lv).

 

Tournament takes place from 21. – 24. of august, 2008 in Valmiera and Koceni (distance between arenas about 3km). Games will be held on 2 standard size fields (40x20). Field surface – Gerflor.

Latvian Open will be played in 2 categories – men and women. Registration deadline is July 31, 2008. Applications should be sent to official tournament email: info@latvianopen.com and fee of 250,- EUR (per team) should be paid to:

Beneficary Name: KOCENU SPORTA KLUBS
Registration nr.: 000805440
Bank name: SEB UNIBANKA
Swift: UNLALV2X
IBAN: LV58UNLA0050000150836
Comments: Registration fee (team name)
 

- All games will be 2x15 minutes in length (time being effectively measured). The interval between the first and second period is 3 minutes. No time out allowed in the group matches. There will be time provided for warm ups before each game (~10-15min).

- Players may only participate for one team in whole tournament. Only players listed on the roster submitted to the organizers prior to the tournament are eligible to participate. Teams fielding an ineligible player will automatically forfeit the match and potentially face further sanctions.

- Team lineups are to be submitted to the secretariat 20 minutes prior to the start of the match. Upon completion of the match the captain of each team will review and sign the official game sheet.

- If both teams have similar color game shirts, the team listed as the away team in the official match schedule is obliged to change.

- The organizers retain the right to change the published match schedule. In the event of such a change during the tournament, the organizers will do their best to contact the teams affected, but it is the responsibility of the teams to check the official tournament notification board at both arenas.

- Match penalty 1 leads automatically to suspension until the end of the match in question, match penalty 2 to suspension until the end of the match in question and also for the next match, match penalty 3 leads to the player’s suspension for the remainder of the tournament. For each match penalty suspended player has to pay a penalty fee of 40,- EUR to organizers 20 minutes before his next match, otherwise he is not allowed to continue playing in tournament.

- The maximum waiting time for any team is 5 minutes following the scheduled start of the match, after that the default result will be 0:5. Any team forfeiting two matches due to walkover will be excluded from the tournament and all played matches will be annulled.

- After changing please bring your belongings to the court. The organizers cannot take any responsibility for the loss of personal belongings during the tournament.

- Protests should be delivered to the jury or to the hall secretariat in written form not more than 1 hour after the conclusion of the match being protested. The protest fee is 50,- EUR. In case of the protest being refused, the fee is not refunded. The protest will be reviewed by tournament organizers and their verdict is final.
- Victory in group games gives two points for a win, one point for a tie and none for a loss.
- A tie game in elimination matches will be followed by 5 penalty shots, if needed, penalty sudden-death.
- There is a 30 second timeout allowed to each team in every game.
- Not more than 20 players in each team during whole tournament.

After registration is closed all teams will be divided into groups. Each team will be guaranteed 4 matches. 

1.1. If two or more teams have the same amount of points after the group matches, they will be separated by:

       • The amount of points reached in mutual direct matches,

       • The score difference reached in mutual direct matches,

       • The amount of scored goals.

1.2. Play-offs will start from 1/8 finals. Organisers will announce exact groups and play off schedule 2 weeks prior start of tournament. Winners of 1/8 finals qualify for 1/4 finals. Winners of 1/4 finals qualify for semifinals. Winner of semifinals meet in the finals, but loosers of semifinals play for 3rd place in tournament. Groups and game schedule will be available on tournament webpage www.latvianopen.com.

 

After registration is closed all teams will be divided into groups. Each team will be guaranteed 4 matches. 

2.2. In 1/4finals winner of each group will play against 4place team from other group, 2nd best team in group will face 3rd place team from other group. Winners will qualify for semifinals. Winner of semifinals qualify for final, but loosers will play for 3rd place in tournament. Groups and game schedule will be available on tournament webpage www.latvianopen.com.

 

- All TOP3 teams in both divisions will be awarded by organisers 15 minutes after men's final. 

- The Latvian Open organisers will select winners in the following categories for each division:

   • Best Forward

   • Best Defender

   • Best Goaltender
- Awards for Top scorers in each division will be provided by tournament organisers
- Awards for "Best player of the game" in each match will be provided by tournament organizers.