Rules
System of the Tournament
The teams have been split into two groups, A and B, by way of a draw, with three teams in each group. "All-play-all" system will be applied to both groups. Teams get three points for a victory and one point for a draw. The ranking in both groups is determined by:
- total points
- head-to-head results
- goal difference
- goals scored
- decision by lot
Group A: Avoy MU Brno (Czech republic), Merseyside Blind & V.I. Football Club (Great Britain), Brussels 5-a-side Anderlecht (Belgium)
Group B: ÖBSV Select Team (Austria), FC St. Pauli (Germany), Pirsos Thessaloniki (Greece)
Knockout Matches
After all the group games are played, there will be two quarterfinal matches played by the teams in 2nd and 3rd place in both groups. The winners of the quarterfinals will advance to the semifinals against the teams that dominated the group games. At the end of the tournament, three matches will be played for 5th place (defeated quarter-finalists), 3rd place (defeated semifinalists) and the final. If at this stage of the tournament the winner is not decided in a standard time, a penalty shootout will be held immediately to determine the winner.
Playing Time and Rules
The tournament follows the international rules of blind football, published by the IBSA organization for the years 2022-2025. The only two exceptions will be
- the playing time of the matches, which has been set at 2 x 15 minutes, with interruptions only during time-outs, referees’ time-outs, when a player is being treated for injury, substitutions, when a penalty or double penalty is being taken and when a goal has been scored;
- the dimensions of the goals, which are 3 x 2 metres, and goalkeepers’ areas that are adapted to the width of the goals.
Each game will start exactly according to the schedule; there will be a break of max. 10 minutes. When a match finishes, the teams playing the next game can start warming up immediately.
Referees
François Carcouët (France/Czech republic), Michael Piecq (Belgium), Stuart Winton (Great Britain), Christian Jung (Germany), Lukáš Másilko (Czech republic), Ondřej Banovský (Czech republic).
