EFC Classic Tournament Structure for 16 Teams

Ranking | Tournament format | The group stage | The final stages | Team & player responsibilities | Placement and points | Official schedule

In the European Footvolley Championship (= EFVL Finals) the latest rankings will apply and they are updated right after every EFVL ranking tournament. The winners of this European Footvolley Championship, men and women, are crowned the official European champions of the year.

↕️ RANKING: Men | Women

The European Footvolley Championship for Men is a two stage tournament with 16 teams divided into four groups. The four groups compete separately and the team ranked #1 will advance directly to the quarter final. The teams ranked #2 and #3 will go to an elimination round to decide which teams advance to the quarter finals. There will be a draw to decide the games in the elimination round and a draw to decide the games in the quarter finals. This is explained further down in the document.

Who can play

The twelve best ranked EFVL member nations are invited to participate in the finals (12 teams), in addition to a second team from the host nation (13 teams), the #1 ranked nation (14 teams), the #2 ranked nation (15 teams) and the #3 ranked nation (16 teams).

The maximum number of teams per nation are two teams. If for example the host nation ends up with three teams, they have to give up one spot for another nation. If this rule comes into effect, or a nation is not able to send a team, we will move down the ranking to find the next viable option. If in the days before the tournament a nation has to cancel, the tournament direction can still decide to add a 3rd team of the host nation or to continue with 15 teams for example.

The first team of a nation has priority over a second team. That means if one of the twelve highest ranked nations are not able to send a team, the nation ranked #13 is invited, then #14, then #15 and finally #16. If we are still missing a team in the tournament we start over with nation ranked #4, #5 and so on (not from #1, #2 and #3 since they already have the maximum of two teams in the tournament).

Group seeding

The teams in each group will be fixed according to the latest official EFVL ranking and the snake system.

↕️ RANKING: Men | Women

So the groups will look like this:

Game rules for the group stage

There will be one set to 18 points and the winner must win by a two points difference - with no killer point. Switch sides every 6 points. Each team can have 1 timeout per game. Each timeout is 1 minute. There can also be a medical timeout for a maximum of 3 minutes.

Group tie breakers

The following rules apply if there are tie breakers between one or more teams after the group stage is finished.

1. Match Wins
   Rank by number of wins.
   ⬇️ Move on to the next point if there are still tie breakers

2. Direct Match-Up between Teams
   This tie breaker looks at the match record between tied participants. If two or more teams are equal the team that won the group game they played against each other will rank ahead.
   ⬇️ Move on to the next point if there are still tie breakers

3. Points difference between tied teams in a group
   Total points scored minus total points given up. Points difference applies only between the teams involved in the tie breaker.
   ⬇️ Move on to the next point if there are still tie breakers

4. Points difference between all teams in a group
   Total points scored minus total points given up. Points difference applies to all the teams in the group.
   ⬇️ Move on to the next point if there are still tie breakers

5. Draw
   In the event of still being equal there will be a draw conducted by the tournament administration.

Draw after the group games

After the group stage is finished there will be a double draw. This is done to avoid speculations (i.e. teams losing on purpose in the group games). The winners of each group goes directly to the quarter finals, but the teams ranked #2 and #3 will have to play a round of elimination games (EG in 1 set) to decide which teams advance to the quarter finals.

Game rules for the final stages

There will be best of 3 sets to 18, 18 and 15 points and the winner must win by a two points difference - with NO killer point. Switch sides every 6 points when playing to 18. Switch sides every 5 points when playing to 15. Each team can have 1 timeout per set. Each timeout is 1 minute. There can also be a medical timeout for a maximum of 3 minutes.

Bronze final

The bronze final will only be one set to 18 points and follow the same game rules as in the group stage.

Every team & player is responsible for:

1. Showing up to the tournament in time.

2. Attending the technical meeting.

3. Showing up to the games according to the official schedule.

4. Checking the official schedule for potential changes.

5. Playing in the shirts and shorts handed out by the tournament administration.

   • If no shorts are provided the teams are responsible for playing in identical shorts in exact same color.

6. Appoint a team captain or team leader. This is the person that will participate in the coin toss, ask for time-out and talk to the referee during the games. Read more about Team leader in our official rules.

7. Knowing the “Official Footvolley Rules” and abide by them.

8. Behaving respectfully and courteously in the spirit of FAIR PLAY, not only towards the referees, but also towards other officials, the opponent, teammates and spectators.

9. Respect the environment and your surroundings. Respect the clean beach policy. Always clean up all your garbage and put it in the designated containers.

10. Always behave in accordance with the principles of dignity, integrity, loyalty and responsibility in all relations of a competitive, economic, social and moral nature.

11. There shall be no discrimination on the basis of race, sex, ethnic origin, religion, philosophical or political opinion, marital status or other grounds. No practice constituting any form of physical, moral or mental injury will be tolerated. Any form of harassment, be it physical, mental, moral, professional or sexual is prohibited and will be punished by exclusion.

12. All doping practices, at all levels, are strictly prohibited.

13. Smoking is not allowed inside the stadium or close to the stadium in plain sight.

14. Gambling is prohibited for every participant involved at a footvolley tournament. This in order to avoid match-fixing and gambling addiction.

The European Footvolley Championship hands out double ranking points. However, it is the winners of the European Footvolley Championship (EFVL Finals) that are the official European champions of the year. The ranking points are there to decide the ranking of the teams in the ranking tournaments and in the European Footvolley Championship.

1. Winner of final (1 team): 1st place and 2000 points

2. Loser of final (1 team): 2nd place and 1600 points

3. Winner of bronze final (1 team): 3rd place and 1400 points

4. Loser of bronze final (1 team): 4th place and 1200 points

5. Teams eliminated in quarter finals (4 teams): shared 5th place and 1000 points

6. Teams eliminated in Elimination games (4 teams): shared 9th place and 700 points

7. 4th place in group stage (4 teams): shared 13th place and 500 points

If a nation has more than one team in the tournament, only the team reaching the highest spot will earn points for that nation.

There will be a live schedule available on europeanfootvolley.com. This schedule will show all the games, what time they are played and it will also be updated with live results.

The schedule may be subject to change and every team is responsible for regularly checking the live schedule to see if there have been any changes.