EFVL Major Tournament Structure for 16 Teams
Ranking | Tournament format | The group stage | The final stages | Team & player responsibilities | Placement and points | Official schedule
The EFVL Major system is a 16 team tournament format in 2 stages (group games and eliminations/finals) with 2 levels of starting positions. The 8 top ranked teams are placed in group A and B and the 8 bottom ranked teams in group C and D. After these group games, there will be a double draw. One for the elimination round and one for the quarter finals. This in order to avoid teams calculating. In the elimination round the two best teams of group C and D will face the two worst teams of group A and B. The winners advance to the quarter finals.
Who can play in an EFVL Major
For the Men, the 15 best ranked EFVL member nations are invited to participate in an EFVL Major (15 Men’s teams), in addition to a second team from the host nation (16 teams).
The first team of a nation has priority over a second team. That means if one of the 15 highest ranked nations are not able to send a team, the nation ranked #16 is invited, then #17 until we reach the end of the ranking. If we are still missing a team in the tournament we start over with nation ranked #1, #2, #3 and so on.
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.
Group seeding
The current EFVL ranking points will decide if you are part of the top level grouping (best 8 nations) or the bottom level grouping (lowest 8 nations). The seeding in the groups will be according to the snake system as shown below:
Group A: #1 #4 #5 #8
Group B: #2 #3 #6 #7
Group C: #9 #12 #13 #16
Group D: #10 #11 #14 #15
Overview of the EFVL Major 1000 system for 16 teams makes sure we have close and entertaining games throughout the whole tournament.
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.
Match Wins
Rank by number of wins.
⬇️ Move on to the next point if there are still tie breakersDirect 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 breakersPoints 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 breakersPoints 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 breakersDraw
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 #1 and #2 of group A and group B go directly to the quarter finals, but the teams ranked #3 and #4 will have to play a round of elimination games against the #1 and #2 of group C and group D to decide which teams advance to the quarter finals.
Draw part 1: Elimination round
The teams ranked #3 in group C and group D will go into POT 1. The teams ranked #4 in group C and group D will go into a POT 2.
From POT 1:
EG1. A3 vs Draw C2/D2
EG2. B3 vs Draw C2/D2
From POT 2:
EG3. B4 vs Draw C1/D1
EG4. A4 vs Draw C1/D1
Draw part 2: Quarter finals:
From POT 1:
Winner of Group A plays vs DRAW EG2/EG3
#2 of Group A plays vs DRAW EG2/EG3
From POT 2
Winner of Group B plays vs DRAW EG1/EG4
#2 of Group B plays vs DRAW EG1/EG4
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:
Showing up to the tournament in time.
Attending the technical meeting.
Showing up to the games according to the official schedule.
Checking the official schedule for potential changes.
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.
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.
Knowing the “Official Footvolley Rules” and abide by them.
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.
Respect the environment and your surroundings. Respect the clean beach policy. Always clean up all your garbage and put it in the designated containers.
Always behave in accordance with the principles of dignity, integrity, loyalty and responsibility in all relations of a competitive, economic, social and moral nature.
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.
All doping practices, at all levels, are strictly prohibited.
Smoking is not allowed inside the stadium or close to the stadium in plain sight.
Gambling is prohibited for every participant involved at a footvolley tournament. This in order to avoid match-fixing and gambling addiction.
En EFVL Major tournament hands out 1000 ranking points.
Winner of final (1 team): 1st place and 1000 points
Loser of final (1 team): 2nd place and 800 points
Winner of bronze final (1 team): 3rd place and 700 points
Loser of bronze final (1 team): 4th place and 600 points
Teams eliminated in quarter finals (4 teams): shared 5th place and 500 points
Teams eliminated in Elimination games (4 teams): shared 9th place and 350 points
3th and 4th place in group C and group D (4 teams): shared 13th place and 250 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.