SESF Standards Regarding the Organization of Esport Competitions #

Preamble #

At the SESF, we believe that Esport should take place in a fair environment, implying amongst other elements, a safe atmosphere free from any discrimination, free from corruption and, which ensure fair-play from all the stakeholders, integrity, and respect between all involved parties.

In order to establish this safe environment, we decided to provide players, organizers, referees and every party involved in Esport competition with a corpus of basic rules, (the SESF Standards) meant to be applied during Esport related events, and Esport competitions.

Those rules govern inter alia the conduct of the participants, the organization of the referee system, and its procedure. We expect this regulation to be respected by our members.

Besides, to help reach this goal we also intend to offer a basic training for referees, ensuring that Esport in Switzerland and beyond adheres to certain standards.

This effort is in line with the one initiated at a more global level by, notably, the ESIC, which aim at preserving the integrity of Esport. Hence, those standards are inspired from the different codes developed by the ESIC.

Part I — Generalities #

Article 1: Scope and application #

1. The SESF Standards apply to all parties involved in an Esport competition (hereinafter participant). All parties are deemed to have agreed:
   • a) That it is, their personal responsibility to familiarize themselves with the requirements contained in this document.
   • b) To submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Referee present at the event regarding any matters that come under the present regulation.
2. All parties are bound by and required to comply with this regulation during the whole event, as well as later for matters that are linked to the said event, but in any case, no more than 3 months after the said event, starting from the following day of the day the event ended.
3. Without prejudice of 1.a) and 1.b), the members of the SESF, in concert with the organizer of the event, are responsible for promoting awareness and education amongst all parties regarding the present document.
4. It is acknowledged that certain participants may also be subject to other rules of Members that govern, discipline, and/or conduct, and that the same conduct of such participants may implicate not only the SESF Standards, but also such other rules that may apply. For the avoidance of any doubt, all parties acknowledge and agree that:
   • a) the SESF Standards are not intended to limit the responsibilities of any participant under such other rules; and
   • b) nothing in such other rules shall be capable of removing, superseding or amending in any way the jurisdiction of the Referee to determine matters properly arising pursuant to the SESF Standards.

Article 2: Confidentiality #

1. Discussions, content of protests, support tickets or any other internal document as well as reports written by Referees are deemed strictly confidential.
2. It is prohibited to make such material public without the permission of the SESF Referee Commission.

Part II — Organization of the Referee system #

Article 3: Principles #

In order to achieve the goals laid down in the preamble, it is necessary that the organization of the referee system during an Esport competition prevents situations which could lead to an arbitrary decision.

Article 4: Referee System #

1. The Referee system comprises 3 levels of decision, the Admins, the Referee Panel and the Referee Commission of the SESF (Referees).
2. The organizer of the competition is responsible for the establishment and the appointment of Admins, except for the representatives of the SESF.
   • a) The SESF can help the organizer in this task.

Article 5: Transparency and reporting obligation #

1. Admins shall communicate to a SESF Referee all non-contractual benefits, for example gift, payment, hospitality, etc. when those benefits aim at getting them to do something that could harm the reputation of the event, another player or another participant.
2. In any case, Admins must disclose any benefits which exceed a value of 200.-, that are non-contractual, that are not from family, and that are not part of a competition.
3. Admins must also disclose to a SESF Referee any approach or invitation to engage in corruption that they receive.
4. Admins must also report to a SESF Referee any incident, fact or matter that comes to his attention which may evidence some sort of corruption.
5. These declarations will be treated by the SESF Referee with all the confidentiality that is required by the situation, the law is reserved¹.
6. All these obligations apply mutatis mutandis to SESF Referees, they should however report directly to the Referee Commission.

Article 6: Conflict of interest and independence #

1. Referees shall be independent at any time.
   • a) Independence is assessed in light of the situation.
   • b) In particular, but not exclusively, attention shall be paid to commercial relations, contractual relations, employer-employee relations, etc.
2. Referees shall resign when a conflict of interest arises during a competition.
   • a) In particular, Referees shall not be appointed when their team or ex-team, their family, etc. is a participant in the competition.

Article 7: Admins #

1. Admins are the first level of decision. They supervise the event and act as referees during rounds or matches of the competition.
2. One Admin is responsible for a match.
3. One Admin shall be elected to sit in the Referee Panel.

Article 8: SESF Referee #

1. SESF Referees are referees specifically trained by the SESF.
   • a) They supervise the event from an educational point of view, hence they are in charge of making participants sensible to all issues regarding the present regulation in particular issues related to corruption, cheating, harassment, discrimination, etc.
     • i) In accordance with the organizer, a basic training can be provided to all participants.
2. At least 2 SESF Referees shall supervise a competition.
3. SESF Referees sit in the Referee Panel.

Article 9: Referee Panel #

1. The Referee Panel is the second level of decision.
2. The Referee Panel is comprised of 1 representative of the Admins and 2 SESF Referees.
3. The Referee Panel takes a decision, if a decision made by an Admin is contested.

Article 10: SESF Referee Commission #

1. The decisions made by the Referee Panel can be appealed to the SESF Referee Commission.
2. The Referee Commission is chosen by the SESF.

Part III — Conduct of the participant #

Article 11: General conduct #

1. Every participant of the competition must show a spirit of fair play and respect towards all other participants². In particular, but not exclusively, discriminatory, sexist, defamatory, offensive, vulgar, obscene behaviours will not be tolerated in any circumstances.
   • a) In addition, any behaviour affecting the smooth running of the tournament, damaging others’ property (it also includes, for example, participant’s accommodation, as well as the journey to the event), or any unsportsmanlike conduct, can result, depending on the gravity, in the immediate disqualification of the player or the team.
   • b) Remains also reserved any legal action that could be taken according to Swiss law.

Article 12: Names, nicknames and aliases #

1. In the case a team’s name or a player’s nickname is offensive, the organizer reserves the right to change it. Depending on the circumstances the team or the player can be prohibited from partaking in the event.
2. Also, names and nicknames violating other rights, as for example protected trademarks (without permission), personality rights, etc. are prohibited.
3. Alternative or wrong spelling in order to circumvent 1) and 2) are also forbidden.

Article 13: Transparency and reporting obligation #

1. Players and player support personnel shall communicate to a SESF Referee all non-contractual benefits as for example gift, payment, hospitality, etc. When those benefits aim at getting them to do something that could harm the reputation of the event, another player or another participant.
2. In any case, Players and player support personnel must disclose any benefits which exceed a value of 200.-, that are non-contractual, that are not from family, and that are not part of a competition.
3. Players and player support personnel must also disclose any approaches or invitation to engage in corruption received by him.
4. Players and player support personnel must also report to a SESF Referee any incident, fact or matter that comes to his attention which may evidence some sort of corruption.
5. Those declarations will be treated by the SESF with all the confidentiality that is required by the situation, Swiss law is reserved³.

Article 14: List of substances considered as illegal drug-taking #

The list of the substances considered prohibited unless the player has obtained a therapeutic use exemption is the one present on the website of the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC)⁴.

Article 15: Prohibited behaviours and Prohibited actions #

1. The following actions are strictly forbidden during any event:
   • a) To cheat by any means (exploitations, third party software, etc.).
   • b) To adopt an unfair behaviour (intentional disconnection, spam/flood, etc.).
   • c) To adopt a toxic behaviour.
   • d) To adopt an aggressive behaviour to the point the game has to be stopped.
   • e) To be violent.
   • f) To damage the equipment.
   • g) To violently contest an official’s decision.
   • h) To repetitively refuse to follow the referees instructions.
   • i) To intentionally and consciously violate the rules mentioned in this document.
2. A player or the whole team will be sanctioned according to the table in Appendix I.

Part IV — Procedure #

Article 16: General #

1. The procedure is defined by the Referees according to the circumstances.
2. If no consensus can be found between the referees, all decisions of the present regulation are taken following the majority rule.

Article 17: Languages of the procedure #

The languages of the procedure are English, French, German and Italian.

1. English is the language by default.
2. When agreed by the parties, French, German and Italian can be used instead of English.

Article 18: Assumption of innocence #

1. A participant accused of a violation of the present regulation is innocent until the opposite is proven.
2. It follows from the previous paragraph that the proof must be brought by the person alleging the violation.

Article 19: Right to be heard #

1. All participants have the right to be heard and to defend themselves before a decision is made about them.
2. It includes the right to bring evidence, call witnesses, explain themselves, etc.

Article 20: Standards of evidence #

1. Referees shall use the evidence at their disposal to assess the situation before them.
2. Each proof is given an appropriate weight considering the circumstances of the alleged violation.

Article 21: Hearings and reports #

1. The procedure is mostly oral; however, a referee shall be designated to take a written transcription.
   • a) Referees shall also make a report including their interventions.
   • b) In particular, if protestations can be expressed verbally a written transcript must be established soon afterwards.
2. Digital documents and emails are admitted.
3. Each document must include names, time and date, motives, and a summary of the discussions and of the circumstances.

Article 22: Confidentiality #

1. All the documents above-mentioned are strictly confidential, shall not be made public, unless it is required by Swiss law.
2. Anonymized version of those documents could be used for educational purposes.

Part V — Other #

Article 23: Recognition and application of the decisions #

1. The organizer, the participants and the members of the SESF recognized and respect any decisions taken according to the present regulation, without the need for further formality.
2. In addition, the organizer, the participants and the members of the SESF shall take all steps legally available to give effect to such decisions.

Article 24: License #

1. The organizer of the event grants the SESF a free license for the coverage of the event.
   • a) This includes all forms of transmission.
   • b) This licence should not impair the rights of the organizer regarding its own coverage of the event.
   • c) The SESF can assign the coverage rights to a third party or to the players themselves if neither the organizer nor the SESF is using their rights.
2. Participants also agree that the SESF takes pictures, videos, and footage of their gameplay and uses them for the promotion of Esport.

Article 25: Amendment #

1. This regulation may be amended at any time by the Referee Commission.
2. Such modification comes into effect on the date specified by the Referee Commission and after being communicated to and approved by the Board of the SESF.
3. For each modification, transitory effects and retrospective applications shall be considered in the communication made to the SESF Board.

Article 26: Interpretation #

1. If any article or provision of this regulation is held invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, the SESF Standards shall remain otherwise in full force apart from such article or provision which shall be deemed deleted insofar as it is invalid, unenforceable or illegal.
2. In the event of a gap in this regulation, Referees shall decide in accordance with general principles of law and in equity, based on the rules they would establish if they had to act as a legislator.
3. The SESF Standards are governed by and shall be construed in accordance with Swiss law.
   • a) Any dispute arising between the present regulation and Swiss law comes within the competence of Swiss tribunals.

Appendix I: Sanction table #

Appendix II: Glossary #

• Admins: Persons appointed to manage a competition.
• All-parties: Organizers, referees, teams, players, coaches, managers, or any other people involved in a way or another in the competition which are not part of the public.
• Competition: Any kind of Esport tournament, online or offline. A competition is organized by one or multiple organizer(s).
• Event: An offline Esport public occasion managed by a/multiple organizer(s).
• Decisions: The three different tiers of decisions defined by the Standards:
  • Admin’s decision: the first decision, made by officials.
  • Referee Panel’s decision: the second decision, made by the Referee Panel.
  • Referee Commission’s decision: the final decision, made by the Referee Commission.
• Match: A single stage of the tournament, where teams or players face each other.
• Organiser: An organization and/or person that organizes Esport competitions.

Footnotes #