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Terms and Conditions Guardian Fantasy Football ("FF") Competition - 2008/2009 Season Here you will find our terms and conditions for: Please read these carefully as by using the Guardian FF website or entering the Competition you will be deemed to be bound by the terms and conditions referred to above, together with any instructions and explanations (including any game rules or "how to play" instructions) contained on the Guardian FF website or elsewhere on the guardian.co.uk website (together referred to as the "Terms"). Should we amend or delete any of the Terms (which we may do at any time) we will post notice of the change on the Guardian FF website. The amendment or deletion shall take effect on the date specified in the notice. If you continue to use the Guardian FF website and participate in the Competition after that date you shall be deemed to have accepted the revised Terms which shall be fully binding on you. Please ensure that you check the Guardian FF website on a regular basis to see whether a notice varying the Terms has been posted. For the purposes of the Terms the expressions 'you' and 'user' are used to refer to any individual participating in the Competition and the expressions 'us', 'we', 'our' or 'Guardian' are used to refer to Guardian News and Media Limited (as appropriate). Please note that this is not a gambling site, it is a competition site. THE COMPETITION The Terms set out how you may enter into, and continue to participate in, the Guardian Fantasy Football 2008/2009 competition ("Competition"). Here you will find information on:
The Competition is open to UK residents who are 18 years or over. Notwithstanding this, you agree that playing the Competition while located in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful to play the Competition is strictly prohibited. We have the right to cancel your registration and refuse any and all current or future entries into the Competition by you if we suspect or know that you have played the Competition while located in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful to do so, are under the age of 18 or if you have otherwise given any false information during the registration process outlined below. Our employees and agents, our group companies, and their family members, may play the Competition, but they will not be eligible to win a prize (if any) in the Competition. No purchase is necessary and no payment is required to enter the Competition. Step 1 - Register To enter the Competition, you need to register (following the instructions on that part of Guardian FF website) and provide accurate and complete registration information. It is your responsibility to update and maintain that information by advising us of changes to your details as appropriate. Registration is for a single user only and you may only register once: if we discover that you have registered more than once (or we discover or suspect that a third party has registered on your behalf) we retain the right to cancel or suspend your participation in the Competition. On registration, you will need to select a "user name" and password which will be unique to you. You must keep your password private at all times and you must not share your password with any other person, nor allow anyone but you to play using your player name and password. We will not permit any offensive words or word strings in any player, squad or Friends' League names and we reserve the right to edit your user, squad or Friends' League details should we find any of your user, squad or Friends' League details offensive. When you register to participate in the Competition, you will be asked to click on an icon confirming that you have read, accepted and agree to be bound by the Terms (including the Privacy Policy). You will not be allowed to register unless you have indicated acceptance of the Terms (including the Privacy Policy) and any other terms and conditions which may apply. We reserve the right to refuse to complete your registration for any reason in our absolute discretion. Step 2 - Managing your fantasy team You must manage your fantasy team by logging in to the Guardian FF website using your chosen user name and password. You will then be able to select your starting fantasy team and make Substitutions and Transfers (subject to the Competition rules, see the "How the Competition works" section above). Any changes you make to your active players (such as Transfers, Substitutions and changes to your fantasy team formation) must be made by midday (1200) on Saturday of each week in order that the players be eligible to win points for the upcoming week of matches (Saturday - Friday). If any such change is made after midday (1200) on Saturday of any week, the change will still take effect but the players will not be eligible to score any points until midday (1200) on the following Saturday. We accept no responsibility for lost, incomplete, late or undelivered entries, or technical errors in telecommunications networks, internet access or otherwise which may prevent or delay you from making a change to your fantasy team or for any other event causing disruption to or corruption of the Competition. We accept no responsibility for the selections that you make, or for information provided by any person or entity which is displayed on this Guardian FF website. You can register to enter the Competition on the Guardian FF Website from 18 July 2008 and the Competition will begin on the first day of the English Premier League 2008/2009 season (currently anticipated to be 16 August 2008) and closes on 24 May 2009 after the last match of the English Premier League 2008/2009 season. The points scored by each player will be updated at the end of every Premier League match day, as will the total points scored by each fantasy team. Every fantasy team will automatically be entered into the following competitions: Manager of the Week Each fantasy team, whenever registered, will automatically be entered into a Competition wide weekly league and be eligible to win the Manager of the Week competition. The competition will run from Saturday to Friday each week of the season (starting Saturday 16 August 2008 - Friday 22 August 2008) and the winner will be the fantasy team which accrued the most points during the previous week. Please note that there will be no Manager of the Week prize for any week in which there has not been at least one Premier League match played. The winner of Manager of the Week will receive a signed Premier League replica shirt from a team of the winner's choice. If the winner's choice of team shirt is unavailable, we retain the right to award the winner with a signed replica shirt from another Premier League team. In the event of a tie, the winner of the replica shirt will be chosen by a random draw out of the joint winners. Manager of the Month Each fantasy team, whenever registered, will automatically be entered into a Competition wide monthly league and be eligible to win the Manager of the Month competition. The competition will run during each calendar month of the season (starting in August 2008 and finishing in May 2009) and the winner will be the fantasy team with the most points during the previous calendar month. The winner of Manager of the Month will receive £1,000. In the event of a tie the winner of the £1,000 prize will be chosen by a random draw out of the joint winners. Manager of the Season Each fantasy team, whenever registered, will automatically be entered into the main Competition wide league and be eligible to win the Manager of the Season competition. The winner will be the fantasy team with the most points at the end of the season. The prize fund for Manager of the Season is £38,000, to be awarded as set out below. Where there are no tied scores at the end of the Competition, the winner of Manager of the Season will receive £25,000. There will also be a second place prize of £10,000 and a third place prize of £3,000. In the event of a tie for 1st place, the tied winners will share the prizes and places of 1st place plus the place or places below (depending on how many winners are tied) until the total prize fund of £38,000 is exhausted. Where applicable, the same method will be applied to tied winners of 2nd and 3rd places, in that order. For example: If there is one 1st place winner, and the four next highest ranking players all have finished with the same points - the 1st place winner will receive £25,000, and each person with joint 2nd highest points will receive £3,250 (i.e. the remaining prize fund of £10,000 plus £3,000 3rd place prize, divided by four). No further prizes will be awarded (i.e. there will be no separate prize for the person with the third highest number of points). If there are two joint 1st place winners, one person with the 2nd highest points and one person with the 3rd highest points - the two joint 1st place winners will each receive £17,500 (i.e. the prize fund for 1st and 2nd places, £25,000 plus £10,000, divided by two), and the person with the 2nd highest points will receive the remaining fund of £3,000. No further prizes will be awarded (i.e. there will be no separate prize for the person with the third highest number of points). If there are three joint 1st place winners - each winner will receive £12,677 (i.e. the prize fund of £38,000 divided by three) and no further prizes will be awarded (i.e. there will be no separate prize for the people with the second and third highest number of points). If there are five joint 1st place winners, two people with the 2nd highest points and one person with the 3rd highest points then each winner will receive £7,600 (i.e. the prize fund of £38,000 divided by five) and no further prizes will be awarded (i.e. there will be no separate prize for the people with the second and third highest number of points). If it transpires that a prize winner is not eligible to win a prize in the Competition (for example, because the prize winner does not meet the criteria set out in the "Who Can Play" section of the Terms) then prizes will be allocated on the above basis as if that prize winner had not taken part in the Competition. We reserve the right to make whatever enquiries we see fit to prove the identity and eligibility of any participant and/or winner and to reallocate a winner's prize in the event that we have reasonable grounds for believing that the winner may be in breach of, or has breached, any of the Terms. All decisions made in respect of the Competition (including the announcement of winners and award of prizes) are final and we will not enter into any correspondence in respect of the award of prizes. Each prize winner will be notified that they have won a prize by email within 7 days of the end of the competition period to which the prize relates. If a prize winner does not respond to the instructions contained in that e-mail within 7 days of the e-mail having been sent, then that winner's prize will be re-allocated on the above basis as if that prize winner had not taken part in the Competition. Winners of the Manager of the Season and Manager of the Month competitions will be sent their cash prizes within 28 days of our receipt of a reply email confirming their postal address and payment instructions. Winners of the Manager of the Week competition will be sent a signed replica shirt within 28 days of our receipt of a reply email confirming their postal address. The replica shirt prize is non-exchangeable, non-transferable, and is not redeemable for cash or other prizes. We retain the right to substitute the replica shirt prize with another prize of similar value in the event that the replica shirt prize is not available. The object of the game is to use your skill and judgement to manage a fantasy team of Premier League players throughout the Premier League season 2008/2009 so that your fantasy team scores as many points as possible based on the real-life performance of the players you have chosen (the "Competition"). Team Your fantasy squad will consist of 15 players. At any time you will have 11 active players who are "on the pitch" and eligible to score points (this is your "team"). The remaining 4 inactive players will be "on the bench" and ineligible to score points. Players are categorized by their position and your fantasy squad must comprise:
Club Quota You may pick a maximum of 3 players from any one Premier League club (your "Club Quota"). All players will remain at the club they are listed with when the game launches (July 21st 2008) even if they are transferred to another Premier League club in real life after this date. Budget: Your budget for the 2008/2009 Premier League season is £100 million (which you can use to select your original squad of 15 plus make any Transfers (as described below)). You will need to select your fantasy squad players using the player lists which are divided by player position. The value of each player shall be determined by GNM in its discretion. Each player will have a value associated with him which will remain fixed for the first 4 weeks of the season. Thereafter each player's value may fluctuate slightly depending on their real-life performance and on the number of fantasy managers who have picked that player for their fantasy team. Team changes In these Terms:
Once you have selected and saved your initial fantasy squad, you will be permitted to make unlimited Substitutions and/or Transfers until midday on Saturday 16th August 2008 (the night before the start of the 2008-2009 Premier League season). Thereafter, you will be able to continue to make unlimited Substitutions but will be subject to a limited Transfer allowance of 5 players per calendar month (this Transfer allowance will be renewed at 00.01 on the 1st day of every calendar month). Any Substitutions or Transfers must be made by midday (1200) on Saturday of each week in order that the players be eligible to win points for the upcoming week of matches (Saturday - Friday) in which they are involved. If a Substitution or Transfer is made after midday (1200) on Saturday of any week, the change will still take effect but the player will not be eligible to score any points until midday (1200) on the following Saturday. Formations There are 10 different team formations which you may select for your fantasy team, as set out in the table below. Each formation allows a different combination of players from different positions to be active on the pitch - and hence eligible to score points - at any one time. Any changes you make to your team formation must be made by midday (1200) on Saturday of each week in order for such formation to be eligible to win points for the upcoming week of matches (Saturday - Friday). If any changes to your team formation are made after midday (1200) on Saturday of any week, the changes to your team formation will not be eligible to score points until midday (12:00) on the following Saturday. Available formations
Points Each player will be awarded or deducted points based on certain actions he performs or events which take place during each real life Premier League match in which he plays. These actions and events are different for players in different positions. The information used to award or deduct points is provided by Opta Sports Data and all decisions made in respect of the award or deduction of points are final. No correspondence will be entered into in respect of such award or deduction of points. The table below sets out the points scoring criteria for each player position.
Key: GK - Goalkeeper DF - Defender DM - Defensive midfielder MF - Midfielder ST - Striker A "Friends' League" is a private league in which you can compete against friends and colleagues for fun (except in the Renault Cups - see below - we offer no prizes for playing in Friends' Leagues). Once you have registered for the Competition you will then be able to create your own Friends' League. To set up a Friends' League all you need to do is:
You may add your fantasy team to an unlimited number of Friends' Leagues (e.g. friends, family, colleagues etc) and at any time will be able to view a list of all Friends' Leagues in which your fantasy team is competing and be able to drill deeper into each Friends' League to see where you stand in the Friends' League table. You will also have the option to remove themselves from any Friends' League at any time. You will automatically be entered into a regional Friends' League if you choose to specify the region that you live in. In addition, you will be automatically enrolled in the relevant club's Friends' League if you choose to tell us which club team you support. Again, these Friends' Leagues are just for fun - no prizes will be awarded. Friends' Leagues sponsored by Renault From time to time, we will advertise the opportunity to enter special Friends' Leagues sponsored by Renault (the "Renault Cups"). These Friends' Leagues will operate in the same way as any other Friends' League and you can join or invite a friend to join in the usual way. However, they will be run as competitions and you will have the chance to win a range of prizes - in addition to those described in the Winners and Prizes section above. The Renault Cups will each run for one month only and prizes will be awarded at the end of the relevant period. Anyone registered to play the FF Game can enter and entry is free. For further details of prizes, and how to enter, please see www.guardian.co.uk/renaultfantasyfootball. Additional terms and conditions apply to the Renault Cups so please read the small print at www.guardian.co.uk/renaultfantasyfootball/megane.cup before entering. Every fantasy team entered into a Renault Cup will be eligible to win the associated monthly competition. Prizes will be awarded to the top three highest scoring fantasy teams during the relevant month (regardless of when they entered the Renault Cup). In the event of a tie, the winners will be chosen by a random draw out of the tied players. For example if four fantasy teams in the Renault Cup achieve the same top score over the month, three will be selected at random to receive 1st, 2nd and 3rd places and prizes (allocated in order that they are drawn) and no further prize will be awarded to the fourth team. The Privacy Policy will apply to our processing of your personal information. Details of the top 50 user scores or league places in each of the Manager of the Season, Manager of the Month and Manager of the Week competitions may be displayed on our "List of Winners" page. You agree that, if you are one of those top 50 scorers, we can display your "player name" together with your score. By entering the Competition you give us permission to use your name and your "player name" (i.e. John Smith known as "Gnasher") for promotional purposes without payment or compensation. We may also require a photograph of you as a winner of the Competition for our "List of Winners" page, to the extent permitted by law. By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions (including the Privacy Policy), you understand and agree that we may from time to time send you update emails in relation to the Competition. Should you wish to stop receiving these emails, please follow the 'unsubscribe' instructions on any of these emails. We reserve the right to introduce new facilities or leagues to enhance the Competition. We may at any time decide not to run any further Renault Cup competitions without notice. Details of such introductions and changes will be published on the Guardian FF website and will amend or vary the Terms and shall take effect from the date upon which such details are published on the Guardian FF website. We may modify, suspend or cancel, temporarily or permanently, the Competition. We will post notice of any such changes on the Guardian FF website. Our decision in all matters under our control is final and binding. No correspondence will be entered into. Promoters and Organisers The promoters and organisers of the Guardian FF website, the Competition and the Renault Cups are Guardian News and Media Limited ("GNM") and CleverTV Limited. GNM is registered in England and Wales under company number 00908396 and has its registered office at Number 1 Scott Place, Manchester, M3 3GG, United Kingdom. Its main trading address is 119 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3ER, United Kingdom. CleverTV Limited is registered in England and Wales under company number 04439577 and has its registered office at 4th Floor, 36 Spital Square, London E1 6DY. USE OF THE GUARDIAN FF WEBSITE You agree not to: (i) impersonate another person or use a false name or name you are not authorised to use, or create a false identity or email address or try to mislead others as to the identity or origin of any communications; (ii) modify, access or make available data stored on a computer device which you have accessed through our network, when either the owner of the data or computer device has taken steps to prevent you from doing this or the owner has expressed a wish that you do not do this; (iii) make available or upload files that contain software or other material, data or information not owned or licensed to you or collect information about others (such as names and addresses) without their prior consent; (iv) damage, interfere with or disrupt access to the Competition or this Guardian FF website or do anything which may interrupt or impair its functionality including by means of submitting a virus to this Guardian FF website, overloading, "flooding", "spamming", "crashing" or "mailbombing"; (v) make any commercial or business use of the Competition to resell or commercially benefit from any part or aspect of the Competition; (vi) publish, post, distribute, disseminate or otherwise transmit defamatory, offensive, infringing, obscene, indecent or other unlawful or objectionable material or information; (vii) threaten, harass, stalk, abuse, disrupt or otherwise violate the rights (including rights of privacy and publicity) of others; (viii) make available, upload or distribute by any means any material or files that contain any viruses, bugs, corrupt data, "Trojan horses", "worms" or any other harmful software; (ix) falsify the true ownership of software or other material or information contained in files made available via this Guardian FF website; (x) forge any TPC/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting; (xi) obtain or attempt to obtain unauthorised entry, through whatever means, to the Competition, this Guardian FF website or computer systems or area of our or any of our partners' networks which are identified as restricted; (xii) use the Guardian FF website (or any part of it) for any illegal purpose and you agree to use it in accordance with all relevant laws; or (xiii) create or publish a hypertext link to any part of the guardian.co.uk website (but you may create and publish a hypertext link to the Guardian FF website) or attempt any unauthorised access to any part or component of the guardian.co.uk website or the Guardian FF Website. You are and remain solely responsible for the content of any comments submitted to us via your registration details. You agree that in the event that you have any right, claim or action against any end user of the Guardian FF website arising out of that end user's use of the Guardian FF website, then you will pursue such right, claim or action independently of and without recourse to us. You confirm that by accessing and using the Guardian FF website you will not be in violation of any laws or regulations that apply to you. Submitting text for publication on the Guardian FF website Users of our site may submit material for publication in the "forums" area of the site. We are not responsible for any material submitted by users and published by us and we are not responsible for its content and accuracy. If you want to submit material to us for publication on the Guardian FF website, you may do so on the following terms and conditions: (i) publication of any material you submit to us will be at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to make additions or deletions to the text or graphics prior to publication, or to refuse publication. (ii) you grant us a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide licence to republish any material you submit to us in any format, including print and electronic format including on our website at guardian.co.uk and in our newspapers "The Guardian" and "The Observer". (iii) you confirm that any material you submit to us is your own original work and that you own the copyright and any other relevant rights in that material. (iv) you confirm that the material you submit is not obscene, offensive, defamatory of any person or otherwise illegal. (v) you agree not to post material which is deliberately intended to upset other users. (vi) you acknowledge that any breach by you of the above terms may cause us damage or loss and you agree to compensate us for any loss, damage or costs which we incur or suffer as a result of our publishing any material submitted by you. (vii) we reserve the right to cancel your access to the competition completely if we believe you are abusing the "Forums" area of the Guardian FF website in any way. Email policy We will not respond unless required to do so by law to any email which contains threatening, abusive, malicious, pornographic, obscene, defamatory or otherwise illegal or inappropriate material. We reserve the right to take such action as we, in our discretion, see fit in respect to such material. Any communication or material you transmit to the Guardian FF website by email, including data, questions, comments, suggestions or the like, will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We are free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any communications you send to the Guardian FF website for any purpose whatsoever. General disclaimer Whilst we will endeavour to ensure that the content on the Guardian FF website (including (without limitation) all information on it, whether provided by us or not) ("Content") is error-free, we do not confirm that it is accurate, adequate or complete or that it is suitable for your intended use. The Content may contain inaccuracies and typographical errors. The Content may be updated at any time and may, at times, be out of date, inaccurate and/or incomplete. We accept no responsibility for keeping the Content up to date, accurate and/or complete, nor do we accept any responsibility for any failure to do so. We provide the Guardian FF website, the Content and access to the Competition on an "as is" basis and make no promises or guarantees of any kind, whether express or implied, in relation to the Guardian FF website, the Content and/or the Competition, or products or services offered on the Guardian FF website whether by us or on our behalf including but not limited to, any guarantees that the Guardian FF website, the Content and your access to the Competition are of satisfactory quality, are fit for a particular purpose, will not infringe any rights, are compatible with other software or products, are secure, are accurate or are in a certain condition or state of completeness. The Guardian FF website may not be continuously available and we make no assurances that it is free from computer viruses or any other malicious or impairing computer program, and we make no guarantees that the Guardian FF website or products or services offered on the Guardian FF website (whether by us or on our behalf) will meet your requirements or will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Guardian FF website or the server which makes it available or products or services offered on the Guardian FF website (whether by us or on our behalf) are free of viruses or bugs or are fully functional, accurate, or reliable. We will not be responsible to you for any loss of content or material as a result of uploading to or downloading from the Guardian FF website. Limitation of liability By entering the Competition, and/or continuing to participate in it, you agree that neither we (nor our associates, partners and agents) shall have any responsibility in respect of any damage, loss or injury suffered by you (including as a result of your entering the Competition, downloading and/or relying on any Content from the Guardian FF website). In no event shall we (or any of our employees or agents, or any other party involved in creating, producing or delivering the Competition) be responsible to you including for any negligence, damage, injury, disappointment or any other type of loss which may arise from your participation or inability to participate in the Competition, your accepting a prize or in respect of your use of the Content. Neither shall we be responsible for any failure to comply with any of our obligations under the Terms where the failure has been caused by something which is outside our reasonable control. Such circumstances shall include, but shall not be limited to: weather conditions, fire, flood, hurricane, strike, industrial dispute, war, hostilities, political unrest, riots, civil commotion, inevitable accidents, or new legislation. Please note that nothing in the Terms shall exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence or that of our servants, agents or employees, or for fraud. Software We are not responsible for any technical or other problems that may arise if you download software from any third party website (such as Acrobat Reader or Macromedia Flash) or upgrade your browser software to enhance your use of the Guardian FF website. Your obligation to compensate us You agree to compensate us and our employees and agents for all loss, damage, reasonable expenses (including solicitor fees) or other costs (including those which may arise due to actual or threatened legal proceedings against us) which we, our employees or agents incur or suffer as a result of your participation in the Competition, your reliance on any of the Content and/or your breach of or non-compliance with any of the Terms. Links to other websites The Guardian FF website may contain links to other websites ("Linked Websites"). Those Linked Websites are provided for convenience only and may not remain current. The Linked Websites are not under our control and are not maintained by us. We have not reviewed the content displayed on the Linked Websites, or any products or services offered on them. Our links with other websites should not be construed as our endorsement, approval or recommendation of the owners or operators of those linked sites. Your dealings with those parties are solely between you and such party and we do not take any responsibility for the Linked Websites, the contents of such Linked Websites or the operations or actions of the owners or operators of the Linked Websites. Intellectual Property Rights You acknowledge and agree that all copyright, trade marks and all other intellectual property rights in the Guardian FF website and all material or content contained within it shall remain at all times owned by us or our licensors. You are permitted to use this material only as expressly authorised by us. You acknowledge and agree that the material and content contained within the Guardian FF website is made available for your personal non-commercial use only and that you may download such material and content onto only one computer hard drive for such purpose. Any other use of the material and content of the Guardian FF website is strictly prohibited. You agree not to (and agree not to assist or facilitate any third party to) copy, reproduce, transmit, publish, display, distribute, commercially exploit or create derivative works of such material and content. General If any provision of the Terms is found to be unlawful, or void or unenforceable for any reason, then that provision shall be deemed to be deleted from the Terms and shall not apply. However such deletion shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions of the Terms. Unless expressly stated otherwise, nothing in the Terms and no subsequent act by us or failure to act shall be construed as a waiver by us of any of our rights under the Terms or otherwise. The Terms (as amended from time to time), together with any other relevant information on the Guardian FF website, contains the entire understanding between us in respect of your participation in the Competition and replace any prior written or oral agreement between us relating to such matters. You confirm that you have not and are not relying on any other information in entering into the Competition and/or using the Guardian FF website. No oral explanation or information given by either of us is intended to alter the interpretation of the Terms. By using the services provided by the Guardian FF website you confirm that you agree to accept and be bound by the Terms. The Terms and the Competition shall be exclusively governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, unless you are a Scottish or Northern Ireland resident, in which case you may choose the law of your place of residence instead. All disputes in relation to the Competition and/or the Guardian FF website shall be resolved in the Courts of England and Wales, except that Scottish or Northern Ireland residents may choose the courts of their place of residence instead. |
