A home-away scheme will be used to decide the winner of the Senior Cup.
Each team will play 'home' and 'away' games against the other two teams, and each team will play two (round-robin) games per day and a total of 4 games in two days.
FIFA pointing system will be used-- with 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a defeat.
The winner of the Cup will be determined in the order of the following FIFA compliant rules.
greatest number of points obtained in all matches;
goal difference in all matches;
greatest number of goals scored in all matches. If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, the winner will be determined as follows:
greatest number of points obtained in the matches between the teams concerned;
goal difference resulting from the matches between the teams concerned with ; team that has scored more goals "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise tied;
greater number of goals scored in all matches between the teams concerned;
penalty kick shootout between the teams concerned.
All games will be 90 minute in duration and 15 minute break between halves. There will be no overtime nor PK, if a game ends in a tie after regular time.
In case of any controversy or unclarity due to the rules stated on this section we should fall to FIFA world cup rules as the default.
Tournament Rules
Substitution. There are no restrictions on the number of substitutions. And it's OK for a player previously substituted out to be substituted back in.
Red and yellow cards.
A red card, whether issued directly or accumulated through two yellow cards during the same game, will result in a combination of ejection of the player involved from the ongoing game, at least one game suspension (expulsion from the tournament if fighting is involved), and $25 fine deducted from the team deposit.
A yellow card does NOT carry over to the next game.
Power of the referees.
Three licensed referees are hired for each game. All teams must follow the referees' decision on the field, any violation may result in forfeiting the game and subsequent ejection from the rest of the tournament.
Center referee, i.e. the referee in charge, has the FINAL say on any play during a game and can NOT be overridden even by the ruling committee.
Player equipment.
All players must wear shin-guards.
Home-away Scheme
Team number assignment.
Orange county Pumas (1)
Silicon Valley Tiger King (2)
New York Wen Parker (3)
A randomization will be used determine the order of the games among the following 6 possibilities. The randomization scheme will be published in the near future but before the random numbers become available.
Tournament Ruling Committee [same as the Open Cup]
Teams
Orange County Pumas
New York Wen Parker
Silicon Valley Tiger King
Objective
Addition of a SENIOR Cup competition should promote Grand Tournament (GT) to more soccer fans in North America, at the same time, giving many former GT participants, who no longer wish to compete in the open GT, yet a chance to enjoy the event.
Format
The Senior Cup will be held in parallel to the Open Cup(GT) on the same location and same weekend.
The Senior Cup will be limited to no more than 6 teams and no fewer than 3 teams. In case there are fewer than 3 registered teams, the teams may choose to join the open GT tournament instead.
The exact format of the Senior Cup games will be determined based on number of participating teams. Like the Open Cup, the Senior Cup will be finished in two days, minimally the champion will be awarded through a playoff system, and maximally 4 games in total. All referees will be facilitated in the same manner as the open GT referees.
Player qualification
All players who are on the SeniorCup teams must be 35 years or older. Qualification verification will be based on honor system. Violating team will be eliminated from the tournament immediately with all deposit forfeited.
A player may wish to play in both Open and Senior Cups, however, such endeavor is highly discouraged by the organizing committee because of player age, potentially very hot weather, and the already demanding tournament schedule.
General GT player qualification rules apply otherwise.