Terms and Conditions - US EA FC Cup 2025 by Evonik
This online soccer event is an international event of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co KGaA, Rheinlanddamm 207-209, 44137 Dortmund (“Borussia Dortmund” or "BVB”).
This online soccer event is an international event of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co KGaA, Rheinlanddamm 207-209, 44137 Dortmund (“Borussia Dortmund” or "BVB”).
The Cup by Evonik is a video game tournament, where players from North America play the “EA FC 25 Online Friendly mode” (eFootball game) against one another.
This is an international fan tournament organized by Borussia Dortmund. Together with our community we want to have fun, play against each other, and share some great time playing EA FC. Keep in mind to be always fair to your opponent!
Furthermore, participation in the event is subject to these terms and conditions of participation.
1. COMPETITOR ELIGIBILITY
1.1 The minimum age for participating in the tournament is 16 years. In all other respects, the relevant minimum age requirements in the respective country of residence apply in order to participate in the tournament. In this context, reference is made in particular to Section 2.2 of the EA SPORTS FC PRO 25 OFFICIAL RULES, available at https://www.ea.com/games/ea-sports-fc/fc-pro/ea-sports-fc-pro-25-official-rules.
1.2 The tournament will take place in North America.
Only residents of the following regions and countries are eligible to participate in the Cup by Evonik:
United States, Canada
(1)
In this context, reference is made in particular to Annex A of the EA SPORTS FC PRO 25 OFFICIAL RULES, available at https://www.ea.com/games/ea-sports-fc/fc-pro/ea-sports-fc-pro-25-official-rules
1.3 To take part in the online tournament, you must sign in to your BVB-Account or register a new BVB-Account on the following website: https://account.bvb.de/. Here you can find all possible qualification tournaments in which you can compete.
You need to sign up for the respective qualifier and follow all information given to you by the website and via email. After the confirmation of registration, the person is an approved competitor (“Competitor”).
1.4 Competitors need to own or have access to EA FC 25, have a valid EA-ID within their region (North America) and need to own or have access to a PlayStation 5 5 consol, Xbox Series X or PCe.
1.5 To take part in the online Cup, you must be registered on the following website: https://efootball.bvb.de/en/events?competitionTab=upcoming
Here you can sign up for the online tournament and then follow the instructions provided on the website and by email.
1.6 Employees of BVB, as well as their subsidiaries, branches, parent companies, representatives, and their direct relatives, are not eligible to take part in the eFootball event by Evonik.
2. STRUCTURE OF THE “US EA FC CUP 2025 by Evonik”
2.1 Tournament Operations
• Competitors must finish registering and check in by tournament start time.
• Competitors must check into the tournament and into their match within five minutes of their rounds pairing going online, or they may receive a loss.
• Competitors must report their score within 5 minutes of the match finishing or both competitors may receive a match loss. Referees are empowered to decide individually. Here you can find a tutorial how to report your match result: https://youtu.be/kFUjm9Hngug.
• Competitors can optionally make screenshots the final score of each individual match showing the final result and both player names visible in case the referee needs this for deciding.
2.2 Gameplay Settings
Settings are “Friendly Game mode” without restrictions on the team and the venue.
• Competitors will need to add each other via EA-ID
• Competitors must play their opponent through the Online Friendlies Mode
• All matches will use following settings:
o Half Length: 6 minutes
o Controls: Any
o Game Speed: Normal
o Single Elimination – One Leg matches
o Golden goal in the event of a draw, followed by a penalty shoot-out in the event of a draw after extra time
2.3 Format
The online-tournament is played on a single day for the North America region. All games will be played on this specific day.
In the event, that the online tournament longer than expected (e.g. due to delays in the process or the participation of an unexpectedly large number of participants), there will be an alternative date on which play will continue.
2.4 Timings & Regions
The schedule of the online tournament is found here:
https://efootball.bvb.de/en/events?competitionTab=upcoming
3. CONNECTION ISSUES
• If neither Competitor can successfully invite the other, Competitors must contact tournament administrators in the match chat or on discord, within fifteen (15) minutes of that round beginning. Failure to do so will result in both Competitors receiving a loss.
• Competitors are required to take the following actions immediately after contacting tournament administrators:
o Competitors should swap who invites
o BOTH Competitors must restart Internet modem
o BOTH Competitors must restart router (if connected)
o BOTH Competitors must restart console
• If after 20 minutes from the start of that round beginning, Competitors cannot get connected, then tournament administrators will assign a loss to both Competitors and record the incident.
• If connection issues arise between games or during a game and Competitors cannot get reconnected, then they must contact administrators immediately. Competitors must take the steps above and reconnect within 10 minutes or a loss for both Competitors can be applied.
• In the event of a disconnect, the game should be resumed with an implied score and the remaining time in the match played out.
• If a set of Competitors have repeated connection issues in the same game that is delaying the start of the next round, a double loss may be applied at the discretion of the tournament head admin.
4. COMMUNICATION
• Competitors communication outside of the match chat will be ignored for purpose of administrational decision making. Admins do not have access to any official social media channel.
• Competitors must chat with their opponent in the match chat to set up their match.
5. DISPUTES
• Use the messenger function in each match lobby to report any issue to the Competitor and referee.
• If the opponent is breaking a rule set above, the Competitor must immediately contact an admin.
• It is the Competitor’s responsibility to verify that the game settings are correct.
• If a game is played beyond the 1st half with incorrect settings before an admin is contacted, then the game score will stand.
• If a Competitor is found breaking the rules above that the admins deem warrant a game loss, then the opponent will be given a 3-0 win for that game unless they already had more than a 3-goal difference at the time of reporting the issue.
6. PRIZING
6.1 The best Evonik participant as well as the best student will receive the following prizes:
• PlayStation 5 and a BVB eFootball jersey
6.2 The prizes are non-transferable. Any cash payment, reimbursement of the difference of the voucher and additional costs exceeding the value of the voucher are excluded. This also applies to any customs/delivery/importation costs in the respective country.
6.3 Winners will be notified by email and are asked to contact BVB within 3 days (72 hours).
• In order to participate in the live event and receive travel expensed and the prizes described in section 6.1 from BVB, the winners must provide proof of their eligibility to participate. For this purpose, BVB will request proof of identity of the respective winner prior to awarding the prize.
• In the event of any disputes regarding the identity of the winner and/or the winner's legal guardian, BVB shall have the exclusive right, but not the obligation, to award the prize to another winner from among those who fulfil these conditions of participation.
• An alternate winner will be selected of the remaining Competitors based of the further ranking in the following cases:
(1) the respective winner has not reached the age of 16 years or has reached the minimum age applicable in his or her country of residence;
(2) the respective winner does not contact BVB after being notified within the period mentioned in paragraph 6.3;
(3) the respective winner provides no or false personal information and/or;
7. GENERAL RULES
Borussia Dortmund reserves the right to exclude individual Competitors for a significant reason. A significant reason may, in particular, exist if a Competitor violates the rules of the game and/or social rules. This may include, but is not limited to:
• using any cheats, hacks or other third party "helper" applications in playing games;
• violating anti-doping or anti-betting regulations;
• intentionally disconnecting from the internet during any game;
• colluding with other Competitors in playing games;
• taking advantage of known exploits in the game (it is the responsibility of Competitors to understand and avoid all current illegal exploits);
• Abusive or disorderly behavior, including any use of harassing, negative, or profane language online or offline, will not be tolerated and will also constitute grounds for immediate disqualification.
Borussia Dortmund reserves the right to cancel or re-schedule matches, and to modify the tournament structure if, in its reasonable judgment, such changes are necessary to maintain a fair environment for all competitors.
Borussia Dortmund also reserves the right to make such changes if it seems they are necessary to comply with applicable law. Borussia Dortmund reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the tournament, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures, or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the tournament, or if Borussia Dortmund deems such action necessary to comply with applicable law.
8. REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES
For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that Borussia Dortmund does not pay any remuneration to the Competitors and does not reimburse any expenses.
Borussia Dortmund is allowed to set up and distribute a winner’s prize for Competitors at its own discretion.
9. GRANT OF RIGHTS
All publications of pictures of the event by the Competitor, as well as any form of public use of such pictures, require Borussia Dortmund’s prior written consent (email shall suffice). To obtain BVB’s consent, please send an email to: service@bvb.de.
Borussia Dortmund/or a third party named by them will produce visual and/or audiovisual recordings of the tournament, for the purposes of documenting and reporting about the tournament. The Competitor grants to Borussia Dortmund the exclusive right to exploit these recordings commercially and for non-commercial purposes without any restriction in time and territory either by itself or through licensees and partners of Borussia Dortmund (i.e., cooperation, media, and marketing partners).
The exploitation can take place in every physical form (especially production and dissemination of all digital and analogue media formats) and every non-physical form (especially broadcast, public communication, or accessibility, for example, as download or streaming) in all media and on all platforms. The use is expressly limited in content to showing the Competitor in this capacity.
10. PERSONAL DATA AND DATA PRIVACY
For the event, EA processes personal data as described and in accordance with EA’s Privacy and Cookie Policy (https://www.ea.com/de-de/legal/privacy-and-cookie-policy) and in accordance with Applicable Data Protection Laws. “Applicable Data Protection Laws” means all laws and regulations that are applicable to the processing of Personal Data including European Data Protection Laws (GDPR). The definitions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) shall apply to the terms used in this contract. In addition, the data protection provisions of Borussia Dortmund apply (https://www.bvb.de/Datenschutz/Webseite-bvb.de).If it is necessary for Borussia Dortmund to distribute a prize, Borussia Dortmund may ask the respective Competitor for additional contact information (e.g., postal address).
11. MISCELLANEOUS
11.1 The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively for and in connection with these terms and conditions of participation. The exclusive place of jurisdiction is Dortmund, Germany.
11.2 BVB is liable for other than personal injury and fraudulent damage for its own conduct and that of its vicarious agents only in the case of intent and gross negligence, insofar as such is not effectively excluded under these terms and conditions. In the event of liability, the liability of BVB is limited to the extent that BVB could typically expect. BVB accepts no liability whatsoever for any damage suffered by the winner during and/or as a result of accepting or using the prize. BVB shall not be liable for the availability of EA Sports FC 254 and the technical conditions for connecting to the game servers.
11.3 BVB reserves the right to prematurely terminate, change or suspend the competition at any time (e.g. for technical or legal reasons). Premature termination, modification or suspension of the competition shall not give rise to any claims whatsoever on the part of the participant against the organizer.
11.4 BVB accepts no liability for loss of data, in the course of data transmission, or other technical defects.
11.5 Should individual provisions be or become invalid, unenforceable or incomplete, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining conditions of participation. These Terms and Conditions of Participation may be amended by BVB at any time without justification and separate notification; they will then apply in the corresponding amended version.