Leagues rules

1. Introduction

Starcks Leagues is Starcks' private-league fantasy football: each user can create their own league, choose the real competitions to follow, set rules, calendar and prizes, and challenge friends and other users matchday after matchday.

Each league is configured by its admin (the user who creates it): these rules describe how all leagues work and the options the admin can choose. A league's specific rules can always be consulted in the league's Options section.

2. Creating a League

A league is created through a 9-step guided procedure: name and sponsor, real teams, calendar, squad and formations, game rules, entry and prizes, market, visibility and contacts, final summary.

• Requirements: creating a league requires an account enabled to play and at Tier 1 level, i.e. with a verified email address and phone number and an approved identity document.

• Free leagues: each user can create up to 10 leagues per year at no cost; any further leagues may carry a creation fee, shown before confirmation.

• Name: maximum 30 characters.

While the league is a draft, the admin can freely change its configuration. The draft is published with the first entry, which is always the admin's: from that moment entries are open to the other participants and the configuration can no longer be changed, except for visibility, contacts and payment links.

3. Visibility and Contacts

Each league can be:

• Public: it appears in the Leagues section and anyone can join.

• By invitation: users can join only through the invite link shared by the admin.

The admin must provide at least one social contact (for example WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Instagram) through which participants can reach them, and may optionally add payment links (Satispay, PayPal, Revolut).

4. Entry

To join a league, a team must be created by providing:

• Team name: mandatory, maximum 15 characters, unique within the league.

• Sponsor, logo and kit: mandatory.

• Stadium: optional.

Each user can enter only one team per league. Entry is possible while the league is open, by the entry closing date and until the maximum number of participants is reached.

The entry fee can be free or expressed in Fanta€. Fanta€ fees do not generate any money movement on the platform: Starcks records entries and prizes, while their financial handling is up to the admin and the participants.

• Admin commission: in leagues with an entry fee the admin can keep a percentage of the prize pool, up to a maximum of 50%, shown in the league's configuration.

• Participants: the admin sets a minimum number (at least 2) and a maximum number.

• Entry closing: set by the admin, it must fall at least 10 minutes before the start of the first matchday.

When entries close:

• if the entries are at least the minimum number, the league is confirmed and all teams are accepted;

• otherwise the league does not start and all entries are refunded.

If the league reaches the maximum number of participants, the admin can close entries and start it early. Before the start, the admin can also remove an entered team, which is refunded.

5. Competitions and Calendar

The admin chooses the real teams whose footballers make up the league, belonging to one or more competitions. The league's player list includes all the rated footballers of those teams.

The calendar is made of league matchdays: each matchday includes at most one real round for each chosen competition, in chronological order and without overlaps.

6. Squad

The league's configuration sets:

• Squad players: from 1 to 30. The admin can set a number for each role (goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, forwards) or the total only. Suggested setup: 25 players, of which 3 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 8 midfielders and 6 forwards.

• Starters: the number of players fielded each matchday, up to a maximum of 11.

• Formations: the list of allowed formations, or the free formation, which allows any arrangement of the starters.

If a real team is no longer part of the league, its footballers remain in the squad but can no longer be fielded.

7. Market

Each league adopts one of two squad-building modes:

• Player list: each team buys its players on the platform, with the same budget for all. The purchase price is the footballer's current rating value and the same footballer can be in several teams of the league.

• Auction: squads are assigned through a live or online auction organised by the admin, who then uploads the result to the platform via a file. Each footballer can belong to only one team in the league.

The initial market opens when the league is published and closes at the start of the first matchday. With the Player list, the squad must respect the number of players (and of roles, if set) and the total cost cannot exceed the budget.

Footballers' rating values are updated after each match based on performance, with a maximum change of ±7.5% per match; the minimum rating value is 1.

8. Repair Markets and Trades

Between matchdays, repair markets may open in the breaks chosen by the admin (every break or only some). A repair market opens when the previous matchday closes and closes at the start of the next matchday.

• Operations per market: each team can carry out at most the number of operations set by the admin.

• Player list: a player from one's own squad is exchanged for one from the player list. The player sold is worth their sale value, the one bought their rating value; if the league uses roles, the two players must have the same role.

• Auction: teams can propose trades of players to each other (same number of players, with an optional budget adjustment). A trade becomes effective only if accepted by the receiving team; if the league uses roles, the balance per role must stay unchanged and no team can go below zero budget. Pending proposals lapse when the matchday opens.

• Sale value: depending on the league's configuration, it is the footballer's current rating value or their purchase price, possibly multiplied by the coefficient set by the admin.

Selling a player also removes them from the line-ups already submitted for the following matchdays.

9. Fielding the Formation

For each matchday each team fields its starters according to one of the allowed formations and arranges its bench. The line-up can be changed until the kick-off of the first match of the matchday, when it is frozen.

Each starter must be available to be fielded and cannot appear twice. In head-to-head leagues, the team with a bye does not field a line-up.

If a team does not field a line-up, the rule chosen by the admin applies:

• Last line-up: the last line-up fielded is used again, updated with the market moves.

• No line-up: the team scores 0 points on the matchday.

10. Substitutions

The admin chooses one of two modes and the maximum number of substitutions applied per matchday:

• Bench: an ordered bench is fielded. If a starter does not receive a rating, the first substitute of the same role who received a rating comes on, following the bench order, without changing formation. Only the first bench positions, in the number set by the admin, take part in substitutions.

• Direct: a dedicated substitute of the same role can be designated for each starter, coming on only if the starter does not receive a rating. If the substitute does not receive a rating either, no one comes on.

11. Weights

In the leagues that use them, each starter receives a weighting percentage, between the minimum and maximum set by the admin (suggested values: from 5% to 15%). The starters' weights must add up to exactly 100%.

Each starter's score is their rating multiplied by their weight. A substitute who comes on takes the weight of the starter replaced.

12. Result Calculation

Footballers' ratings are based on statistical data supplied by industry-leading providers (SportMonks). The admin chooses the league's rating system:

• Star Algo: Starcks' proprietary algorithm, which assesses the footballer's overall performance.

• Fanta Algo: a fantasy-football-style rating, with bonuses and penalties.

Fanta Algo bonuses and penalties:

• Goal: +3

• Assist: +1

• Penalty saved: +3

• Yellow card: −0.5

• Red card: −1

• Own goal: −2

• Penalty missed: −3

• Goal conceded (goalkeeper): −1

• Clean sheet (goalkeeper): +1

Footballers without a rating: depending on the league's configuration, a footballer who does not receive a rating does not count or receives the default rating set by the admin (in that case they are not substituted).

A team's score is the sum of the scores of the starters and of the substitutes who came on, plus the defence modifier if applicable. Individual footballers' scores are rounded to one decimal place.

13. Defence Modifier

In leagues with Fanta Algo the admin can enable the defence modifier. It applies if the footballers counting towards the score include at least 1 goalkeeper and 4 defenders: the average of the base ratings of the goalkeeper and of the 3 best defenders is calculated and the corresponding bonus is awarded:

• 6 to 6.24: +0.5

• 6.25 to 6.49: +1

• 6.50 to 6.74: +1.5

• 6.75 to 6.99: +2

• 7 to 7.24: +3

• 7.25 to 7.49: +3.5

• 7.50 to 7.74: +4

• 7.75 to 7.99: +4.5

• 8 or more: +5

Below an average of 6 the modifier awards no bonus.

14. Challenge Modes and Standings

The admin chooses the league's challenge mode:

• Classic (head-to-head): each matchday teams face each other in pairs according to a calendar generated when the league is confirmed (with a bye if the number of teams is odd). The team score is converted into goals: the first goal is scored by reaching a threshold proportional to the number of starters (with 11 starters: 66 points with Fanta Algo, 440 points with Star Algo) and each further goal every 6 points (Fanta Algo) or 44 points (Star Algo). Win 3 points, draw 1 point, defeat 0 points; the team with a bye scores 0 points. Standings: points, then total score, then goal difference.

• Royale (all against all): the standings are the sum of the scores achieved on all matchdays.

• GP: on each matchday teams receive points according to their placing, as in Formula 1: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 points from 1st to 10th place. Teams with the same matchday score receive the same points. Standings: GP points, then total score.

If teams are level on all criteria, they share the same position in the standings.

15. Postponed, Suspended or Cancelled Matches

If a match is postponed, suspended or cancelled and is not played by the close of the matchday, the footballers involved are without a rating and the league's substitution and no-rating rules apply (Sections 10 and 12).

16. Matchday Flow

Start of the Matchday: coincides with the kick-off of the matchday's first match. From this moment line-ups are frozen and any open repair markets close.

Close of the Matchday: takes place after all matches have ended and the ratings have been consolidated, with the standings updated.

Notifications: participants receive a reminder 24 hours and 1 hour before the start of each matchday, as well as notifications when the matchday opens and closes.

17. Prizes

In leagues with an entry fee the admin sets the prize distribution among the top positions of the final standings: percentages must decrease, add up to 100%, and the number of prize-winning positions cannot exceed the minimum number of participants. Free leagues do not award prizes.

• Prize pool: made up of the fees of the accepted teams, net of the admin commission.

• Participation requirement: to receive a prize, a team must have fielded its line-up itself on at least 50% of the matchdays; line-ups reused automatically ("Last line-up" rule) do not count. The share of teams that do not meet the requirement is redistributed proportionally among the other winners.

• Ties: if several teams share a prize-winning position, the related percentages are added together and split equally.

At the end of the last matchday prizes are notified to participants. Within 24 hours of the notification the admin can block delivery stating the reason, in which case the league is reviewed by the Starcks staff; otherwise the prizes are assigned and the league closes.

18. Amendments to the Rules

Starcks reserves the right to introduce amendments to these rules during the season, with the aim of improving the gaming experience. Any change will be communicated in good time through the official channels (for example Instagram and Telegram).

For more information or further clarification, please consult the official Starcks channels or contact the support service. Have fun and good luck with Starcks Leagues!