Rules

When you sign up, you join a league: one sport played in one city, such as badminton in Helsinki. A league can also be a private group of players who compete against each other in the same sport, for example a club or workplace league.

You can play in several leagues at the same time. Each one has its own divisions, table and rating.

Every league is split into divisions, so that you play against people of a similar level. Division 1 is the highest.

A division usually has around five players. In a round-robin round, the usual format, you play every other player in your division once: with five players, that makes four matches a month.

City leagues have two seasons a year:

• Winter season: November to April
• Summer season: May to October

Each season has six rounds, one per calendar month. A round starts on the first day of the month and ends at midnight at the end of its last day, Finnish time. Matches can only be scheduled and played within the round, and once it ends its results are final.

Private group leagues can follow their own calendar. The league page always shows the current season and round.

Each division has its own table for the round. A win is worth 3 points and a loss 0. Players level on points are ranked by their sport's rule (in the sport's section below), then by their Elo rating. Rounds played in another game mode are ranked their own way: see “Game modes”.

Every player also has an Elo rating: a single number that estimates your level across the whole league. Everyone starts at 1000. A win raises your rating and a loss lowers it, and how much depends on your opponent: beating a higher-rated player gains you more than beating a lower-rated one.

Your rating carries over from round to round and season to season. The league's Ranking tab lists every player by rating.

At the end of each round, the winner of each division moves up one division and the last-placed player moves down one. Nobody is promoted from Division 1 and nobody is relegated from the lowest division.

Divisions are then formed again for the next round. To keep them roughly the same size, the organisers may move other players too, for example when players pause or new players join.

You can join a league at any time. You get your first matches when the next round starts. The organisers place new players in a suitable division, and promotion and relegation take care of the rest within a few rounds.

The usual format: everyone in a division plays everyone else once during the round, and the table follows the points rule above. The league's page shows which mode the current round is played in.

Play as many matches as you like against anyone in your division, and record them yourselves. You can play the same opponent only so often, usually once a day.

The table ranks you by your score: your win percentage as if you had also won K and lost K extra matches, (wins + K) / (matches + 2K). The league sets K, usually 2. So 1–0 gives 60 %, 9–1 gives 78.6 % and 18–2 gives 83.3 %: winning matters most, and playing more helps a little. Equal scores go by Elo rating, then by the number of matches.

A match that isn't played simply doesn't count: open play has no walkovers.

A knockout bracket, seeded so that the strongest players meet as late as possible. Some tournaments start with small groups whose best players go on to the bracket, and some have a match for third place or a second bracket for those who lose their first match.

Your next match appears as soon as both players are known. Each stage has its own deadline: a match not played by then is decided by the referees, as described below.

The round is played in stages. In each stage you meet a player with about as many points as you, never the same opponent twice. With an odd number of players, one sits out a stage and gets a win for it.

The next stage is paired once every match of the previous one is decided. The table ranks by points, then by the sum of your opponents' points (Buchholz), then by the sport's rule.

You and your opponents arrange your own matches. Try to schedule all of your matches early in the round and spread them evenly over the month, instead of leaving them until the last week.

Don't be shy about messaging your opponents directly in the app. A quick hello is often the easiest way to find a time that suits you both, and we think it's the most human way to do it.

Offer times on the Schedule page. A match is scheduled once your opponent accepts one of your times.

• Propose times for a match: offer your opponent one or more times and a place. They can accept one of them or decline them all.
• Open slot: offer one time to several of your opponents at once. The first one to accept gets the match. Anyone who is too late can join as a group match at the same time.
• Moving a match: to change an agreed time, propose a new one for that match. The old time stays until your opponent accepts the new one.

FlexiLiiga doesn't book courts. Booking is the players' own responsibility, so agree who books. Usually it's the player who proposed the time.

Before you propose a time, check that the venue has a court free. Book it only after your opponent has accepted the time.

Court fees are split equally between the players, unless you agree otherwise for that particular match. The player who books usually pays upfront, and the opponent pays their share straight away, for example with MobilePay.

Everyone brings their own racket or paddle. Balls and shuttles are shared the same way: one player brings them and the cost is split, unless you agree otherwise.

If you can't make an agreed time, tell your opponent as early as possible and propose a new time within the round. If you cancel after the court has been booked and it can no longer be cancelled for free, you pay the whole court fee.

Be ready to start at the agreed time, and warm up within the booked court time. About five minutes is usual. If you're running late, message your opponent.

If a player is more than 15 minutes late without letting their opponent know, the opponent may leave. The match is then treated as unplayed, and the referees decide it as described under Unplayed matches.

Book enough court time for the full match format of your sport. If time runs out before the match is over, finish it later in the same round, continuing from the score where you stopped. Matches can't be shortened, even if both players agree.

Matches follow the official rules of each sport. The key points are summarised in the sport sections below.

There is no umpire, so players call their own matches. You make the calls on your own side of the court, immediately and honestly, and give your opponent the benefit of the doubt. If you can't agree on a call, replay the point.

If a player has to stop during a match, for example because of an injury, their opponent wins. When you report the result, keep the score as it was when play stopped, and give the winner the points, games or sets they still needed to complete the match.

Example in badminton: a player retires at 21–15, 8–3. Report it as 21–15, 21–3.

Either player can report the result in the app. Do it as soon as the match is over, and before the round ends at the latest: after that the round is closed and its results are final.

Results can be corrected while the round is still running, and every change is recorded. If you disagree with a result your opponent has reported, don't keep changing it back and forth: talk to your opponent first, and contact us if you can't agree.

If you know you'll be away for a large part of a round, for example on summer holiday, travelling or injured, pause your participation before the round starts and choose how many rounds to sit out, from one to four. You'll find the button on the league's page, in the Info tab.

While you're paused you get no matches in new rounds, and you keep your place in the league. After the rounds you chose you're back automatically, and you can resume earlier whenever you like: you'll get matches again from the next round.

To stop for good, leave the league in the same place. You still finish the round you're in, your results stay, and you can rejoin later.

Pausing doesn't remove matches from a round that has already started. Play those matches or agree on them with your opponents.

If a match hasn't been played by the end of the round, our referees decide its result based on initiative:

• The player who did more to get the match played, by proposing times, replying and actually trying to play, is awarded the win.
• If neither player showed any initiative, both get a loss.
• An awarded win is worth 3 points in the table like any other win, but it doesn't change anyone's Elo rating. It's shown as a walkover (W/O) instead of a score.

The referees judge initiative from what they can see in FlexiLiiga: the times you proposed, your answers and your messages. Agreements made by phone or in other apps don't count, so schedule your matches and talk to your opponents in the app.

FlexiLiiga is about good matches against people of your level, and about getting to know the players in your city. Winning matters, but how you play matters more.

• Be friendly and respectful, on court and in your messages.
• Answer your opponents' messages and proposed times promptly, ideally within a day or two.
• Make honest calls and report honest results.
• Respect the venue and the next players' court time, and finish on time.
• Thank your opponent after the match, win or lose.

If an opponent behaves badly or keeps avoiding your matches, report them with the Report button on their profile or after your match, or contact us if you can't settle a disagreement. Players who repeatedly break these rules may be warned, paused or removed from the league.

Every player has a trust factor from 0 to 10 on their profile. It shows how reliable a player is: whether they play their matches, turn up on time and treat others well. Everyone starts at 10.

You lose points when something goes wrong. The most common reasons are:

• Unplayed matches that the referees decide against you, because your opponent did more to get the match played, or because neither of you tried.
• Not turning up at a time you agreed on. This costs the most.
• Arriving late, as your opponent tells us after the match.
• Reports that the referees uphold, for example for rude or unsportsmanlike behaviour, dishonest calls or results, or not paying your share of the court.

A report never lowers anyone's trust factor by itself: the referees look into it first.

After a match, both players can rate each other with stars and say whether the other was on time. Your trust factor combines the points you have lost with the ratings your opponents give you. One bad rating hardly matters; a pattern does.

Lost points get weaker over time. A past mistake counts less and less as you keep playing fairly, and after a while it no longer matters.

Other players see your trust factor on your profile. If it gets low, the referees look into it, and they may warn, pause or remove a player from the league.

On your own profile you can see what has affected your trust factor and when. If you think something is wrong, contact us.

• Matches are best of three games. Every rally wins a point, whoever served.
• A game is won at 21 points. At 20–20, play continues until a player leads by 2.
• At 29–29, the next point wins the game, so 30–29 is the highest possible score.
• Players change ends after each game, and in the third game when the leader reaches 11 points.

• Decide who serves first by a toss, for example by spinning a racket or dropping the shuttle. After that, the winner of each rally serves the next one.
• Serve diagonally: from your right service court when your score is even, and from your left when it's odd.
• The whole shuttle must be below 1.15 m when you hit it, and both feet stay on the floor until the serve is made.
• In singles the service court is long and narrow: the inner side line and the back boundary line.

You lose the rally if:

• the shuttle lands outside the court (a shuttle that touches a line is in),
• the shuttle goes under or through the net, or touches you or your clothing,
• you touch the net or its posts with your racket or body while the shuttle is in play, or reach over the net to hit it,
• you hit the shuttle twice in a row.

• Agree on the type of shuttle, feather or nylon, when you schedule the match. Shuttles are paid for like the court fee.
• Players level on points: between two, the one who won their match goes first; between three or more, the larger difference of games won and lost, then of points won and lost.

• Matches are best of five games. Every rally wins a point.
• A game is won at 11 points. At 10–10, play continues until a player leads by 2.
• Players change ends after each game, and in the deciding game when the first player reaches 5 points.
• Take at most one minute between games.

• Each player serves two points in a row. From 10–10, serves alternate after every point.
• Toss the ball at least 16 cm straight up from a flat, open palm and hit it as it falls. The ball stays behind your end line and above the level of the table, and the receiver must be able to see it all the time.
• The serve bounces once on your side and then on your opponent's side. In singles it can land anywhere on their half.
• A serve that touches the net and then lands correctly is a let and is replayed.

• Return the ball over or around the net so that it bounces on your opponent's side. You can't volley it before it has bounced on your side.
• A ball that touches the top edge of the table is in. A ball that hits the side of the table below the edge is out.
• You lose the point if you touch the net, move the table, or put your free hand on the table.

• Use 40+ plastic balls, preferably three-star. Agree on the ball before the match.
• Players level on points: only their matches against each other count, first their points, then the ratio of games won to lost, then of points won to lost. If that separates only some of them, the rest are compared again among themselves.