2. Queue and Game Rules
2.1. Diamond Division Captains are assigned by ELO. The captain with the highest ELO picks first. The pick phase is structured ABBAABBA.
2.2. MAPS
The assigned captains in the match take turns banning one map until a final map remains. The map pool is as follows:
▬ Anubis
▬ Inferno
▬ Mirage
▬ Nuke
▬ Overpass
▬ Vertigo
▬ Ancient
2.3. SERVER CONFIGURATION
▬ All servers have the official competitive ruleset that is used for majors.
▬ You can vote within the in-game escape menu vote selector, to pause, creating a timeout that will last 60 seconds.
▬ Each team will have 4 tactical timeouts throughout the game.
▬ Each team has certain amount of minutes for technical timeouts, or to call an admin from the match room page. This can be initiated by typing ‘!pause’ in the in-game chat.
2.4. SERVER LOCATION
The server location is automatically assigned for the match during the voting phase. The following server locations are available for usage:
▬ Johannesburg, South Africa
2.5. OVERTIME
▬ Overtime is enabled for all matches in the case of a tie after 30 rounds.
▬ The format for overtime is $12,500, Max Rounds 3 (mr3).
3. Communication
English must be spoken at all times in all areas of the SAPL.
This includes but is not limited to: Communicating with admins, Discord voice and text, in-game voice and text, hub overview chat and direct messages.
You must own and use a functioning microphone to participate in the SAPL. Players who are found to be without a functioning microphone will be temporarily suspended until they can prove to an admin that they have a functioning microphone.
All players must be present in their team’s Discord channel on the official SOUZERN Discord server for the duration of the match and communicate therein (unless specified by an admin to use in-game communication).
Players that are not present in their team’s Discord channel or refuse to join will receive a minimum ‘Failure to Communicate’ penalty of 12 hours.
Players that refuse to communicate in their team’s Discord channel will receive a minimum ‘Failure to Communicate’ penalty of 12 hours.
Ongoing games are not eligible for cancellation due to technical issues with Discord. If technical issues arise the following applies:
▬ In-game communication will be used in the event of a Discord service outage while a game is in progress.
▬ Private Rooms are available in Discord if the Teleport BOT is offline. Players are expected to organize themselves into these numbered rooms before their game begins.
▬ An admin must be contacted before any rounds have been completed if a player does not have a functioning microphone.
4. Cancellation of Matches
Matches may only be cancelled under the following criteria or circumstances:
4.1. SERVER INSTABILITY ISSUES
If a server issue presents itself before ten (10) rounds have been completed an admin will have the ability to cancel the match.
Server instability is defined as:
"an issue that is clear and identifiable by an admin either independently OR through evidence supplied to an admin by the players. The admin will observe or the evidence will clearly show that: the server has poor performance in the form of high latency, significantly high variance or crashing."
Server issues should clearly be seen to affect the majority of players connected.
Acceptable evidence from players should be:
▬ net_graph screenshots clearly showing an issue (an admin may ask you to type "status" in the console and then provide a screenshot of the result)
▬ In-game clips or Twitch VODs that show beyond doubt that the server is the issue
This evidence must be available upon demand and provided before the game can be considered for cancellation.
Cancellations for Server Instability are not guaranteed, the investigating admin will make an informed decision on the need for cancellation.
Server Instability issues that occur after 10 rounds are complete will require the majority (3/5 players) of both teams to agree to a cancellation. If no agreement can be reached the match will continue.
4.2. NEW MEMBERS
Occasionally a situation may arise where a new player to the SAPL has either failed to join the Discord channel before queueing or is unable to join the Discord server altogether.
In this case, it is the responsibility of the players to contact an admin as early as possible.
If you discover a player on your team is not in Discord, the following applies:
1. You must contact an admin from your match room.
2. You must toggle your !pause to prevent the game from progressing further.
3. You must inform the admin of the situation appropriately and specify the player's FACEIT username.
If no rounds have been completed, the admin will make one of the following decisions:
1. Move the players on your team to a private match channel and the match will continue. This is our preferred method to resolve this situation and will always be the first option.
2. Rehost the game. If the player needs more time to join or complete authorization, the game may be rehosted with the same configuration.
3. Cancel the match. If there is no indication that the player’s Discord issues will be resolved in a reasonable time then the game may be cancelled allowing teammates to requeue.
If one (1) or more rounds have been completed, the admin will make one of the following decisions:
1. Move the players on your team to a private match channel and the match will continue. This is our preferred method to resolve this situation and will always be the first option.
2. Rehost the game. If the player needs more time to join or complete authorization, the game may be rehosted with the same configuration if both teams agree in the majority (3/5 players).
3. Instruct players to use in-game communication for this game only. If both teams do not agree to a rehost, the game will not be cancelled and players are to use in-game comms.
4.3. LEAVERS
Counter-Strike is a competitive game and often causes high tempers or frustration. A minority of players sometimes choose to leave a game early creating issues for the other players. If you wish to cancel a game due to a teammate leaving there are two sets of procedure as detailed below.
If a player leaves your match before 6 rounds have been completed, the following applies:
1. You must contact an admin before 6 rounds have been completed.
2. You must toggle your !pause and call an admin immediately.
3. You must not wait until your pause time is used before contacting an admin.
The responding admin will confirm that you are paused and will investigate to the best of their ability whether a player intends to rejoin the game or not. If communication with the player is not possible the admin will ask the team that called the admin to wait an appropriate amount of time to give the player a chance to rejoin.
If the player does not intend to rejoin, fails to rejoin within the 5 minute cooldown OR the given time that an admin states, the player will receive a 24 hour queue cooldown and the game will be cancelled.
If a player leaves your match after 6 rounds have been completed, the following applies:
1. You must toggle your !pause and call an admin.
2. You must have already established with the other team that their majority (3/5 players) will agree to a cancel.
3. The responding admin will confirm that you are paused and will contact the other team to confirm that they agree in the majority to cancel the game.
If the other team indicates their agreement to cancel, the leaving player will receive a 24 hour queue cooldown and the game will be cancelled.
If the other team indicates that they do not agree to cancel then the game will be played out. The leaving player will still receive a 24 hour queue cooldown.
4.4. MULTIPLE LEAVERS
If multiple players leave from one team after 6 rounds have been completed, the following applies:
1. You must contact an admin from the match page.
2. You must toggle your !pause.
The responding admin will confirm that you are paused and identify which users have left the game. They will be given the standard window of five (5) minutes OR a given time that the admin states to return to the game.
If there is no indication that players will return and continue the game, the admin responding will manually set the score of the game to a win (1-0) in the enemy team's favor (the team without leavers). This will end the game, causing ELO and leaderboard points to be added or subtracted in the same manner as a standard win or loss for each team. All players who did not reconnect (or refused to reconnect) will be issued a 24 hour leaver ban.
If multiple players leave from both teams after 6 rounds have been completed, the following applies:
3. You must contact an admin from the match page.
4. You must toggle your !pause.
The responding admin will confirm that you are paused and identify which users have left the game. They will be given the standard window of five (5) minutes OR a given time that the admin states to return to the game.
If there is no indication that players will return and continue the game, the admin responding will cancel the match. All players who did not reconnect (or refused to reconnect) will be deducted the full leaderboard point amount for a loss as well as being issued a 24 hour leaver ban.
4.5. PLAYER CONNECTION
Individual connection issues are defined as:
"high ping, variance, choke, loss or skipping affecting a player that is not a confirmable server issue."
An admin may ask you to type "status" in the console and then provide a screenshot of the result.
For players with individual connection issues the following applies:
1. You must contact an admin before any rounds have been completed.
2. You must toggle your !pause to prevent the game from starting.
3. You must inform the responding admin whether this issue is connection related and can be resolved, or if the issue is unknown and may persist.
If no rounds have been completed:
▬ A rehost may be granted if the connection issue has been resolved. Team and map choices must remain the same.
▬ In the case of the issue being unknown and persistent the admin may choose to cancel the game.
If six (6) or more rounds have been completed:
▬A rehost may only be granted if both teams agree in the majority (3/5 players).
Cancellations for individual player connection issues are not guaranteed and are at the discretion of the responding admin.
4.6. ADMIN DISCRETION
An admin may decide to rehost/cancel a game that is beyond round 6 but only up to round 10. However, if the round score difference is 4 or more, then 3 of the 5 players from the opposing team must each agree inside the match room chat.
In certain situations where a game is suffering a Major Disruption a senior admin may allow a game to be cancelled at any stage.
Major Disruption is defined as an event that is causing the game to be unplayable for one or both teams. The determination of whether there is Major Disruption in a game is at the discretion of senior admins on a case by case basis.
If the following are occurring and you believe they are severe in nature, you may request an admin to observe the game:
▬ Repeated Friendly Fire by one or more individuals
▬ Repeated and extreme Hate Speech by one or more individuals
▬ Repeated Griefing by one or more individuals
▬ Repeated Throwing by one or more individuals
5. Cheating, Scripts & Exploits
All forms of cheating are strictly forbidden, including but not limited to ESP (wallhacks, radar hacks), aim hacking (silent aim, aimbotting, triggerbotting) and mobility hacks.
Players caught cheating will be permanently banned from SOUZERN without a warning.
All forms of scripting and macros are forbidden, including but not limited to:
▬ Bunnyhop scripts/macros
▬ Accuracy scripts or single-bullet fire scripts
▬ Anti-recoil scripts/macros
▬ Name change scripting
▬ Offensive text binds
Exceptions to this rule are:
▬ Buy binds
▬ Jump throw scripts
▬ Non-offensive text binds
Exploits are forbidden, this includes but is not limited to:
▬ Pixel walking
▬ Transparent textures
We allow the use of these plugins on our platform, however any and all issues resulting from their use, including queue bans are your own responsibility.
6. Admin Abuse
SOUZERN offers a team of admins that are: motivated, well trained, respectful, helpful and fair.
If you feel that a decision made by an admin has violated any of our rules as written here or has abused their position please create a report on our Discord. Select the infraction "Admin Abuse" and explain to the best of your ability what happened and why you believe it was admin abuse.
Please do not argue with the admin involved or publicly comment about your suspected admin abuse as this is not productive behavior. You may be muted to prevent community disruption.
This type of report will be exclusively handled by SOUZERN management.
7. Code of Conduct
SAPL was created to offer a competitive environment for Counter-Strike that welcomes new and experienced players alike, while encouraging sportsmanship and gameplay development. SAPL players are expected to demonstrate respect for their peers and the Support Team. Players berating their team or teammates due to a questionable or poor play will not be tolerated; this behavior will be swiftly and appropriately handled by our Support Team.
The following headings describe behaviors or actions that will not be tolerated in the SAPL. Players behaving contrary to the Code of Conduct will receive appropriately measured punishments, including: Short-Term Suspension, Long-Term Suspension, or Permanent Removal from the hub/platform.
7.1. ANTI-COMPETITIVE GAMEPLAY
SAPL players are expected to treat their matches seriously and therefore behave appropriately. Gameplay in which a player is not playing in a serious manner will not be tolerated.
This behavior may include:
▬ Continuous Force Buying / Not buying with your team
▬ Ignoring team communication
▬ Not playing with your team / playing solo
▬ Going AFK at the beginning of rounds
▬ Being AFK for significant periods of time
7.2. COMMUNITY MISCONDUCT
Behavior that is deemed detrimental or disruptive to the SAPL and/or the integrity of the game may result in removal from the League.
This can include but is not limited to:
▬ Continuous disruptive behavior anywhere in the League
▬ Repeated poor behavior following multiple warnings or punishments
▬ Arguing with or harassing any member of staff
▬ Repeated Support Abuse
▬ Defamation
7.3. DEATH THREAT
We do not tolerate threats towards other users in SOUZERN.
This includes, but is not limited to:
▬ Messages indicating a threat of bodily harm or violence towards another user.
▬ Instructing a fellow player to harm or kill themselves.
7.4. FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
Voice communication is mandatory in the SAPL. You must be an authorized member of our Discord server and remain connected to your team’s Discord channel for the duration of your match.
The following behavior is strictly prohibited:
▬ Muting and deafening yourself
▬ Muting your teammates in Discord or in-game
▬ Failing to make necessary callouts in Discord (or in-game if an admin has instructed you to. Refer to 3. Communication and/or 4.2 New Members where appropriate)
The exceptions for muting teammates are as follows:
▬ Muting an extremely toxic teammate
▬ Muting a teammate that is harassing yourself or another
▬ Muting a teammate that is continually spamming the microphone either in Discord or in-game
If you have muted a teammate you must file a report on our Support Site with clear evidence as to why it was necessary to mute this teammate.
Failure to provide sufficient evidence for muting a teammate will result in a Failure to Communicate penalty.
7.5. FRIENDLY FIRE
Incidents of intentional team killing and/or team damage.
This includes retaliatory team killing or team damage regardless of whether another user attacks you first as well as in response to another user’s behavior.
Instances of friendly fire will result in a minimum penalty of a 24 hour queue cooldown. Excessive friendly fire will result in extended queue cooldowns and includes the potential for immediate removal from the SAPL.
7.6. GRIEFING
Any behavior which inhibits a teammate's ability to play the game will be considered griefing.
This includes, but is not limited to:
▬ Intentionally blocking teammates
▬ Intentionally team flashing
▬ Stealing dropped weapons
▬ Microphone spamming
Text spamming of any kind including: binds, foreign languages and symbols
7.7. HARASSMENT
Targeted toxicity from specific user(s) towards other user(s) over multiple instances.
Releasing any personal information of any other player will lead to a suspension from the league.
7.8. INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE/ICONOGRAPHY
Messages referencing a person's race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilities will lead to an extended ban in the SAPL.
Images and symbols that are offensive in nature are forbidden. This can include but is not limited to:
▬ Discord profile pictures/avatars
▬ FACEIT banner and or profile pictures
▬ Steam profile pictures or content
If you are displaying an offensive image or symbol you will be asked to remove or change it at the minimum; you may also receive an extended punishment.
We do not tolerate casual use of offensive terminology and you will be warned or punished appropriately.
7.9. INTOXICATION
If a player is intoxicated and there is a clear effect on their performance or the experience of other players in the match, the user will be given a minimum of a 24-hour queue ban.
7.10. MATCH ABUSE
Below are the following cooldowns for match abuse:
▬ Didn't accept match: 5 minutes.
User failed to Accept the queue, refer to #5 if you use FACEIT Enhancer.
▬ Captain no-pick: 2 hours.
User selected as Captain failed to make a selection for their team.
▬ Didn't Connect (AFK): 2 hours.
User failed to connect to a game that was properly configured within the 5 minute join timer.
▬ Leaver: 6 hours.
User disconnected from a game and failed to rejoin within 5 minutes or not at all.
An admin may shorten your 6 hour ban depending on your ban history.
Can I get my ban removed?
We will not remove Captain No-Pick or AFK (Didn’t Connect) bans under any circumstances other than the following exceptions:
▬ A known FACEIT issue such as: platform down or a bug communicated to us or confirmable directly by FACEIT.
▬ A known Steam issue such as: CS:GO logins down, Steam down or another widespread verifiable Steam issue.
▬ A CS:GO update.
NOTE: During Steam or FACEIT outages we will do our best to remove AFK (Didn’t Connect) bans. However, ultimately the responsibility rests with the player to inform us as soon as they receive the ban. There is no guarantee that these bans will be removed at a later time or date, even if they were the result of Steam or FACEIT outages.
Leaver bans may only be removed if one of the following applies:
▬ Player reconnected and played the remainder of the game.
▬ Player can produce an outage map from their service provider (either internet or power).
If you were able to reconnect to a game that you became disconnected from and play the remainder, please contact an admin on the SOUZERN CS:GO Discord. Alternatively you may provide the match room URL for that game and an admin will verify through the GOTV that you reconnected.
NOTE: Regardless of whether a game is about to be cancelled, please DO NOT leave the server before you are automatically removed. You will receive an automatic AFK (Didn't Connect) cooldown and we will not lift it.
7.11. GAME DODGING
Dodging a game is strictly prohibited and will result in an immediate ban of 7 days, minimum.
This includes, but is not limited to:
▬ Not joining due to not wanting to be on a team with a certain player(s)
▬ Not joining due to wanting to be on a team with a certain player(s)
▬ Continuously not joining matches from the past (unusual patterns)
7.12. PAUSE ABUSE
The !pause feature available in SAPL matches is intended to be used in the event that an admin must be contacted for assistance. In the event of a player having a technical issue you may use the !pause feature, however if before the completion of six (6) rounds, you must also contact an admin.
The !pause feature may not be used in any other instance, including but not limited to:
▬ Tactical timeouts
▬ Bathroom breaks
▬ Food and drink breaks
▬ Trolling of any kind
▬ Unpausing the enemy team's pause
▬ Unpausing whilst a user is communicating with an admin
Each team has four (4) thirty (30) second tactical pauses that they may initiate through the in-game vote menu.
Players found to be abusing the !pause feature may be subject to a minimum of a 24 hour Pause Abuse cooldown.
7.13. STREAMING
Many SAPL players are also aspiring streamers, or in some cases already established streamers. We want to support this to the best of our ability, therefore we will not prohibit users from streaming their games when playing in the SAPL.
We do however strongly suggest that you use a delay, preferably a minimum of 60 seconds. This will help to protect you from the potential of an enemy team member viewing your stream for information they may abuse against you.
Please consider that if you stream without delay you are not only potentially impacting your own gameplay experience, but also the experience of your teammates who did not have any say in your decision to stream the game.
If you chose to stream - especially without delay - please remember that you do so at your own risk. If you believe someone is stream sniping please report them and provide comprehensive and specific evidence.
7.13.1. STREAM SNIPING
Viewing the stream of a player on the enemy team is strictly prohibited. You may not under any circumstances view or use information from an enemy player’s stream on any platform to gain an advantage.
Players found to be engaging in Stream Sniping will receive a minimum of a seven (7) day queue ban.
7.14. SUPPORT ABUSE
Abusing the Support system that SOUZERN offers in any way will result in strict penalties.
This includes but is not limited to:
▬ Behaving in a rude or disrespectful manner towards a member of the admin team
▬ Failing to respect and accept a decision made by a member of the admin team after their decision and position have been clearly stated
▬ Continually arguing with an admin regarding a ban that has been issued may result in further consequences
▬ Harassing any member of the admin team with unsolicited and/or continuous direct messages
▬ Repeatedly calling an admin for an issue that was already resolved
▬ Repeatedly filing erroneous or unnecessary reports
▬ Repeatedly tagging either a specific admin or all support members in the hub overview
SAPL admins are volunteers who are here to enforce the rules and apply judgements that are fair to all involved parties. Abuse will not be tolerated.
7.15. THROWING
Behaviours that show a clear attempt to lose the game or round are considered throwing.
This includes but is not limited to:
▬ Making little or no attempt to kill enemies
▬ Giving up your life on purpose without attempting to contribute in any way
▬ Giving up the bomb or the position or equipment of your team in any way
SAPL is a competitive community and we offer prizes as a reward for your performance.
As such we expect you to play to the best of your ability at all times.
Intentionally throwing FACEIT matches anywhere on the platform in order to maintain a lower ELO and/or maintain your leaderboard position, will result in suspension from SAPL and forfeiture of any prizes.
This includes but is not limited to:
▬ Free and Premium queues
▬ Other Organizers
▬ Competitions
7.16. TOXICITY
Any language in either text or voice that is considered abusive or disruptive to other players.
This includes but is not limited to:
▬ Constantly criticizing another player’s skill or decision making.
▬ Swearing at or shouting at your teammates, creating a hostile environment.
Giving suggestions or advice to players in-game can help you learn and grow as a player. Doing so in a positive way is encouraged in the SAPL. Be mindful of your inflection and tone as to not come across in a hostile manner.
Learning to accept constructive criticism that is presented in a friendly and polite manner is an important part of growing as a player and as a person. Please do not respond to another player’s advice in a toxic way.
Toxicity will be punished regardless of where it occurs, including but not limited to: Discord voice or text, hub chat or in-game voice or text.
8. Player Location
SAPL is a Southern African individual league. In order to provide the best experience for all players our Divisions have geographical restrictions. In order to participate in SOUZERN you must reside in one of the following whitelisted locations:
South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Mauritius, Angola, Namibia, Reunion Island and Uganda.
Players found to be participating from any locations that are not listed above or have circumvented these geographical restrictions will be removed from the SAPL.
SOUZERN reserves the right to remove players with unstable connections that are consistently harming the competitive nature of the game. If a player is removed and resides within the approved countries for the league, they will be eligible for reimbursement.
9. Multiple Accounts / Smurfing
Registering multiple FACEIT accounts is against the FACEIT Terms of Service and is strictly prohibited.
You may not register an alternate account for any reason, including but not limited to:
▬ Attempting to evade a FACEIT issued ban
▬ Attempting to evade a SOUZERN issued ban
▬ Attempting to play at a lower skill level in order to win prizes
All alternate accounts will be removed from SOUZERN and suspended from the FACEIT platform and are not eligible for refunds of any kind. Players who register an alternate account will receive no less than a three (3) day queue ban on their main account.
SOUZERN relinquishes all responsibility in the event of:
▬ Users wishing to switch to a different FACEIT account.
▬ Users wishing to change the Steam account associated with their FACEIT account.
▬ Users who lose access to either their Steam or FACEIT account. Refer to: FACEIT 2FA and STEAM GUARD to ensure that your accounts are using the highest level of security.
10. Reports and Appeals
10.1. REPORTING
Please report users who are breaking rules by creating a report through the #player-report channel in the SOUZERN Discord server. Evidence must be provided for each report submitted.
We recommend that you set up NVIDIA Instant Replay (ShadowPlay), Medal.tv, OBS, Streamlabs or any third-party software to record your in-game communications, as this is not recorded in the match GOTV. We do not expect you to record your entire game, simply use the instant replay feature to record the incidents when and if they occur.
10.2. EVIDENCE
Please be as specific as possible when submitting reports, including the approximate rounds in which the incident occurred. Reports without user-submitted evidence or any indication that evidence can be found within the GOTV itself will be closed immediately without action.
10.3. APPEALS
Depending on the type of infraction you received a ban for, you may be eligible to appeal the decision and have the ban either shortened or removed.
If you feel you have been unfairly banned and are eligible to appeal, you may submit a ticket explaining why you think the ban was made in error or should be repealed.
Appeals are handled exclusively by SAPL management.
11. Seasons & Prizes
Each division operates on a one (1) month season length. You can see the end date and time local to yourself of each season if you navigate to your division’s hub and select Leaderboards.
Gold Division operates with leaderboards that reset every 10 days with the top twenty-five (25) placing individuals receiving prizes.
Diamond Division operates with leaderboards that reset every 10 days with the top twenty-five (25) placing individuals receiving prizes.
Gold and Diamond Division winners will automatically receive their FACEIT POINTS with 24h after completion of the leaderboard event.
12. Support
If you require further support, please open a Support ticket on the SOUZERN Discord server.