Template:Scheduling Intervention

This is currently a draft document.

This document details how we go about arbitrating scheduling disputes in matches where all players would typically need to agree a time for the match to be played, but an issue or multiple issues mean it might not be possible for all players to agree a time.

It should first be pointed out that it is extremely rare for this to be necessary (less than 0.01% of matches).

Principles

• The next best situation, if all the players can't agree a time, is for all but one of the players to schedule the match for a time that the other player might be able to make.
• It is recognized that sometimes a person or people might be asked to do something they don't want to do in order to make the match work (e.g.) being awake at an inconvenient time.
• Nobody is under any obligation to agree to anything they don't want to do, and should not feel bullied.

What we look at

• The email thread to see who has replied, how promptly people replied, who is available and when.
• How long it took the people involved to bring the situation to the attention of the administrators.
• The availability logger (if it exists).
• Other matches involving the players in multiple leagues.
• If someone has extreme unavailability (this might count against them).
• If a player has previously been accommodating to others in terms of available times.
• How often a player has forfeited in the past.
• The timezones of the players involved.
• The match situation (i.e. the league or knockout phase of the tournament).
• The possibility of playing the match later than the scheduled deadline.
• What might be the fairest decision for all players involved.

When the decision is reached

• Asking a player to sit out is never a decision taken lightly.
• A decision will be made by the league administrator(s).
• The email thread will be informed of the organization's preferred time for the match and who might need to sit out.
• If a player asked to sit out ends up being able to play the match, this is deemed a successful outcome.
• If another player offers to sit out and the match can still take place one player down, they become the player sitting out.
• If the player who is asked to sit out is unable to make the match, a form of recompense may be deemed appropriate, particularly if that player's availability was good.