Rules Violations and Penalties

Competitive integrity is what makes HubMatch worth playing. When a team breaks the rules - intentional forfeits, using an ineligible player, abusive behavior in lobby, score fraud - there is a structured process to report it, review it, and apply penalties that scale with severity. This guide explains how the violation and penalty system works from the player's perspective.

What Counts as a Violation

The most common violation categories are: rule-breaking techniques or settings in a Rematch lobby, intentionally throwing matches, using an ineligible player (roster cheating), submitting false score screenshots, abusive or toxic behavior toward opponents, and no-showing scheduled series repeatedly. Accidental mistakes (a missed check-in, a disconnect) are not violations - they are handled by the normal match reporting flow. See the Match Reporting help article for that path.

Who Can Report

Only team captains involved in the series can open a violation report. You cannot report on behalf of another team you are not playing against, and individual players cannot bypass their captain. The reason is simple: violations have real consequences, and captains are the accountability layer for their team.

You open a report from the series detail page. Attach evidence - screenshots, clips, lobby records - and describe what happened in plain text. Vague reports ("they cheated") are closed without action; specific reports ("player X used an unauthorized glitch at 14:23 of Match 2, clip attached") get reviewed quickly.

The Progressive Penalty Ladder

Penalties scale with severity and history. From lightest to heaviest:

• Warning - formal notice on the record, no immediate consequence
• Goal reversal - a specific scored goal is reversed in the final result
• Single-game forfeit - the offending team forfeits one game in the series
• Series forfeit - the entire series is forfeit, with an ELO penalty applied
• Removal from the tournament - the team is disqualified from the entire tournament, with optional ban from future events

First-time minor violations usually draw a warning. Repeated warnings escalate. Blatant cheating (smurfing, scripts, score fraud) skips the ladder and goes straight to series forfeit or higher. Serial offenders may also receive competition bans that outlast the immediate tournament.

How Decisions Are Made

Reports are reviewed in the HubMatch Discord by the tournament organizer or a designated judge - not automatically by the system. Both teams are invited to state their case. The admin makes a final decision, applies the penalty, and logs the outcome on the violation record.

Decisions are final. You cannot appeal to a different admin, and the same violation cannot be re-opened. If you disagree with a ruling, focus on your next match - admins track patterns, and consistent clean play erases bad history faster than arguing does.

Knowing the Rules

The canonical list of what is and is not allowed lives in the Code of Conduct. Always read each tournament's published ruleset - additional restrictions vary per event. Ignorance is not a defense.