Unsporting Conduct

UNSPORTING CONDUCTUNSPORTING CONDUCT

François Grossi, L2, France

Judge Conference GP Lyon

November 2nd 2012

IntroductionIntroduction

● Preserve integrity of your tournament

● Anybody can act unsportive

● Focus on USC Minor, Major and Aggressive behavior

● Why I chose to talk about that : it's hard to detect

● Goal : set common ground to know how to deal with

● Beware : USC can be verbal or non verbal

Not fair play vs UnsportingNot fair play vs Unsporting

● Unfair to you may not be unfair to the rules

● « Legal tricks » : dealing with derived informa-tion

● → In doubt : Head judge interpretation

● Example : The Missed Trigger IPG rules

Golden rulesGolden rules

● Unsporting conduct disrupts the tournament

● Deal with the situation...● THEN assess the penalty● The player must correct his/her be-

havior

I/ The infractions themselvesI/ The infractions themselves

● Minor : « excessively vulgar or profane » language used

● Fishing for penalties

● Leaving Excessive trash

● Argument with judges

● Anger or excessive joy

ExampleExample

● Players shout excessively during deck registra-tion at limited PTQ events

● At what time do you intervene ?

● How much noise is acceptable ?

● Perception of disruption ? ?

USC Major : definitionUSC Major : definition

● Fails to follow a direct and specific instruction

Warning : different than TE-Failure to follow...

● Insults a « protected » class (religion, gender...)

● Aggressive behaviour not directed at another person or property

● Argument with the HJ after being asked to stop

● Spectator who doesn't leave the play area after being asked to

USC : Aggressive behaviorUSC : Aggressive behavior

● Threats of aggression

● Direct aggression

● WARNING : Verbal or not verbal

● Threats against a judge

● Tears a card from another player

ExamplesExamples

● Player calls : « Judge ». Judge is coming.

Then « Can I have a judge of my country answe-ring my call ? »

Examples (2)Examples (2)

● Player calls : « Judge ». Judge is coming.

Then « I'm sorry can I have a Level 2 judge answering my call ? »


● A player is disappointed of his results (3-3 drop despite he earned 3 byes at a local GPT).

● After his drop he claims that his sealed pool was horrible take one mythic rare and tears it. What do you do ?


● A player gets a GL for USC Major. After the ru-ling he comes to you and claims « My op-ponent did the same thing and he got no pe-nalty ! ». What do you do ?

Additional remarksAdditional remarks

● The TO may ask the player to leave the area even if he is not DQ

● Care to not escalate the situation

● Ignorance is no excuse for this infraction

● Odd cases : instruct the player to stop. If he doesn't then you may penalize with USC - Major

Dealing with the conflict Dealing with the conflict (GL&DQ)(GL&DQ)

● Identify the root causes : gap between expectations and outcomes

● Show empathy but don't tell you're sorry → mitigate the conflict

● Immediate intervention : cut off the communication between players. « Tell me what happened ». You are now the listener. → Active and reflective listening

● Same process than an investigation

Active and reflective listeningActive and reflective listening

● Listen to both players and tell them before you will do this

● Active listening : eye contact, direct and follow up question. Do not show disbelief (his truth)

● Reflective listening : rephrase what he says in your own word.

● Aim : reduce the conflict, establish some respect and authority for you, then you can explain your ruling and they listen to you

DiplomacyDiplomacy

● Embarassing situation. You may want to deliver the penalty first to the player who committed the act

● Struggle between time management and conflict resolution. Too quick : they are still angry (at you), too slow : the entire tournament is de-layed and worse, they may come to see and empower the drama.

● « This is my final ruling, I am open to discus-sion » (From th HJ it is a powerful tool)

ConclusionConclusion

● Not so common, but leads to awkward situations

● Remember the golden rules :

● To recognize : does it disrupt the tournament (not necessarily individuals) ?

● To handle : resolve the conflict before any penal-ty

● Take care of missteps : you have to stay above the conflict, focus only on the behavior

● You must not fall into USC yourself !

Technology

Unsporting Conduct