The Nations Cup shall be played between International Men’s Teams from England, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The International Teams shall be selected by the elected representatives of the England Darts Organisation ( BDO ), the Netherlands Darts Bond, the Northern Ireland Darts Organisation, the Irish National Darts Organisation, the Scottish Darts Association and the Welsh Darts Organisation respectively.

1.00 FIXTURES

1.,01 The Fixture Date for the Nations Cup will be the last weekend in February each year.

2.0 HOST COUNTRY

2.01 The ‘Host’ Country shall be determined, and appointed, in an International Meeting in accordance with a rota of ‘Host’ Countries to be agreed at the Next International Meeting.

2.02 The detailed plans and written progress reports for the next event shall be made available by the respective ‘Host’ Country six months prior to the event.

3.0 FINANCE

3.01 All the financial aspects of ‘Hosting’ the event shall be undertaken by the respective International Darts Body in that country.

3.02 In the instance of no sponsorship being available, then each participating Country has agreed to meet their own travel costs and hotel accommodation expenses.

4.0 PLAYING SQUADS

4.01 Each International Darts Body shall name a Playing Squad of ‘SIX’ male players, of which any Five players may play in any match with one standby.

4.02 The standby player may be substituted, at any time, and in any match, prior to the commencement of the respective leg that a player has been drawn to play in, subject to acceptable mitigating circumstances and not for tactical play.

4.03 A player’s registration as an International player shall comply with British International Rules

2.05 to 2.08 as laid down in Section ‘F’ of Volume TWO of the BDO Authorised Handbook.

5.00 PLAYING FORMAT

5.01 The BDO Playing Rules shall apply to all matches played in the Nations Cup.

5.02 The Nations Cup shall be played in three stages. Stage One shall be played in two groups of three, determined by an open draw with no seeding and no reference to results of previous year’s event, on a ‘Round Robin’ basis.

Match play sequence :-

Group A Group B

2 v 3 2 v 3

3 v 1 3 v 1

1 v 2 1 v 2

5.02 cont The Winner and Runner-up in each Group shall be determined by the total legs won by each Team in the matches played. There will be no bonus point for a match win.

In the instance of a tie between two Teams the result of the match played between the two Teams shall resolve the tie.

In the instance of a 3-way tie a nominated Player from each Team shall play in one leg of 501 up to determine the Group Winner and Runner-up. The Team whose nominated Player completes the leg first shall be declared the Group Winner, the remaining Players shall continue playing in the same leg until a second Player completes the leg, that Player’s Team shall be declared the Group Runner-up.

Stage Two shall be played on a Knockout basis with the Winner of Group One playing the Runner-up of Group Two, the Winner of Group Two playing the Runner-up of Group One.

Stage Three shall consist of the bottom team in each group in Stage One playing and then the Grand Final between the Winners of Stage Two.

5.03.1.1.1 E 5.03 Each match in the event shall be played as a ‘Round Robin’ between the individual players in each team. In Stage One all matches will be played, and in Stages Two and Three matches will be played until one team wins 13 legs.

5.04 Each player shall play one leg of ‘501-up’ against each player in the opposing team in accordance with the following procedure.

TEAM ‘A’ V TEAM ’B’

Leg 1 - Player 1 v Player 1

Leg 2 - Player 2 v Player 2

Leg 3 - Player 3 v Player 3

Leg 4 - Player 4 v Player 4

Leg 5 - Player 5 v Player 5

Leg 6 - Player 3 v Player 4

Leg 7 - Player 4 v Player 5

Leg 8 - Player 5 v Player 1

Leg 9 - Player 1 v Player 2

Leg 10 - Player 2 v Player 3

Leg 11 - Player 5 v Player 2

Leg 12 - Player 1 v Player 3

Leg 13 - Player 2 v Player 4

Leg 14 - Player 3 v Player 5

Leg 15 - Player 4 v Player 1

Leg 16 - Player 2 v Player 5

Leg 17 - Player 3 v Player 1

Leg 18 - Player 4 v Player 2

Leg 19 - Player 1 v Player 4

Leg 20 - Player 5 v Player 3

Leg 21 - Player 3 v Player 2

Leg 22 - Player 1 v Player 5

Leg 23 - Player 5 v Player 4

Leg 24 - Player 2 v Player 1

Leg 25 - Player 4 v Player 3

5.05 Each Player shall be allowed ‘6’ practice darts on their first visit to the match board, on the second, and subsequent visits only ‘3’ practice darts shall be allowed.

5.06 To be credited with an ‘International Win’ a player must have won more legs than he has lost in those legs that he has played in any respective match in the Nations Cup.

5.07.1.1 5.07 A player participating in a match in the Nations Cup shall be credited with an ‘International 5.07.1.2 Appearance’

6.0 DRAW

6.01 The Draw for group placings, and order of play between Teams shall be determined in an International Meeting held after each Nations Cup.

6.02 The draw for the ‘Order of Play’ between players in each team shall be conducted on the day of the event, by the Draw Co-ordinators, with the relevant Team Managers for each respective match.

7.0 PLAYING ATTIRE

7.01 All the terms of BDO Playing Rule No. 25 shall apply in all matches played in the Nations Cup.

7.02 In the Officials Reception, the Playing Venue, and during any official ‘photo calls’, ALL players shall wear National Uniform, or the Playing Attire approved by their respective International Darts Bodies.

7.03 Rule 7.02 shall apply to ALL players whether playing in, or attending at the venue, and in Particular during the presentation of Playing Squads, both before and after the event.

8.0 ADVERTISING

8.01 All the terms of Playing Rule No.27 shall apply in all matches played in the Nations Cup.

9.0 SMOKING

9.01 All the terms of Playing Rule No.28 shall apply in all matches played in the Nations Cup

10.0 DRINKING

10.01 All the terms of Playing Rule No.29 shall apply in all matches played in the Nations Cup

11.00 ANTI-DOPING POLICY

11.01 All the terms of the current Anti-Doping Policy in force in the ‘Host’ country shall apply in all matchesplayed in the Nations Cup.

12.0 PROGRAMMES

12.01 Each International Darts Body shall supply head and shoulders photographs of each of the ‘SIX’ Players plus Team Manager for inclusion in the event programme.

12.02 Such photographs and any other relevant information must be forwarded to the person requiring it by not later than ‘6 weeks’ prior to the event.

12.03 In the instance of the items referred to in 11.02 not being provided as required, then the promoter shall print the programme omitting such items, but declaring them as “ Not available at the time of going to print”

13.0 TROPHIES and AWARDS

13.01 The perpetual Nations Cup shall be held by the Champion Country Team for the period between events.

13.02 ‘7’ mementoes shall be provide for each Team participating in the event i.e. the six Players plus Team Manager, and shall be retained by the recipients.

Nations Cup Rules and Playing Format (3) Len Mutch 02-03-2004

13.03 The Match Awards, one for the best player for each Country, shall be decided by the best ‘two’ winning legs in any respective match and one for the best player of the event shall be decided on highest dynamic average in the event.

13.04 In the instance of players having ‘ties’ for an award, then the players ‘third’ and subsequent winning legs, winning legs, if necessary, shall be taken into consideration in order to resolve a ‘tie’

14.0 PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS CONDUCT

14.01 Any Player’s or Official’s conduct, which is considered to have brought the Sport of Darts into disrepute, shall be liable to Disciplinary Proceedings being taken against that player or official.

14.02 Such Disciplinary Action may be instigated by the promoters of the event, or by the respective International Darts Body, whichever is the more appropriate body concerned.

14.03 Any Disciplinary Action shall be conducted in accordance with the BDO Code of Practice No. 3 as laid down in Volume One of the BDO Authorised Handbook.

14.04 Masters of Ceremonies and International Match Referees shall not allow any player to use the microphone, at any time during the Nations Cup, without that player being officially invited to do so.

14.05 During televised matchplay any player or official, using offensive language or seen to be ‘mouthing’ any offensive language, shall be deemed to have brought the Sport of Darts into disrepute, and shall then become subject to Disciplinary Proceedings being taken against that player or official.

15.0 OFFICIALS

15.01 The number of officials required to organise a Nations Cup event shall be determined and appointed by the promoters giving due regard to those persons nominated by their respective International Darts Bodies.

15.02 If any participating country can provide a referee/caller within the official party, who is of an acceptable standard, then he may be considered for use in the Nations Cup.

16.00 INCIDENTS

16.01 When an ‘incident’ occurs which is not specifically covered within these Playing Rules and Format, or the BDO Playing Rules, then the promoters decision shall be final and binding.

16.02 Any decision made under Rule 15.01 shall be referred to an ensuing International Meeting, when the decision shall be considered for inclusion within a revised version of these Rules.

ROTA FOR HOSTING INTERNATIONAL EVENTS.

The issue of a proposed Rota for ‘hosting’ the Nations Cup was discussed in a meeting of Inter-National Representatives held in Boyle on Friday 27th February 2004.

It was agreed that the ‘host’ nation for each year would be as indicated below;