The Prizes to be won are as follows:
Winning team: N7,000,000
Runner up: N5,000,000
Third place: N3,000,000
Fourth place: N2,000,000
Ownership: The competition shall be owned and managed by the International Tennis Academy, hereinafter referred to as the "ITA".
Eligibility
The competition is OPEN to club teams, State teams and Company/Institution teams.
Teams must have a minimum of two tennis courts with space for viewership.
Rules and Regulations
The competition shall take place under these regulations: The Rules of Tennis and the Davis Cup Code of Conduct where applicable.
In submitting an entry, a team and its members including the captain and team sponsors undertake to abide by and fulfill all their obligations under these Rules and Regulations. Any team, including the captain and team sponsors failing to honour this undertaking shall be subject to penalties to be determined on a case by case basis by the organizers.
In submitting an entry, a Team, its Officers, Sponsors, Directors, Employees, Representatives and its team members agree, as a condition of entry, that for themselves, heirs and personal representatives, all claims of any kind, nature and description are waived, including past, present or future claims and injuries, if any sustained in travelling to or from or participating in the competition against the ITA, and the Host Team and the Sponsors of the competition.
The Competition
The competition will comprise of zonal play-offs, Quarter Finals, Semi Final and Finals
Each Tie shall feature two men's singles matches with reverses, one ladies singles, one men's doubles and a mixed doubles. All matches will be played on a weekend (Friday to Sunday) unless otherwise agreed by the teams and the organisers. Visiting teams are expected to arrive on the Thursday preceding the competition.
Each match will be decided by the best of three (3) sets with a regular tie-break at 6-6 in the third set.
Officiating
The organizers recognize that a successful league would depend on professional and unbiased officiating. Each Tie would therefore have two (2) neutral umpires provided by the organizers.
The host team shall provide six linesmen who would be assessed by the umpires and used as necessary.
The chair umpire has the right to eject a linesman/woman if he/she is found to be biased or incompetent.
Registration
A team shall register a minimum of seven players in the order of the team rankings. This team ranking cannot be changed throughout the first phase of the competition.
The teams will name their doubles teams from the registered players at the competition site.
Each team is allowed one (1) and only one (1) foreign national in their team. This foreign player has to be recruited and registered at the commencement or introduced after the first phase of the completion. The terms of recruitment of every foreign player shall be made available to the organizers who will issue a clearance certificate for presentation to the opposing team before each Tie.
All Nigerian players of all levels are eligible to participate. However, once a player has PLAYED a match for a team, he is not eligible to play for any other team throughout the duration of the competition for the particular year.
Host/Visiting Teams
The host team shall be responsible for providing decent accommodation and feeding to the visiting TEAM up to a maximum of Ten (10) players and officials from Thursday to Sunday.
The host team shall also provide adequate security and ensure that spectators are adequately seated and contained. The host team shall be sanctioned for any breach of security or breakdown of law and order leading to the disruption or non-conclusion of the Tie.
Host teams shall make adequate arrangements for press, radio and TV coverage.
Host teams shall allow the organizers and sponsors to brand the venue and display banners to the standard required of Team Competitions.
There will be a cash prize and trophy for the best host team.
Visiting Teams
Visiting teams are responsible for their transportation and to making sure that they get to the venues on the Thursday preceding the Tie.
Visiting teams are required to show good sportsmanship in all situations.
The Partisan Crowd Rule
This rule will be applied strictly.
During matches each team must control its supporting spectators so that play is not interrupted. In the event that spectators supporting a team behave in such a manner that play is unreasonably interrupted, then the umpire shall warn the spectators that any further unruly behavior will result in such TEAM's player being penalized by the assessment of one (1) point penalty for each subsequent violation.
Format of Play
The order of play shall follow the list and ranking order of players in the registration form.The order of play shall be decided at the Captains meeting on Thursday night
Two matches can take place simultaneously. As much as possible, the match between the top two players should be on the show court.
Doubles matches shall take place a maximum of 30 minutes after the end of singles matches. However, a doubles match can be played if the competitors are not involved in the singles.
The standard of lighting in most clubs is poor, matches must start not later than 10 am on Saturday with no more than a 15 minute break between matches
Even when a result has been obtained, the remaining matches shall still be played to obtain the full score.
Balls
Balls for the completion shall be provided by the organizers. Where a surface (synthetic only) requires a certain make of ball, exceptions will be made but the host must give sufficient quantities to the visiting team to practice on arrival.
Force Majeur
Where a host location or the route to the host location is considered unsafe, the organizers reserve the right to move the Tie to a neutral location to conclude the Tie.
Where a Tie is rained out on a particular day, the Tie shall be moved to and concluded on the next day....
Captains Meeting
There will be a meeting of the team captains along with a supervisor(where provided) and the umpires on the day preceding the TIE.
The supervisor or Chief Umpire will read out the basic code of conduct for Team competitions and go through other issues pertaining to the successful conduct of the Tie.
Entries should be submitted to:
International Tennis Academy
Lagos Lawn Tennis Club
Race Course, Lagos
Mobile: 08037115438n 08187858576, 08022227094
Email: tennisafrica@yahoo.co.uk and gojougboh@ncc.gov.ng
Download your registration form @ http://bit.ly/1rlAMyc