Format
The competition is organised in three stages:
- first stage: round robin group matches,
- second stage: round robin group matches, and
- third stage: straight knock-out system.
The champions and the runners-up of the previous season, with the six strongest remaining teams ranked by the Ranking Committee, qualify automatically to the last 16. If the champions or the runners-up do not enter the competition, the strongest remaining team would take its place. Eight further top teams according to the ranking list would enter the second round directly.
In the first round, the competition is played in groups of three, four or five teams, with the clubs finishing in positions one and two in every group would qualify for the second round. In the second round the competition is played in groups of four teams. The teams finishing in position one in every group shall qualify for the round of the last sixteen. From this round onwards, a single knock-out system is used with eight teams drawn directly into this round.
The semi-finals and finals will be played in two legs, home and away. If each team has won one leg, the winner would be the team with the better aggregate score firs in individual matches, then in games and finally in points. If they are still equal, the winner shall be decided by lot.
Read more about this topic: ETTU Cup