CJA Champions League

The CJA Champions League is the Core Jetball Association's regional club championship. The event is held annually and is usually one of the most anticipated jetball events of the year.

Qualification
The winner (and in some cases runner-ups) of every proffesional jetball league in the Core Jetball Association get a chance to compete for the CJA Champions League Championship. The winner and runner-up of the 12 highest rated jetball systems in the CJA rankings receive automatic qualification into the tournament. Every other team must qualify.

There are 460 profesional jetball leagues in the Core. Some systems contain multiple leagues and other leagues are cotain multiple systems. 24 teams automatically qualify (see above) and the rest must enter a qualification tournament. In the highest ranked systems, the the 3rd and 4th placed teams are allowed to qualify. In others, the top two or three can attempt to qualify and in others only the league champion enters qualification. When all is said end done, 500 teams enter the qualification phase.

The First Stage
The first stage of qualification matches the highest ranked teams with the lowest (1-500, 2-499, etc). These two teams play each other twice, one game home and the other away. In the event of a tie, the team with the most goals scored will advance. If that is a, tie-breaking game will be played in a neutral system, chosen by the CJA.

The Second Stage
The second stage of qualification is similar to the first. The highest remaining team matches up with the lowest, and they play each other in the same home-away format. Ties are broken the same way as the CJA Champions Leauge.

The Group Stage
The remaining 125 teams are randomly drawn into 25 groups of 5. Each team plays each other once, and will have 2 home games and 2 away games. Which games are home and which are away are randomly chosen. Ties in records are broken by numbers of goals scored, then number of goals allowed. If these two are both ties, a tie-breaking game will be played on neutral ground. The top teams from each group qualify for the Champions League.

Play-in Games
By the end of qualification, 49 teams have qualified. The first are played by the lowest ranking teams in the league (#s 48 and 49). These two play-in games are played in home-away format. The team with the best record enters the group phase (ties are broken by the same format of the first two qualification phases).

Group Play
The 48 teams alive are randomly drawn into 8 groups of 6. Teams from the same league can not be in the same group. Each team plays the other twice, in home-away format, for a total of 10 games. Ties are broken by the method used in the group stage of qualification. The top two teams from each group advance to the next round.

Round of 16
The highest ranked teams of the remaing 16 teams are matched up with the lowest ranked teams. They place each other twice on a home-away basis, using the tie breaking format of the intial qualification stage. When 8 teams remain, the same process is used (highest ranked plays lowest ranked, 2 games-home and away, same tie breaking method).

The Final 4
When four teams remain, the home-away format is dropped and all games are moved to a predetermined planet that was decided before the season. The #1 remaining team plays #2 and #3 plays #4. Only one game is played. The two winners play for the championship and the distinction of being the best club in the Core.

The Championship Game
The Championship Game of the CJA Champions League is one of the most anticipated events in galactic sports. The final two teams play each other once, on the planet that was chosen to host the final 4. The winner is the champion of the Champions League and receives a berth in the Galactic Club Championship, along with the team they beat in the final.