RefereeMatch Terms of Service

REVIEW DRAFT — 24 September 2026. Proposed terms, not yet in force. Complete the bracketed details and review the accompanying implementation notes before publication.

Version: RM-terms-2026-09-draft1. Effective date: [PUBLICATION DATE].

1. Who operates RefereeMatch

RefereeMatch is operated by [OPERATOR LEGAL NAME], an individual operating RefereeMatch (not incorporated), carrying on business as RefereeMatch, at [BUSINESS MAILING ADDRESS — TO BE ADDED] ("RefereeMatch", "we", "us"). Contact: refereematch@proton.me. These terms govern your use of refereematch.ca and its account, tournament, referee and guardian services. The Privacy Policy explains personal information handling; the Youth & Guardian Policy and Community & Safety Rules apply to their respective features.

When you expressly accept these terms, you agree to follow them. If you act for an organization, you must have authority to bind it and identify it accurately. A guardian's acceptance for their own account does not waive a child's rights or make every obligation enforceable against the child. Mandatory legal rights prevail over conflicting wording in these terms.

2. Accounts and eligibility

Adult referee and organizer accounts are for people aged 18 or older. Guardians must be adults with actual parental or legal authority. Do not misstate age, identity, qualifications or authority, share an account, or create another account to evade a restriction. Keep account and qualification information current, protect your credentials and tell us promptly about suspected unauthorized use. You are responsible for your own authorized actions; these terms do not automatically make you responsible for misuse caused by our failure to meet our obligations.

Youth aged 12–17 may use only the approved guardian-linked onboarding process when offered. Children under 12 must not create accounts or be submitted through that process. This platform age range is not a declaration that a person of that age can lawfully referee any particular game.

3. What the platform does

RefereeMatch provides tools to publish tournaments, list games, review referee information, send invitations, record responses and manage permitted reviews. Organizers are responsible for running their events. Referees are responsible for the services they agree to perform. An invitation, matching result or profile listing is not a promise of work, payment, attendance or suitability.

The platform does not itself provide emergency response, onsite supervision, legal advice, insurance or a governing sport body's accreditation. It does not hold money in escrow or guarantee referee pay under these terms. Any future payment service or insurance offering requires separate, clear terms before use.

The actual facts and applicable law determine employment, agency, tax and workplace responsibilities. Describing a person as a referee, organizer or platform user does not establish independent-contractor status or remove any employer, worker, recruiter or other statutory obligations that may apply to us or to a user.

4. Verification and reviews

A certification or age-review status describes the review recorded for that item. It is not a criminal-record or vulnerable-sector check, a guarantee of identity or character, an insurance certificate, or approval for every sport, competition or venue. Ask us what a specific status represents if unclear. Qualifications can expire, be suspended or change; users must report relevant changes promptly.

Organizers must confirm the qualifications, sport-body rules and any screening required for their event. Referees must not accept work outside their current qualifications or legal eligibility. A completed-game record or rating describes recorded history and does not guarantee future performance. Report inaccurate or misleading records to support; we may investigate and correct, annotate or remove them.

5. Tournament and game information

Organizers must have authority to post the event and provide accurate sport, competition, age group, venue, dates, times, pay, number of officials and qualification requirements. They must disclose material conditions before an invitation is accepted, including expected duties, supervision, expense arrangements and any agreed cancellation compensation. Do not include children's contact details or sensitive information in tournament titles, public notes or reviews.

A draft tournament is not a published request for referees. Publishing makes the event available to the platform's applicable workflows; it does not book a referee. An adult booking is recorded only when the applicable invitation is accepted and the platform confirms that response. Check the current dashboard rather than relying solely on an email, which may be delayed. Report discrepancies before the game.

6. Pay, fees and cancellations

The displayed offered pay is the organizer's offer, not money held by RefereeMatch. The organizer and referee must agree on the amount, currency, payment method, payer, due date, expenses and any applicable taxes before the engagement. An organizer must honour its payment obligations, including mandatory employment entitlements where applicable. A referee must not provide banking passwords or pay an undisclosed fee to receive an invitation.

RefereeMatch will disclose any platform fee, tax, recurring charge, billing interval and applicable cancellation/refund terms before asking you to purchase a paid service. These terms alone do not authorize a charge or automatic renewal. [CONFIRM WHETHER ANY PLATFORM FEES CURRENTLY EXIST; ADD THEIR TERMS BEFORE PUBLICATION IF THEY DO.]

Cancel or withdraw through the available platform controls promptly and notify affected participants where necessary. The record should identify the cancelled game or invitation. Cancellation does not by itself erase compensation already earned, statutory rights or an agreed cancellation payment. A substitute referee requires the organizer's approval and the same applicable checks; do not share an account or silently transfer an assignment. Mandatory refund and cancellation rights are preserved. No blanket "all sales final" rule applies through these terms.

7. Youth features

Youth profiles remain hidden from the referee directory and youth bookings remain blocked during the current onboarding and permission-review stage. Guardian permission means only permission for that linked child to be considered for the specific reviewed game. It is neither the child's acceptance nor a booking, work permit, sport-body authorization or injury waiver.

Changed game details or an invalidated review require a new review and new permission. A guardian can decline or withdraw permission. Neither an organizer nor a guardian may use an adult account, an off-platform arrangement or a misleading age declaration to bypass these platform restrictions. Any future opening of youth bookings requires updated information, applicable checks and fresh permissions where needed.

8. Safety and lawful conduct

Follow applicable law and the Community & Safety Rules. Do not harass, threaten, exploit, discriminate unlawfully, falsify documents, manipulate ratings, expose private information or compromise the service. Organizers must address venue safety, appropriate supervision and emergency arrangements; referees must raise safety concerns and comply with applicable sport and workplace requirements. No user must continue an unsafe or unlawful activity because of a platform booking or these terms.

RefereeMatch reports are not an emergency service. Call 911 for immediate danger in Canada. Report suspected child abuse or neglect directly to the appropriate authorities when required; a message to RefereeMatch does not discharge an independent reporting duty.

9. Content and intellectual property

You retain your rights in content you submit. You give us a non-exclusive permission to store, reproduce, format and display that content only as needed to operate the features you request, enforce these rules and meet lawful obligations, consistent with your privacy choices. This does not authorize advertising use of a child's identity or publication of private documents. It ends when the content is deleted except for necessary restricted records and backups retained consistently with the Privacy Policy and law.

Submit only content you are entitled to use and disclose. Reviews must reflect an actual interaction, distinguish opinion from factual allegations, and avoid threats and unnecessary personal information. We may restrict or remove unlawful, misleading or abusive content and explain our decision where reasonably possible. RefereeMatch's branding and software remain the property of their respective owners; normal use of the service does not transfer ownership or permit misleading affiliation claims.

10. Service operation and third parties

We aim to provide a reliable service but cannot promise uninterrupted access, immediate email delivery or error-free user submissions. We may maintain or change features and will give reasonable notice of material changes where practicable. External services have their own terms. Using a service provider does not remove our obligations concerning information or services under our control.

11. Account restrictions and closure

We may reasonably restrict accounts, invitations or content to investigate credible safety, fraud, privacy or eligibility concerns, address breaches of these terms, or comply with law. Urgent restrictions may be immediate. Where lawful and safe, we will provide the reason and a way to request review at refereematch@proton.me. We will consider corrections and supporting information without promising a particular outcome.

You may request account closure through support. Before closure, address outstanding game commitments and tell affected participants; closure does not erase valid accrued obligations. Personal information and retained records are handled under the Privacy Policy, not kept indefinitely merely because these terms once applied.

12. Responsibility and preserved rights

Sport and travel can involve risks. Users should assess the event and arrange appropriate protection. This statement explains risk; it is not a release of negligence claims or a waiver of a child's rights. RefereeMatch does not guarantee another user's performance, but remains responsible to the extent required by applicable law for its own acts and omissions.

Nothing here excludes liability or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded, or requires a parent to indemnify RefereeMatch against a child's claim. These terms do not impose mandatory arbitration, waive class proceedings, shorten statutory limitation periods, or prevent a report to a regulator. Any proposed financial liability cap or business-to-business indemnity must be separately reviewed before inclusion; none is imposed by this draft.

13. Complaints, disputes and governing law

Contact support with the relevant account or game reference and the remedy you seek. We encourage reasonable efforts to resolve concerns, but contacting us is not a condition to urgent relief, a regulatory complaint or exercising a statutory right. For organizer/referee payment disputes, provide the agreed terms and relevant records; our assistance does not make us an adjudicator or guarantor.

Ontario law and applicable federal Canadian law govern these terms, subject to mandatory protections that apply to you elsewhere. You may bring a claim in a court with jurisdiction, including an available small-claims process. These terms do not require you to use a forum prohibited by applicable law.

14. Changes and interpretation

We will publish the version and effective date of amended terms and provide reasonable advance notice of material changes, except where an immediate change is needed for law or safety. We will obtain renewed agreement where required. Changes do not retroactively alter an already agreed payment or remove accrued rights. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue only to the extent lawful. A failure to enforce a provision once is not a permanent waiver.

Specific agreed transaction terms govern that transaction where consistent with mandatory law and these platform rules. The Privacy Policy explains data handling rather than giving us a general licence to use information for unrelated purposes. Feature-specific guardian consent remains separate and controls the purpose for which it was obtained.