Saturday morning, 8 AM. The tournament’s first match. One of the teams didn’t show up. You’re on your phone, trying to call the captain, while the other teams wait and the bracket gets compromised. This is a walkover — and it happens in every tournament.
When a team doesn’t show (walkover) or when you have an odd number of teams (bye), your bracket breaks if you don’t have a system that handles it automatically. Torneyo does — and this guide shows how it works.
Bye: when the number of teams is odd
In a group format, an odd number of teams means someone always gets a bye each round. This happens, for example, with 5 teams in a group: each round has 2 matches and 1 bye.
Torneyo manages byes automatically when generating the schedule. The team on bye gets the “Bye” status for that round and neither gains nor loses points — they simply don’t play. The following round, the bye rotates to another team, ensuring everyone plays the same number of matches by the end.
No manual math. No remembering who had a bye and who still needs one. The system takes care of it.
Walkover: when a team doesn’t show
A walkover (WO) is when a registered team simply doesn’t show up for the match. Torneyo’s default rules are:
- Score recorded as 3 x 0 (or WO x WO, depending on configuration)
- Absent team gets 0 points for the round
- Present team gets 3 points (win)
- Absent team can receive additional penalties (goal difference deduction, suspension) — configurable
You can set the walkover penalty in the tournament rules. Some organizers prefer to simply award a win to the present team and move on. Others prefer to apply fines or suspensions to the absent team.
How to record a walkover in Torneyo
In the matches dashboard, next to the match, click “Register WO.” The system automatically:
- Marks the absent team as WO
- Awards a 3–0 win to the present team (or a custom score)
- Updates the standings table instantly
- Applies the configured penalty (if any)
- Notifies the teams involved (via email/WhatsApp, if configured)
All in 2 clicks — no need to edit scores, manually update standings, or notify anyone.
Create your tournament with automatic bye and walkover on Torneyo →
