1 The agreement and website use
Who we are
These Terms and Conditions govern your use of sportsopengroup.com and your dealings with SPORTS OPEN GROUP LTD, trading as Sports Open Group or SOG. The company is registered in Scotland under number SC903393, with registered office at 33 Inglis Green Road, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH14 2EY. Contact info@sportsopengroup.com. We, us and our mean SOG. You means the visitor, registrant, attendee, donor or entrant to whom the relevant provision applies.
These Terms cover website content, enquiries, events and webinars, the African Sports Investment Summit (ASIS), Sports Tech Africa, donations and the ASIS Startup Competition. ASIS 2027 takes place from 18 to 20 May 2027 at Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra, Ghana, subject to the event-change provisions below.
When the agreement applies
The website-use provisions apply when you use the website. The applicable booking, donation or competition provisions form part of your agreement when you accept them and complete the relevant transaction or submission. Keep a copy of the applicable Terms and your confirmation.
Specific event or programme conditions clearly supplied and accepted before booking or entry take priority where they expressly vary these Terms. A signed commercial agreement governs the matters it expressly covers. Nothing in these Terms removes mandatory consumer or data protection rights. Our Privacy Policy explains information handling and is not a blanket marketing or media release.
Your responsibilities
You must provide accurate information, have authority to act for any organisation named and use an email address you can access. Competition entries and general business registrations are for people aged at least 18, unless a separate activity expressly permits younger participants with appropriate arrangements.
You must not impersonate another person, submit unlawful or malicious content, forge evidence, interfere with systems or judging, defeat access restrictions, harvest personal information without authority or use automated extraction that disrupts the service or infringes rights. Administrator access is restricted to authorised personnel. You must keep credentials, verification codes and private joining links secure. We may restrict access where reasonably necessary to address fraud, security risks or a serious breach, giving reasons where lawful and practicable.
Website material and outside services
SOG and its licensors retain rights in the website, branding and published content. You may read, link to and use public material reasonably for personal or internal business purposes, subject to any stated licence and statutory exceptions. Commercial reproduction, misleading endorsement and reuse of protected branding or recordings require permission. Third-party materials retain their owners' rights.
External links do not constitute endorsement. Independent providers apply their own terms, but SOG remains responsible for services it sells or expressly undertakes to arrange. General articles, programme material and discussions are not personalised investment, legal, tax or banking advice or an offer of a financial product. You remain responsible for your business decisions and appropriate due diligence.
2 Events bookings and refunds
Registration and admission
A registration receipt acknowledges delivery. A place or ticket is confirmed only when our confirmation expressly grants it. A summit expression of interest does not constitute a paid ticket or guarantee admission. Event confirmations state the included sessions, facilities and benefits. Team, exhibition, VIP and partner access require the corresponding confirmed entitlement. Travel, visas, accommodation, insurance and meals are excluded unless expressly included.
We may replace a private joining link for security or operational reasons and will notify registered participants. Do not transfer a joining link, ticket or admission entitlement except with permission or under an expressly permitted transfer procedure.
Prices and payment
The total price, currency, applicable taxes, mandatory charges, included services and cancellation conditions will be supplied before payment. Optional extras require your express choice. Competition entry is free. Payments must be made using an authorised method and a payment instrument you are entitled to use. Stripe processes payments offered through its payment pages. Any separate card-provider conversion charge is governed by that provider.
We will correct an obvious price error before accepting the affected booking or offer you a choice to proceed at the corrected price or cancel for a refund. We will not unilaterally increase an accepted price. Report payment errors promptly with the reference; do not send full card or security details.
Cancellation by you
You may cancel a paid booking made directly with SOG within 14 calendar days after purchase for a full refund, provided the event has not started. Any more favourable event-specific policy or mandatory cancellation right also applies. Contact info@sportsopengroup.com with your booking reference.
After that period, any cancellation charge will be limited to a reasonable amount reflecting the service supplied, commitments made, unrecoverable costs and savings or resale. We will explain the calculation. You may request a suitable substitute attendee, subject to reasonable identity, eligibility and capacity conditions. Free registrations may be cancelled by contacting us.
Where statutory cancellation rights apply, they take priority. Any request to start a service during a statutory cancellation period, or acknowledgement affecting those rights, will be obtained as required by law. A specific event date does not displace a statutory right unless the relevant legal exception actually applies.
Cancellation or material changes by SOG
We may make reasonable non-material changes to session order or delivery arrangements. If we cancel an event, materially change its date or location, or substantially reduce a paid booking's benefits, we will notify you and offer a reasonable choice, including cancellation and a refund for the service not provided. You are not required to accept credit or a replacement event.
If the whole event is cancelled, we will refund its ticket price and mandatory booking charges collected by SOG. Refunds due will be initiated within 14 calendar days after cancellation or agreement of the refund, normally to the original method. Bank processing time may follow. Our refund obligation does not depend on a supplier reimbursing us.
Events outside our reasonable control may require changed delivery, postponement or cancellation. We will take reasonable mitigating steps and communicate promptly. This does not permit us to retain payment for an unprovided service or exclude a remedy required by law. Responsibility for travel and accommodation losses is determined by the relevant contract and applicable law.
3 ASIS Startup Competition entry
Eligibility
You must be a founder or cofounder aged at least 18 and authorised to apply for the business. The business must have a clear connection to sport, a product, prototype or operating service, evidence of testing or customer demand, and meaningful operations, customers or testing in at least one African country. No minimum revenue or previous fundraising is required.
Eligible areas span sports and include performance technology, wearables, esports, digital sport, fan engagement, commerce, participation and sports operations. Untested ideas and large stadium or property-financing proposals are outside the competition's scope. Organising staff and appointed judges may not enter businesses they own or control.
You must disclose legal status, ownership and material conflicts. The registration-information field is compulsory. Registered businesses must provide their number. Where incorporation is pending or the business is not yet incorporated, state that position truthfully and provide any available filing reference. You must not invent a number. Legal status, authority and ownership are subject to verification before finalist confirmation.
Making an application
Entry is free. You are not required to purchase a ticket or training, become a bank customer, make a donation or surrender shares. Submit one application per business through the official form, complete the required declarations and verify your email address.
You must upload a PDF pitch deck no larger than 10 MB or an MP4, MOV or WebM pitch video no larger than 25 MB. A link alone does not meet this requirement. You must own or have permission to submit all material, substantiate material claims and provide accurate answers.
The entry period and closing date and time published for the competition form part of these Terms. Your completed entry must reach us before that deadline. We will not shorten a published entry period except where an exceptional circumstance outside our reasonable control makes that necessary; we will explain the change promptly and apply a fair alternative to affected applicants.
Receipt corrections and withdrawal
An entry is received only when the system displays or sends a successful submission reference. A browser draft, attempted upload or email code is not a submitted application. Retain your reference and contact us promptly if a technical problem prevents submission. We will consider an appropriate correction or alternative route consistently and fairly, without guaranteeing selection.
Contact info@sportsopengroup.com with your reference to correct or withdraw an entry. A repeated entry does not automatically replace the original. We may request proportionate evidence of authority, eligibility and business claims and will allow a reasonable opportunity to correct an administrative error. Material misrepresentation, unresolved ineligibility or a serious breach may lead to exclusion with reasons and access to the process-complaint procedure.
Costs and separate transactions
You are responsible for your own application and business costs unless SOG expressly agrees otherwise in writing. Participation is not an investment commitment, employment offer, grant or promise of a banking relationship. Any later investment, banking, advisory or commercial transaction requires its own terms, checks and approvals.
4 Assessment finalist benefits and pitch rights
Assessment and selection
Applications are assessed through review, interviews, business preparation and a final presentation by three selected businesses at ASIS 2027. Reviewers assess the customer problem, relevance to sport, testing or demand evidence, business model, team, responsible growth and presentation clarity. We apply the published criteria consistently.
Reviewers must declare conflicts and withdraw from affected assessments. Final subjective judging will include a competent member independent of SOG, delivery intermediaries and entrants. Material differences in assessments will receive further review. Sponsors and applicants must not purchase or improperly influence an outcome.
We will notify selected businesses of their status, preparation requirements and response deadline. Finalists must maintain eligibility and respond within that period. If a selected business withdraws or becomes ineligible, we may invite the next suitable eligible business assessed on the same basis. If fewer eligible businesses qualify, we will notify affected applicants and explain the resulting arrangements.
Finalist benefits
The three finalists will receive preparation support and access to present on the ASIS stage. Access required for that pitch is free and does not require the surrender of equity. Your finalist confirmation will specify the included sessions and practical arrangements. Wider summit access, travel, visas, accommodation and payments are excluded unless expressly confirmed in writing.
No cash prize or guaranteed investment is included. Introductions do not guarantee finance, banking approval, a contract, sponsorship or a return. SOG cannot commit an independent investor, bank or partner to a transaction. Any separate award expressly offered in writing will be delivered on its stated terms.
Ownership and the assessment licence
You and your licensors retain your intellectual property, including your business materials, inventions, branding, pitch deck and video. Entry transfers no shares, ownership or exclusivity to SOG. You grant SOG and its authorised reviewers a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to receive, securely copy and use the submission solely to administer, assess, verify and resolve complaints about the entry. The licence is limited to the relevant retention period and any lawful need to retain evidence.
SOG and its authorised reviewers must keep private submissions restricted to the programme, except for a lawful disclosure or an introduction you expressly authorise. We will not publish a private deck or video, license it for unrelated commercial use or provide it to sponsors for their own marketing without a separate agreement. Do not submit trade secrets or material requiring a negotiated confidentiality agreement; contact us to arrange suitable protection before disclosure.
Public profiles, pitch recordings, interviews and promotional case studies require a separate permission identifying the material and permitted use. A public presentation may disclose an invention and affect its protection; you are responsible for clearing material for public presentation. SOG's rights in a recording do not confer ownership of your underlying business or invention.
5 Conduct media rights and donations
Conduct and recording restrictions
You must follow reasonable safety, safeguarding and venue instructions. Harassment, discrimination, threats, bribery, plagiarism and deliberate disruption are prohibited. We may restrict participation or require a person to leave for a substantiated serious breach, giving reasons and a fair opportunity for review where practicable. This does not remove a refund or legal remedy otherwise due.
You must not record, stream, photograph or distribute restricted sessions, pitches, private conversations or attendee information without permission. Accredited media must observe their written scope and any embargo. Staff, volunteers and contractors must comply with their engagement terms and may not use personal phones during assigned duties except for authorised work, emergencies, accessibility or another agreed exception. They must not post footage, pitch snippets or other event material without SOG's written authority.
Official media and participant permissions
Copyright and other rights in SOG's official event materials and media belong to SOG or its licensors. Rights in commissioned photography, recordings and edited material are governed by the applicable signed employment or services agreement. You may not reproduce, sell, publish or license official media without written permission unless a statutory exception applies.
A media supplier must deliver commissioned files as agreed and obtain all third-party licences and contributor permissions required by its contract. Pre-existing slides, music, participant materials and underlying pitch rights remain subject to their owners' rights. Any assignment, recording permission or moral-rights waiver required from a creator or performer must be made in the legally required form; attendance or website use alone does not transfer those rights.
We provide advance notice of general event filming and a practical way to object. Interviews, testimonials, recorded pitches and identifiable promotional features are subject to specific permissions or contributor agreements and the Privacy Policy. We will not edit or use material to imply a false endorsement or materially misrepresent its context.
Donations
A donation is a voluntary contribution to the purpose described on the payment page. It is not a ticket, investment or sponsorship agreement and does not influence competition selection. SOG is a limited company. We do not offer Gift Aid or promise a tax deduction or financial return under these Terms.
Check the recipient, amount and currency before paying through our official Stripe link. Report a duplicate, mistaken or unauthorised payment to info@sportsopengroup.com promptly with the reference, preferably within 14 days for a mistake. We will investigate and issue refunds required by law. This request period does not restrict statutory or card-provider rights.
If an expressly restricted purpose cannot be delivered, we will agree a lawful alternative with the donor or refund the contribution as appropriate. Any recurring contribution offered will state its amount, frequency and cancellation method before authorisation.
Sponsorship and introductions
Exhibition space, VIP hosting, sponsorship rights, branding, access and introductions are provided only under an agreed written package or contract. No sponsor acquires access to private applications, ownership of applicant material, control over judging or a general right to contact attendees. An authorised introduction is limited to its agreed recipients, purpose and information.
6 Complaints liability and legal terms
Complaints and process review
Send complaints to info@sportsopengroup.com with the relevant reference and the remedy requested. Competition process complaints should be submitted within seven calendar days of the affected decision. A person not involved in that decision will review alleged procedural error, conflict, discrimination or misapplication of the rules. A process complaint does not automatically reopen commercial judgement. We will consider a late complaint where reasonably justified; the period does not restrict statutory rights or the reporting of serious misconduct.
We will acknowledge a complaint within five working days and provide a substantive response within 20 working days or explain the reason for delay and the revised response date. If an error affected the outcome, we will provide a proportionate remedy. Privacy complaints are governed by the Privacy Policy and applicable statutory periods.
Our responsibility
We will perform our services with reasonable care and skill. We are responsible for loss caused by our breach to the extent required by law. Nothing excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation or another matter that cannot lawfully be excluded. Nothing removes mandatory consumer remedies, data protection rights or a refund expressly due.
For consumers, we are responsible for foreseeable loss resulting from our breach or failure to use reasonable care and skill. Where the law permits, we are not responsible for business losses arising from a service supplied for personal use. For business users, we do not guarantee investment returns, sales, media coverage or independent third-party performance. Any specific financial liability limit for a commercial engagement must be set out in its signed agreement.
An introduction alone does not make SOG responsible for the independent recipient's conduct. We remain responsible for our own acts, omissions and commitments. Your responsibility for proven infringement, fraud or another breach is determined by applicable law and any valid specific agreement.
Changes suspension and cancellation
We may revise these Terms for future website use and transactions, showing the revised date. Existing bookings and entries remain governed by their accepted version unless a lawful and fair variation is expressly agreed or otherwise permitted. We will not retrospectively impose entry fees, equity rights, materially different eligibility or new publicity permissions.
If circumstances outside our reasonable control require a programme change, we will notify affected participants promptly, explain the effect and offer a fair continuation, alternative or withdrawal route where appropriate. If the competition is postponed or cancelled, we will explain the treatment of entries, preparation commitments, data and promised benefits. We will not withhold an advertised award or refund without a lawful basis.
Governing law and general provisions
These Terms are governed by Scots law. Scottish courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction. Consumers retain any mandatory protection and right to bring proceedings in their home jurisdiction conferred by applicable law. Mandatory Ghanaian requirements apply to relevant activities in Ghana.
If a provision is unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue where they can operate independently. A failure or delay in exercising a right is not a waiver. These Terms do not create an agency, employment, investment or partnership relationship merely through participation or an introduction.
Contact
For bookings, applications, permissions, payments or complaints, email info@sportsopengroup.com or write to SPORTS OPEN GROUP LTD, 33 Inglis Green Road, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH14 2EY.