Any person physically present at a tournament and not in any other category above is a spectator. Spectators are responsible for remaining silent and passive during matches and other official tournament sections in which players are also required to be silent.
Spectators are allowed as long as they are not disruptive. Excessive chatting can be disruptive at best, and at the worst can actually aid a player and alter the outcome of a game. Also, so much information can be gained from watching spectators facial expressions. Pretend you are Aang talking to Koh.
If spectators believe they have observed a rules or policy violation, they are encouraged to alert a judge as soon as possible. At Regular or Competitive Rules Enforcement Level, spectators are permitted to ask the players to pause the match while they alert a judge. At Professional Rules Enforcement Level, spectators who are not members of the official coverage team must not interfere with the match directly.
Judges aren’t everywhere and sometimes spectators may identify an action or board state as illegal. When this happens, a spectator may bring the issue to a judges attention away from the match. Spectators may ask the players to pause at a Competitive Rel event. But otherwise, do not tell the players what the concern is. This is because the spectator may be in error regarding the rules and give the players information. This can alter the game.
Members of the coverage team are allowed to bring attention to the judge staff about possible problems with the game.
Players may request that a spectator not observe their matches. Such requests must be made through a judge. Tournament officials may also instruct a spectator not observe a match or matches.
Some spectators might be scouting other players or talking too much, or just hovering in a disconcerting way. Players can request the judge to have the spectator removed. This request can be refused, but would only happen in situations with extreme mitigating factors.
