The outcome
A versioned exception report for a draft bracket, ready for the tournament director’s decision. This is an assisted review workflow, not a hosted automatic bracket approval service. It works alongside your registration and scheduling tools; those systems remain the official record.
What you need
- A dated snapshot of accepted entries with stable team references and approved division mapping.
- The organizer-approved competition format, entry slots, draw or seed decisions and any supplied placement constraints.
- A bracket draft version and source references for its rules and advancement links.
- A named director to resolve exceptions and approve the final version.
1. Lock the scope and sources
Record event, season, division, stage, snapshot date and draft version. Use only the accepted-entry snapshot for this review. If the format, entry status or division mapping is uncertain, record a question and hold that part of the review rather than guessing.
2. Reconcile entry slots
Compare stable team references in the expected entry slots against the accepted entries. Flag omissions, unexpected entries and duplicate assignments within those slots. Do not count every scheduled appearance as a duplicate: teams may legitimately play several matches or appear in later stages.
3. Check format, placements and byes
Compare the draft with the approved format and supplied draw or seed decisions. Review byes and club-separation constraints only where the organizer has specified them. Missing instructions are unresolved questions, not permission for AI to invent seeds, fairness rules or eligibility decisions.
4. Trace advancement links
Follow each winner or loser placeholder back to the intended source match and forward to its destination. Check that the stage links agree with the approved format and that a placeholder is not an unexplained team entry. This check does not validate kickoff times, rest periods or field availability; review those separately using confirmed requirements.
5. Resolve exceptions before publication
Keep a row for each issue: source reference, expected value, draft value, owner, decision and recheck status. The director approves the corrected version, not just a list of proposed fixes. Reconcile again after edits. Publishing or updating the official system is a separate authorized action; this guide does neither.
Fictional example
An organizer-approved illustrative four-team knockout has DEMO-A, DEMO-B, DEMO-C and DEMO-D, two semifinals and a final fed by their winners. The draft assigns DEMO-A to two initial entry slots and omits DEMO-D. Flag both discrepancies and hold approval. This example is not a rule for other events, and it supplies no seeding recommendation.
Privacy checkpoint
Reusable resource
Download the bracket review worksheet and optional prompt. It contains a reconciliation log, advancement checks and a synthetic exercise. AI may organize exceptions; the director owns decisions.