diff --git a/fifa17-recon/docs/ENDPOINT_MAP.md b/fifa17-recon/docs/ENDPOINT_MAP.md
index 805397b..739b9cd 100644
--- a/fifa17-recon/docs/ENDPOINT_MAP.md
+++ b/fifa17-recon/docs/ENDPOINT_MAP.md
@@ -424,6 +424,25 @@ Chemistry/rating/nation/league-count constraints (`teamChemistry 0x307`, `starRa
 generically as `{eligibilityKey, eligibilityOperation, eligibilityValue}` triples, **not** as
 named scalar fields on the record. **FREEZE-RISK: elgReq must be a JSON array of objects.**
 
+> **2026-08-19 — `eligibilityKey`/`eligibilityOperation` are LOCALIZATION ORDINALS, not the
+> atom hex ids above.** Reversed from the pinned CardsDLL (`4706a881…`). The client's sole
+> confirmed consumer of these fields is the requirement-display string builder at
+> `~0x1800ef900`: it loads the eligibility int fields (`0x148(rcx)`) and formats them through
+> *indexed localization keys* — `ELIGIBILITY_STRING%d` (`0x1802186b8`), `LOC_SBC_ELG_KEY_%d`
+> (`0x180226710`), `ELIGIBILITY_OPERATION` (`0x1802186e8`) — appending to a string builder via
+> vtable `*0x10`/`*0x20`. There is **no comparison/branch**: the client does not validate on
+> these ints, it renders `LOC_SBC_ELG_KEY_<eligibilityKey>` (and an operation string) as
+> display text. Therefore `eligibilityKey` is a small ordinal that indexes the **packed FIFA17
+> locale**, NOT `0x307`/`0x22f`/etc. (those hex values are the atom ids of the *named* fields
+> the encoding replaces, not the ordinal values). CONSEQUENCE: correct projection needs the
+> ordinal→locale-string map, which lives only in the packed locale (absent from CardsDLL and
+> every `fifa17-recon/data` file; a game-dir locale probe on the live client found none) or a
+> real EA `elgReq` capture (unavailable on a private server). Emitting a *guessed* ordinal
+> renders the WRONG requirement text to the player, so `elgReq` stays `[]` until the ordinal
+> map is recovered. This is a display-only gap: SBC submission is fully validated server-side
+> (Core), and an invalid squad's generic comms modal originates from the server 400, not from
+> the empty `elgReq`.
+
 **awards / grantedAwards** — nested array of reward objects (atoms: `rewardType 0x28e`,
 `rewardValue 0x28f`, `rewardQuantity 0x28d`, `rewardMultiplier 0x28c`, `awardCount 0x40`,
 `awardSet 0x45`, `awardSetId 0x46`, `prizeSet 0x253`). **FREEZE-RISK: must be array.**
diff --git a/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/sbc.rs b/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/sbc.rs
index 9ca3173..9bd89f6 100644
--- a/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/sbc.rs
+++ b/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/sbc.rs
@@ -116,6 +116,15 @@ pub fn challenges_body(set_id: i64, challenges: &[ChallengeView]) -> Value {
                 "status": "OPEN",
                 "timesCompleted": times_completed,
                 "awards": [],
+                // `elgReq` stays empty deliberately. Reversed from the pinned CardsDLL
+                // (2026-08-19, see ENDPOINT_MAP.md "Shared record shapes"): the client
+                // consumes `eligibilityKey`/`eligibilityOperation` only as ordinals that
+                // index the packed locale (`LOC_SBC_ELG_KEY_%d`) to render requirement
+                // text — it does NOT validate on them. The ordinal->string map is not
+                // recoverable from any asset we have, so any value we emit would show the
+                // WRONG requirement to the player. Submission is validated server-side by
+                // Core regardless; leaving this empty is display-only, never a correctness
+                // gap. Populate ONLY once the locale ordinal map is captured.
                 "elgReq": []
             })
         })
@@ -360,8 +369,16 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(
             parse_wire_item_ids(retail).unwrap(),
             [
-                100_004_227, 100_004_233, 100_001_317, 100_001_531, 100_000_966,
-                100_001_947, 100_000_169, 100_002_017, 100_002_765, 100_000_147,
+                100_004_227,
+                100_004_233,
+                100_001_317,
+                100_001_531,
+                100_000_966,
+                100_001_947,
+                100_000_169,
+                100_002_017,
+                100_002_765,
+                100_000_147,
                 100_000_311
             ],
             "exactly the 11 non-zero players in wire order; manager and empty slots ignored"