Chaos:

You can make it, I believe, an open tournament with a rating cap. 1500 seems a reasonable cap and I would guess you would get more participants that way.

I will look for a player right away.

happy hermit: That was my first thought, but  a rating below1500 or unrated still means they could have a very high rating in a different variant. They may just never have played fast espionage.

Chaos: That is true. I have just been playing in a fast espionage team tournament, invited by the captain to join his team. As I had no fast espionage rating at the time, I was paired with all the other low rated players. 12/12 easy wins :)

But I do agree with Eric as well, it would be much easier and less work if the entry was open. Is it possible to eject people just before the tournament start if they have not met the criteria?

As to when, well firstly need to find someone, then teach them so that they will at least beat your and Eric's student End January, beginning February?

Chaos: Yes you can remove players. If they keep re signing up after you have taken them out, you can also "ban" them from joining it again. (BEFORE it has started, that is)