International Domestic Soccer Discussion

[Tikariot]

For anybody with players in the Tikariot Premier League, please click >>>HERE<<< for a sheet with all relevant statistics on how they were doing and also the plans of the teams. It would be much appreciated, if you could let me know, what your plans for them are and also if the projected ages for the new season are correct. Thank you!

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Was/Is there some substance use/abuse involved at IFCF HQ involving the selection of the Champions League Final venue?

Final site selection
Three bids were received for the hosting of the Champions League Final. Representatives from Valanora, Tumbra, and Kelssek were invited to the IFCF HQ for a round of hide and seek. After twelve hours, the representative from Valanora was deemed the winner, making The Battleground (cap. 78,000) in Raynor City, Valanora the site for the Final.

Turori, Baker Park and Eura are the only bidders (and I apologize if any other nations also submitted that I missed in my review of the entries) for the IFCF cutoff.

Peace & Love

[Tinhampton]

Was/Is there some substance use/abuse involved at IFCF HQ involving the selection of the Champions League Final venue? [...]

Probably not. Valanora's most recent Samplestan (XYZ) Qualifiers form contains an application for the Battleground to serve as CL final site. (As did Farf as part of the S-FPL's Samplestan form, although he asserted that the stadium he was bidding with only met the IFCF's minimum capacity requirements "when not bombed.")

I will grant you that when you're slacking off at work for twelve hours, having multiple coffee breaks might be a very good idea...

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

I will grant you that when you're slacking off at work for twelve hours, having multiple coffee breaks might be a very good idea...

Or...perhaps the opposite.

[Strike]

Since it was determined via a game of hide and seek it would seem turori, Baker Park and eura are still winning as they haven't yet been found

[PotatoFarmers]

For full transparency, which we forgot to mention, the AT implementation that came out for this particular cycle will not include the coefficient awards that we had in our original proposal. The committee had some discussion with regards to what considered as a "balanced" coefficient award for the Associations Trophy, given how it gave some associations just outside the top 8 an additional opportunity to bank in a whole lot of additional coefficients to push them up the rankings, but we didn't reach a conclusion on what is the better implementation. We are open to possible solutions and discussions as to how we can balance out the entire proposal to allow us to reduce the weight of coefficients given to AT teams.

[Darmen]

A couple of issues I found regarding my teams in IFCF competitions: Sterling City United U-19 won their first round tie in the Rising Stars Cup but are nowhere to be found in the second round and Scott City FC has been included in the group draws for both the Challengers Cup (correctly) and Associations Trophy (incorrectly).

[Nephara]

With the group draws out, TW36 will close in roughly 24 hours.

[Kelssek]

A couple of issues I found regarding my teams in IFCF competitions: Sterling City United U-19 won their first round tie in the Rising Stars Cup but are nowhere to be found in the second round and Scott City FC has been included in the group draws for both the Challengers Cup (correctly) and Associations Trophy (incorrectly).

My mistake, I had put Southend through in their place. This is the wrong match-up:

(SRS)                         Brantisvogan    3–2    Southend AC Academy                  (CBP)   0–2   3–0  (aet)

And this is correct:

(SRS)                         Brantisvogan    5–4    Sterling City United U-19            (DAR)   4–3   1–1

The process for the Associations Trophy evidently has some kinks to be worked out... Anyway, another lucky loser has been drawn from the Challengers Cup 4QR and the changed groups are as follows:

Group E
FK Krasnograd (PYA)
Olympique Chuckio (DAR)
Auberlein Originals (SWE)
Glenmount Town (TLI)

Group F
AC Mariina (MRN)
Pyathora Mariners FC (TKT)
CASK Thorsborg (SVJ)
Manchester (DEL)

Changes will be made when I get a chance to log in to the IFCF account later today...

[Nephara]

CLANK.

As ever, thank you all for your participation!

[Tumbra]

Thanks once again to Neph for running the TW. It's one of my favourite parts of NS Sports, seeing the community all come together like this.

[Tikariot]

I can pretty much just echo what Tumbra said

[Tinhampton]

Why does the IFCF still use "higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question" as a group stage tiebreaker when:

1. UEFA does not use this tiebreaker in the Champions' League group stages as of 2021/22 (compare with 2020/21),
2. away goals have not been used to decide the result of qualifiers and knockout games between two teams since the 7th IFCF cycle, and
3. the decision to stop using away goals as a tiebreaker in qualifiers and knockout games was seemingly only taken by the IFCF because UEFA did so?

(Athletic Saint Eleanor - a club which hails from my puppet nation, Saint Eleanor - was eliminated from its Champions League group because of head-to-head away goals. Athletic would still have been eliminated even if this tiebreaker were not being enforced by the IFCF, due to its massively inferior goal difference vis-a-vis Straudum VV, but I still believe that - if the IFCF is no longer using away goals as a tiebreaker in knockout games - it stands to reason that it shouldn't be using it as a tiebreaker in group stages. If the IFCF does remove this tiebreaker, I'd rather it apply from IFCF 12 onwards rather than retroactively.)

[Eastfield Lodge]

Why does the IFCF still use "higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question" as a group stage tiebreaker when:

1. UEFA does not use this tiebreaker in the Champions' League group stages as of 2021/22 (compare with 2020/21),
2. away goals have not been used to decide the result of qualifiers and knockout games between two teams since the 7th IFCF cycle, and
3. the decision to stop using away goals as a tiebreaker in qualifiers and knockout games was seemingly only taken by the IFCF because UEFA did so?

(Athletic Saint Eleanor - a club which hails from my puppet nation, Saint Eleanor - was eliminated from its Champions League group because of head-to-head away goals. Athletic would still have been eliminated even if this tiebreaker were not being enforced by the IFCF, due to its massively inferior goal difference vis-a-vis Straudum VV, but I still believe that - if the IFCF is no longer using away goals as a tiebreaker in knockout games - it stands to reason that it shouldn't be using it as a tiebreaker in group stages. If the IFCF does remove this tiebreaker, I'd rather it apply from IFCF 12 onwards rather than retroactively.)

Probably because it's not been required as a tiebreaker that often, and it still hasn't been removed from the IFCF scorinator yet (all the tiebreakers are coded in with the table generation).

[Tikariot]

I know that the current cycle isn't finished yet, however one beef has arisen with the AT in particular. While it is nice to see how it works "in action", it is disappointing that there will be no points awarded. While I cannot provide any input as to how whatever impact on the coefficicent that has proven to be the problem, as a "user/participant" it is somewhat frustrating to see a team manage to go through the group stage, knowing that the tournament has been designed to give teams/nations that have been eliminated early from the other two tournaments still something to look forward to and not get anything out of it. Is this something that can be resolved before the next edition?

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Play-off round draw
Clubs advancing from the Youth Champions path are seeded and group runners-up are unseeded. Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. The seeded teams play at home.

Brantisvogan (SRS) vs. Damogran FC (SRS)
*snip*

It appears that a redraw will be necessary for the Rising Stars Cup Playoff Round.

Posting to be certain the council is aware.

[IFCF]

In the Associations Trophy, due to a technical error groups causing some clubs to incorrectly have results of all their matches 0-0, Groups A, D, I, and L were re-scorinated and first knockout round match-ups updated accordingly.

Edit: Additionally, in the RSC the matchups should read:
Brantisvogan (SRS) vs. Eastal Lunar (VIL)
Guzman-Cress Academy vs. Damogran (SRS)

[FFI]

Hi everyone!

This is Freg (PotatoFarmers). I will be taking over the running of the FFI from Grænt. I don't really intend for this to be a permanent take over at this point; however, I would be happy to keep this tournament running until we get a volunteer to run the FFI tournaments.

Given that we just went the entire IFCF10 duration without an equivalent FFI, I am considering to make the executive decision to not run that edition of the tournament. Instead, all posted entries in the IDSN since the IFCF10 cutoff to the IFCF11 cutoff will be considered for the upcoming FFI. If there are 2 entries for a season; then the latest entry will be used. If there is no strong opposition from the main participants, then this will be the decision made for the upcoming tournament.

Given the lack of a consistency previously, and going on from the previous set of comments, the following format will be my choice format, starting from this edition of the tournament:

Victors League
1. Top 2 teams in the domestic league will qualify for the Victors League.
2. Top seeds, as well as the defending Victors League champions, will be entered into the Round of 32. Where there are vacancies in the Round of 32, teams will be given by from the qualifying round into the Round of 32, with teams with a higher IFCF association coefficient given priority.
3. Seeding in the Victors League will be by club coefficient. (The last edition of the FFI used association coefficient.)

Confederations Trophy
1. 1 team from every association will be entered by sporting merit. This can be a playoff winner, 3rd in the league, or the domestic cup winner.
2. In addition, teams who are eliminated from the Victors League Qualifying Round and the Victors League Round of 32 will be dropped into the equivalent round in the Confederations Trophy.
3. Seeding in the Confederations Trophy will continue to be using club coefficient.

Overall Rules
1. Each fixture will be a double leg match, with the winner determined by the aggregate score. Away goals rule will continue to be used. In the event of a tie after 2 legs of 90 minutes, extra time will be deployed, followed by penalties.
2. Before the Quarterfinals, 2 teams from the same association will not meet each other.
3. Seedings will only apply for the Qualifying Round and the Round of 32 of both tournament.
4. Where required, extra qualifying rounds will be used.

[Squidroidia]

Hey there, Squidroidia here. I approve of Poaf taking control of the FFI for the time being, and I will probably be an assistant to Poaf like I was with Grænt until... Yeah, we didn't have an FFI for IFCF 10. If there is a volunteer who wants to take over the running of FFI competitions, I can very much assist in that... Even if I have to deal with community college in September. That's totally gonna rule...

But yeah. Good luck Poaf!

[Kelssek]

A note on IFCF regulations revisions coming up for the next cycle. The Associations Trophy is likely to become official (currently it is in grey text to indicate provisional status) and while it's mostly agreed it should factor into coefficients, there is not a clear consensus on how to do this. The latest trial implies that proposed formulas had too much effect. I feel that it makes no sense to have rank gained from a tournament you only enter because you couldn't make the grade in the Challengers Cup ever count for more than progress in the Challengers Cup. Discussions continue.

The other issue is the format of the Rising Stars Cup, which has been the subject of considerable confusion over the years. It does not have the same draw/seeing rules as the main tournaments but in some editions it was a completely open draw and in some it was not, or the draw restrictions were inconsistently applied. To follow the UEFA Youth League, the correct rule would be that in the playoff round, clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other, but in the round of 16 clubs who played in the same group cannot be drawn against each other (and clubs from the same association can). Pending Council approval, we should stick to this going forward.

Apologies for being very absent the last while, I don't/won't really have spare time these few months.

[Tinhampton]

...The Associations Trophy is likely to become official (currently it is in grey text to indicate provisional status) and while it's mostly agreed it should factor into coefficients, there is not a clear consensus on how to do this. The latest trial implies that proposed formulas had too much effect. I feel that it makes no sense to have rank gained from a tournament you only enter because you couldn't make the grade in the Challengers Cup ever count for more than progress in the Challengers Cup. Discussions continue.

This is (still) Saint Eleanor. Regardless of how the Executive Council chooses to proceed on this matter: After IFCF 5, the association coefficient formula for secondary associations changed, to the detriment of Freeport. ExCo decided that, in addition to enforcing this change for all future cycles, they would amend Freeport's post-IFCF5 ranking to reflect what their association coefficient would have been had the new formula been in place from IFCF 1.

Although the confirmation of Associations' Trophy formulae will affect many more associations than the Freeport controversy ever did, I'd appreciate it if ExCo took a similar approach here to the Freeport situation and - after confirming the formula - recalculated the coefficients of all associations to reflect what they would have been had that formula applied for each of the past five IFCFs. (I can understand if they can't, with that said.)

[The Licentian Isles]

Hey all, with the IFCF deadline looming, just a note that I'll be resubmitting the Licentian leagues for this cycle. I expect normal service to resume for the next one, depending on how things go with what is very likely to be an upcoming move to another country, but with my PhD thesis due in in three weeks, all my time is being taken up by that, and I just can't justify putting in the effort that I like to. If that results in anyone wanting to move their players on, I completely understand, just let me know. Licentian players will likely be held in stasis age-wise for an IC year, and I will do the same to foreign players: if you don't want that, no worries, just send me a Discord message and I'll note it. Again, apologies, but wanted to make people aware.

[Astograth]

Hi all. This is to let you know that I'm officially on 'results-only' maintenance mode with my league, so feel free to unilaterally pull out your players for any price (including free) in the coming transfer window - I just ask that it's recorded on the TW sheet so I can later amend my own records. If you'd like to tough it out, I'm neck deep in postgraduate research until January-ish of next year, so that's the earliest possible date that I'll again be fully active with my league (and NS Sports in general). I remain available as always by TG or Discord.

[Tikariot]

For anybody with players in the Tikariot Premier League, please click >>>HERE<<< for a sheet with all relevant statistics on how they were doing. It would be much appreciated if you could let me know, what your plans for them are and also if the projected ages for the new season are correct. Thank you!

Every roster and every player will be looked at in good faith from a club manager's perspective during the TW to see, if there'd be interest in a domestic move as well, any of these will be posted in the Transfer tab of the transfer window once it opens for easy access, query and the proper paper trail.

[Gortolekua]

Hey everyone, I want to apologize for the barebone league this season. Up until hosting the 17th U18WC recently, real life was absolutely hectic in ways that were interfering with my mental health and with my NSS time. I can reassure those who follow the league that there will be a more fleshed out league next season. I apologize for not communicating this sooner, but I just wanted y’all to hear it from me. Thanks for your understanding.