Independents Cup 15 OOC Thread

[IAC Organising Committee]

INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP 15
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

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IAC Discussion Thread & History

Reigning Champion

Welcome to the Independent Associations Championship (Independents Cup) - 15th edition! This is the signup thread. If you've been here before, you know the drill. If not, read on for more information about the "non-regional" regional tournament!

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SIGN-UP RULES FOR IAC-15

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ELIGIBILITY & ENTRY
Any nation that is not a resident of the Big Four(?) sporting regions - AO, Rushmore, Esportiva, and Anaia - at the time of this post may sign up to compete in the IAC. You may have been resident there in the past and may have competed in their international tournaments previously. You may plan to move to the sporting regions in the future and participation in this tournament does not preclude that, although it would be considered extremely bad manners to do so at the time of participation. Note, even if you've participated in the IAC in the past, you cannot participate with us if you're currently residing in a Big Three Four region, especially if you've signed up for their tournament.

The Independents Cup is not, of course, a WCC-sanctioned tournament, and while it sometimes uses official WCC rankings it has no impact on those rankings. Nations that have participated in WCs and nations that have not are both welcome to compete in the IAC, by signing up in this thread. Please note that we are currently looking at implementing a standard ranking system that includes both recent WCC and IAC success in the calculation.

PUPPETS
Puppets of main nations resident in the Big Three are still eligible to compete in the IAC provided the puppets themselves are not resident in the Big Three, and it is permissible to create puppets just to take part here - all eligible nations are welcome. These puppets are suggested to be declared for transparency.

Previous entrants may enter two nations into the IAC provided they meet eligibility criteria. This means any user who competed and RPed (roster + minimum 1 post) in a previous edition of the Independents Cup (it doesn't have to be the nation they are signing up to the IAC with). When entering two nations, please declare puppet status.

Everyone else may enter one nation to this tournament.

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HOSTING & SCHEDULE

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HOSTING
Hosting rights for IAC-15 have been assigned to HUElavia. Single or joint host applications are welcome, from users who have experience in hosting competitions of this scale. Bidders must be signed up for the present competition and users behind the nation must have competed in one of the previous installments, even if under a different flag. Host bids should be posted in this thread and include the usual details including methodology, formulae, and indicative scheduling - please read guidance on expectations for format and scorination further down this post. A vote may be organized if more than one bid is received. Currently signed up nations with at least one previous user entry will likely be eligible to vote.

Please note, if only one bid is posted, the IAC-OC reserves the right to select the bid without running a vote, in the interest of time. The IAC-OC also reserves the right to run a vote for a single bid, but a vote is not guaranteed unless there's at least 2 bids. This is consistent with IAC precedent going back to the beginning.

There is one bid - that of HUElavia. This bid has approved by the IAC-OC. HUElavia is now in charge of IAC-15!

FORMAT & SCHEDULE
Precise arrangements will be confirmed by the host once selected and as the numbers become clear, but the suggestion for prospective hosts will be for a group stage dependent on group size followed by a knockout bracket from 16 qualifying nations. Hosts will decide on a cap, with puppets taken out of the draw first if sign-ups exceed this at their discretion if necessary, last in first out.

The timetable will likely run in tandem with the Big Three Four championships; precise dates to be confirmed and dependent on the rate of sign-ups, taking cue from the other tournaments. I advise hosts to plan 48 hours between each cut-off to allow good time for RPing.

SCORINATION
The tournament will be scorinated using the host's preferred method which will be confirmed in due course. We still have not officially sanctioned an IAC-specific ranking system, though there are several proposed systems still floating around WCC ranks could be used to provide a general continuity within NS football, but IAC-specific ranks or RP bonus amounts must be sizeable enough to potentially allow new and consistently high quality RPers a good shot at the title: see unranked Veldgouwen's run to the final in the first edition.

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IAC-15 PARTICIPANTS

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SIGN-UP & DISCUSSION
Sign up in this thread to participate in the fifteenth edition of the IAC. Questions and clarifications welcome. Please remember to declare puppets. For more advanced discussion, feel free to consult our Discussion Thread, available at that link or our forum signature here.

This post confirms Drawkland's sign-up.

Sign-Ups
1. Drawkland
2. StrayaRoos Barrier Islands
3. The 14 Stars
4. Kyzhurkistan
5. Juvencus
6. Octapolis
7. Montana Verde
8. Garifunya
9. The republic of dansen
10. Saterun
11. Almuzahara
12. Kriegiersien
13. Poafmersia
14. TJUN-ia
15. United Adaikes
16. Indusse
17. HUElavia
18. Hopal
19. Squidroidia
20. Adab
21. Space
22. Tjorl
23. Abanhfleft
24. Muralos
25. Reginalida
26. Valkyriah
27. Britonisea
28. Gyoric
29. Kencana
30. Omerica
31. Belnegau
32. Sajnur
33. New Zhengguo (puppet of Muralos)
34. Eshialand
35. Hebitaka
36. East Slavona
37. Sixty-ninE X
38. Trolleborg
39. Sannyamathland
40. Football Tiger
41. Forbidden Territories
42. Freeport Isles
43. Magnecia
44. Macbon
45. Togonistan

Rejected
Srednjaci (ineligible, Rushmore resident)
Diamond Base (withdrawn in favor of Football Tiger)

[Drawkland]

Confirming my sign-up. And maybe something more, to come later ...

[StrayaRoos Barrier Islands]

Sure,our 16 yearolds will win a game

[The 14 Stars]

The 14 Stars as always is in, we look forward to it!

[Kyzhurkistan]

Debuting

[Juvencus]

Don't be too stressed about the outcome of a travel, it's the friends that we made along the way that matter.

[Octapolis]

The Megacity enters.

[Montana Verde]

We sign up.

[Garifunya]

Coming back for the first time in a long time

[The republic of dansen]

It seems like fun count me in

[Saterun]

We must repent for our terrible attempt last time. We are in.

[Almuzahara]

yes

[Kriegiersien]

In

[Srednjaci]

Yes, we are in

[PotatoFarmers]

Still looking for that 3rd title.

[TJUN-ia]

Hoping to make it past the Quarters this time

[United Adaikes]

In

[Indusse]

Ayeeeee

[HUElavia]

IT'S TIME(S 10!!!!!!!!!!)

[Hopal]

It's been a while, but we're in.

[HUElavia]

Independent Associations Championship 15 (Co-)Host Bid

For the past 14 editions, the Independent Associations Championship has been a regional tournament dedicated to the teams not associated with the major sporting regions of Atlantian Oceania, Rushmore, Esportiva, and now Anaia. While this may be seen as a "Best of the Rest" tournament, the IAC has had many tournaments dedicated to celebrating these great teams. We've had many first-time winners, many heartbroken finalists, and plenty of exciting and memorable matches.

Today, we've reached to the 15th edition of this tournament, and to celebrate the "Quinceanera" edition of the Independent Associations Championship, we are to celebrate it in the best way possible: A tournament with multiple host venues coming from multiple host nations. This tournament will be played across multiple host nations to celebrate the diverse nations that come to participate in this competition.
Welcome to the 15th Independent Associations Championship.

OOC Details:
Host Experience- I have hosted the one-off Unity Cup, NS Futsal World Cup I, Independent Associations Championship 9, and Arena Bowl VIII. I have scorinated over 10 seasons of the HUElavian Football League (HFL), with the Domestic Cup and Super Cup as well. I have also scorinated a full season of the HUElavian Hockey League (HHL) and the HUElavian Gridiron Football League (HGFL).

Scorination- I will be scorinating the tournament using Xkoranate, the NSFS Formula will be used along with additive style modifiers. Home-Field Advantage will be off but I will give a small bonus to all hosts in exchange for this. Also, an RP bonus will be given to any of the participating teams that post a roster for the tournament. In order to promote RPs for the participants, everyone's Skill Point will be at 0 until a roster is posted, where the IAC Skill Points will be allocated in full. The current IAC Rankings will be used for this tournament as the Skill Points. Should my nation make the knockout rounds, I will request a third-party scorination for my nation's matches via the International-Sport server on the NSS Discord Channel and credit the nation/user who scorinates in the results post.

Schedule- The tournament would be taking place in a span of 14-24 days, depending on the teams that sign up. Cutoffs will be likely from 6-8 PM US EST (UTC-5), but I can be flexible on the cutoffs if asked. Cutoff would be roughly every 48 hours but may be 72 hours depending on how I feel after work on Sundays and Tuesday (my two days I work a full shift), where the scorination will take place on the following Monday and Wednesday respectively. Any sort of schedule changes will be announced in the OOC thread and the International-Sport channel on NSS Discord.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Given I have surgery to do on March 15th, after discussing privately through DMs on Discord, Montana Verde is the nation I've selected to serve as my backup to organize and scorinate the tournament, should I be unable to do so.

IC Details:
Hosting- In this celebratory edition of the tournament, there should be about 12-16 host nations, totaling 12-16 different venues (1 venue per host) in the tournament. Each group will have two different hosts, with each venue hosting at least one knockout-round game. Any nation that is interested in submitting a venue are more than welcomed to do so. Interested participants must send a message/telegram with the name of the venue and city, along with some information of the city and nation (links to factbooks/dispatches also work out well).

CONFIRMED VENUES:
Estadio Nacional (100,000), Curumba, HUElavia
Extaterestrial Dome of Sport (43,000), Space
Estadio Metropolitano Máximo Encarnación (41,000), Santa Margarita, Montana Verde
Stadium of the Vanguard (40,000), Al-Fayit, Almuzahara
New Thraproy Sports Complex Main Stadium (70,000), Adaik's C'ntral, United Adaikes
Aditya Varma Kulashekara International Stadium (131,000), Hind City, Indusse
New National Stadium (35,000), Duomji, StrayaRoos Barrier Islands
Libira National Stadium (69,000), Fiskadaha City, Poafmersia
Adam Antwerp Stadium (55,000), Daxler, Saterun
Castle Street (57,300), Jaglan, SRS
Stadium Strata (85,000), Telm City, Britonisea
1st December Stadium (100,000) Trolleborg City, Trolleborg
Inkopolis City Stadium (50,000), Inkopolis, Squidroidia
Kanyo Pitch (164,000) Kayo, Drawkland
National Stadium (74,000), TJUN-ia City, TJUN-ia
SM Bank Field (35,000), Manchbury, Sudilia

Seeding and Draw- Teams will be put into pots based on their IAC Ranking, where hosts will be italicised in the draw and teams will be drawn from there. In each group, the higher seeded host will be playing all of their matches in their venue throughout the Group Stage. In the event that two hosts have already been put into a group and a third host is drawn, that drawn host will be placed into the next available group.

Tournament format- With this being a special edition of the IAC, I am expecting many teams to be participating in the tournament. Thus, these are the proposed formats of the competition:

32 Teams- 8 Groups of 4, Top 2 advance into the Round-of-16 (A1 vs B2, C1 vs D2, etc.)
36 Teams- 6 groups of 6, Top 2 and the 4 best 3rd Placed teams advance to the Round of 16 (Euro 2020 knockouts seeding A1 vs C3, B2 vs D3, etc.)
40 Teams- 8 Groups of 5, Top 2 advance to the Round-of-16 (A1 vs B2, C1 vs D2, etc.)
42 Teams- 7 Groups of 6, Top 2 and the 2 best 3rd Placed teams advance to the Round of 16 (1-16 seeding based on Group Stage Ranking).
48 Teams- 8 Groups of 6, Group Winners advance to the Round-of-16, Runners up and Third Placed teams advance to the Wild Card/Round-of-24 (1-24 seeding based on Group Stage Ranking)

Tiebreakers- Points, H2H Result, H2H Goal Difference, Goal Difference, Goals Scored, Goals Conceded, Coin Flip (RP Bonus)

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask them and I am more than glad to answer them, as well as take recommendations.

[Squidroidia]

Okay, we're not gonna mess up this time, fr?

[Adab]

Adab signs up.

[Space]

in

[Tjorl]

Signing up.