FIRST LUNIA OPEN
The true open cup
The true open cup
For a long time, the World Cup has been the one competition that bridges regions, and truly pits the best nations against the rest of the best. However, this cup has a long qualification system that often leaves some nations unable to compete. For them, there is no true chance to compete against the rest of the world with no regional restrictions. The big three sporting regions all have their own cups. The Independents Cup exists for those outside of those regions but does not accept entries from them, naturally. The Global Cup of Soccer has no regional restrictions but only accepts nations that haven't competed in the World Cup cycle.
Now, there is finally a real warm up tournament for the World Cup, that uses a similar format. No regional restrictions are in place for this tournament, meaning that the very best of the best can go head to head before they do in the World Cup, with no qualification cycle keeping out the nations that couldn't make it in. This is the true open cup, the one where any nation that wishes to enter can come forward to battle the rest of the multiverse with no restrictions on region, no ranks, and no seeds. This tournament is designed for chaos and competitiveness, and is the only one that is truly open to anyone. This, is the Lunia Open.
The tournament will be hosted in the region of Lunia and was created as a collaboration between the sporting federations of the hosting countries to introduce the sporting culture of the region to the rest of the world. Each group will be hosted in a different country, with a goal of showing off the culture and sporting scene of each one and promoting regional unity for the region as a whole. It also serves to show that the region is now somewhat organized and making an effort to be seen on the scene of international sports. Above all, these games are being held to represent the unity that sports can bring.
1) OOC Information
What is this? This is the Lunia Open, a new tournament designed to be a warm up cup for the actual World Cup, with a twist in the formatting. Unlike the regional cups, there's no region requirement and there's no World Cup participation requirements either. Basically, this is like a tournament for international football teams from any country to compete, in a similar format to the World Cup.
But why not just enter the World Cup itself? Well, the long qualifying cycle means that a lot of players don't get to experience the actual tournament, and instead get eliminated in qualifying and end up in the Cup of Harmony. This takes the best from regional tournaments and merges it with the best part of the World Cup, the finals stage. There is no qualifying. Anyone can enter and anyone can participate in the actual tournament, even if the nation doesn't have enough ranking points to make it into the finals of the World Cup.
It's not meant to be a replacement for the WC or any WCC competitions, but it is a good chance to warm up for it rather than just playing friendlies, and the tournament also gives a chance for nations to compete before they're at the level where they can compete for WC titles, which can take real life years to reach.
2) Sign Up
To sign up, a nation must simply state their interest in this thread by saying something such as "in" or anything else that would signify their intent to participate. Nations that have ceased to exist before the everything thread is up will be removed from the tournament, and can re enter if they sign up again. Up to one puppet nation is allowed for all nations, but must be declared when signing up.
Signups
1. Anglatian Enclave
