Here Be Dragons - A Bid for World Cup 82
Presenting a joint bid for World Cup 82 and Cup of Harmony 74 are…
Apox - WC Co-Host
IC: Apox is a unicameral republic found in southern Esportiva. Previously a major democratic power in the region, Apox is known for having strong civil and political rights and a relatively strong economy. The country is now its seventh decade of democracy following the first Apoxian Civil War which is seen by many as the true founding of Apox, and is currently ruled by Lorcan Oberhausen of the Free Party. It has all the footballing infrastructure required for a host nation, and while it has been a number of years since a major tournament was hosted in Apox, many of the services required to hold a tournament are still in place. The capital Dwile has expanded its main airport to the North and set up one to the West of the city, while rail and road links around the country continue to improve.
In a footballing sense, Apox is re-emerging into the footballing world, having recently qualified for its first World Cup finals tournament since returning from hiatus. However, the nation participated in 14 straight World Cups from WC61-74, qualifying eight times and reaching the Round of 16 on three separate occasions, before returning for World Cup 78. Additionally, the nation has participated in 17 Campionato Esportivas, winning the competition three times.
OOC: Apox has extensive hosting experience, the most prominent being the successful hosting of two prior World Cups, World Cup 69 with The Holy Empire and World Cup 73 with The Royal Kingdom of Quebec. In addition to this, Apox has hosted a BoF (50 with Saugeais), a CoH (56 with The Licentian Isles) and four Campionato Esportivas (4, 8, 12 & 23). Away from international football, Apox has hosted three cricket tournaments and over six years worth of domestic competitions in football, rugby and cricket, now running the domestic rugby union competition, RUCT.
Valanora - WC Co-Host
IC: The Eternal Empire is a massive entity that takes up two continents and several islands in the Southwest of Atlantian Oceania. The Empire consists of two internationally recognized nations, a personal union of two nations, and an internationally recognized tribe that lives within its borders. It has a diverse population, that was until recently dominated by a significant elven population, that includes no less than five different humanoid races (humans, dwarves, elves, templara, and dragonkin). The mainland, Valanora, is (in)famous for its public ban of cars except for political and military use, instead opting for a massive high speed railway network to connect the entirety of the Arrosia continent, and a significant metro and monorail system for commute inside the cities. Access to Arrosia comes in the eleven international ports or one of the five international airports. The island states of Vyinta and Sabine & Caddonia, the latter of which takes up the whole continent of Vircais. allow the use of cars, though their domestic infrastructure is slowly being upgraded to match that of Valanora.
OOC: The user behind Valanora has hosted countless competitions ranging from minor invitational events to no less than 12 WCC sanctioned events, with dozens of other tournaments in between. Experience and technical acumen are strengths when it comes to tournaments that are run with them at the helm.
Cosumar - CoH Co-Host
IC: Cosumar is a constitutional monarchy in the extreme northeast of Atlantian Oceania comprised of 21 fiefs and seven space colonies. The current year of our calendar is 1016 - over a millennium since Cosumarite civilization dawned with The First 5800 - shipwrecked settlers of motley ethnicity from unknown seas further north of AO. With no true neighbors, Cosumarite civilization developed in relative isolation over its millennium. That has made us rather... unique.
Cosumar was named the "Most Advanced" country in all of AO by the WA Census. One example is the famous TransCosumar Hyperloop - a monorail system that connects the Fiefdom with top speeds of 800 mph. It'll get your citizens to the games in great time! Cosumarites also have implanted microchips that process most major languages, so communication is seldom an issue for tourists. Cosumar is known for its wide-ranging civil freedoms (including very liberal perspectives on sexuality), so all fans are welcome! Despite our technological progress, Cosumarites also maintain strong links to its past. In the east, traditional pagan religions can still be found actively practiced. In the west, the enigmatic blue-skinned Vloo still retain many pre-Cosumarite customs. Even Cosumar's most populated urban areas are designed to be "clean and green”. Up in the northern peninsula, the vast Parougan Wilds contain the ancestral hunting range and breeding ground of the mighty Cosumarite Azure Dragon. The ancient creatures are unique to Cosumar and have become a symbol of national identity, seen on our flag, coat of arms and even national team uniforms.
OOC: Cosumar has been one of this community's most regular RPers and organizers for 5+ years, especially in the realm of soccer. Cosumar has hosted just about every important tournament in the sport, such as World Cup 78, Cup of Harmony 69, Baptism of Fire 62 and two Beach Cups. Additionally, their hosting portfolio includes World Bowl XXVII, World Lacrosse Championships XX, a solo tennis tournament and countless editions of NSCAA and NSCF. The user has also displayed their leadership and attention to detail by serving as the President of the World Lacrosse Federation, and as Commissioner of organizationally-intensive NSCF.
Mriin - CoH Co-Host
IC: The Merchant Republic of Mriin is a group of three islands east of the Calanian Wastelands in Atlantian Oceania. The nation is most notable for the three races that call it home, in descending order of uniqueness: Dryads, humanoid beings seemingly made of wood; Satyrs, humanoids that are easily recognizable for their colorful hues, tall stature, and goatlike features; and dragons, who are dragons. Other points of interest include: the troubled past it has had as a base of operations for pirates! The pervasive system of daily referenda! And dazzling bazaars full of any tat you could possibly waste money on! Football has become an increasibly big deal over the past decade, growing from a hobby for young athletes to a commercial juggernaut spearheaded by the nigh-instantly successful national team. The Mriin National League has easily secured funding for a great many projects, including building up a proper infrastructure for the sport that was put to use in the latest AOCAF.
OOC: The user behind Mriin just finished hosting the most recent AOCAF, and in years past has handled the CoH and World Bowl. They’re the most junior in this bid and are looking to build up a rapport as a dependable host.
Format
In recent years around 140-150 nations have signed up for the World Cup although that number increased to 180 for the most recent cup. Our preferred format would be either 15 groups of X (with the top two qualifying direct to the World Cup) or 20 groups of X (with the second placed teams going into a two-legged playoff), although with signups still open, that number is of course highly flexible, and a more detailed plan of our format will be given just prior to host voting beginning, including what we plan to do regarding the inevitable annoyance of play-offs.
With regards to who scorinates what, our plan is to have two users responsible for scorinating each half of qualifiers, with Apox and Mriin taking the first half, and Valanora and Cosumar taking the second half, with each user scorinating half the groups. This may change depending on the eventual timing of the World Cup occurring, but this is the initial plan at least.
RP Bonus
RP bonus will be cumulative and up to one matchdays worth of RP bonus will carry over to the World Cup finals. RPs will be judged on a fairly rigid scale to minimise the subjective views of the various hosts (there will be a scale in incremental steps on which RP will be judged such as 0.5, 1, 1.5 for example). RP will be judged on creativity and effort, with quality carrying weight over quantity. That being said, while you don't need to write a novella to gain a high bonus, two lines of RP along the lines of “my team won today and my best player scored both goals; this makes me happy” will clearly not achieve much of a bonus.
Scorinator
We would use the most recent version of Xkoranate, with the NSFS formula. We would be using a full range of additive styles modifiers ranging from -5 to +5.
Tiebreakers
Points
Goal difference
Head to head points
Head to head goal difference
Wins
Goals scored
Playoff
We welcome any questions you might have over the specifics of this bid.
