| Should we swap the Groups A and D in the knockouts for NWWC |
I just wanted to put my two cents about the whole swapping of groups A and D for the knock out stage of this NWWC. For context, Captains of every nation get a vote to either swap group A and D - to allow for an ENG v FRA final -or to keep the bracket the way it is. Although I am not a captain (I don't get a vote) - I am an advisor for this years NWWC and with the permissions of the other organisers I have been allowed to make this much wanted post which is directed to captains and more importantly the wider community.
Before everyone starts bashing the organisers of the tournament for mistakenly creating the bracket - 2/3 main organisers are Ukrainian, with the outbreak of the war happening as the brackets were being made and Chicken who made the bracket has had a broken PC for a month now. We are just making the best out of a bad situation. I will argue why we shouldn't alter the brackets but still have a vote on this issue.
What does this swap mean for the teams going into the top bracket? A lot of teams are going to have more favourable matches in the knock outs namely, ESP/NL and more of course ENG and FRA with these teams getting an ultimately easier run to the final.
Are ENG and FRA, the historical favourites, even the best two teams this year?
Regardless of the swapping of the groups, the best NWWC team will ultimately win so why are we altering the bracket half way through the tournament to give the two historically best NWWC teams an easier run to the final, doesn’t that seem fundamentally unfair to the other teams and to the community?
The champions league, as an example, is the most competitive successful European tournament as upsets happen, look at last night with Villarreal beating Bayern on aggregate, who would’ve thought? Does the CL change the knock outs when Man City and Liverpool (two best teams imo) are seeded to fight in the first round of knock outs? The best team ultimately wins regardless of their path to the final.
I myself who plays for ESP and whose team directly profits from this swap in groups feel uneasy with this swap and even if it gives us an easier run, out of sake of integrity I feel like I must call this swap out for what it is. A manipulation of the brackets half way through the tournament to satisfy certain entitled figures in the community, thus blatantly disregarding the integrity of the tournament and community in hopes to simply win.
Ultimately though, it is a community run event and thus the community (captains) should be able to put this to a vote and decide what’s best for the community - not what’s best for your team. I am not opposed to a vote as its democratic and many captains have already voted, I am sure captains are mature enough to understand what this means if a swap does happen and will vote for what is in the best interests of the community, not their own team.
I am not a captain for this NWWC so I do not have a vote, the aim of this post is to speak to the captains, whether you have already voted, or are planning to vote for the swap - to please reconsider your decision for the sake of the integrity the NWWC.
