DSAFF Comrades Cup

The DSAFF Comrades Cup, often simply called the Comrades Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Democratic Socialist Assembly Football Federation (DSAFF), the football's governing body on planet Delusia. The Comrades Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in Delusia, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event on the planet.

Initially launched as an exclusive tournament for Delusia nations, the tournament subsequently expanded, becoming an invitation-only event.

Format
The tournament is currently contested by all 14 member states of the DSAFF, to which additional nations are added upon invitation, with the aim of reaching a number such as to allow the competition to take place. Consequently, there is no need for a qualification phase.

There are two phases: the group stage followed by the knockout stage. In the group stage, teams compete within four groups of four teams each. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage.

The ranking of each team in each group is determined as follows:


 * a) Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie


 * b) Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie


 * c) Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:


 * a) Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches


 * b) Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches

If teams will remain level after all these criteria, DSAFF will hold a drawing of lots.

The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if a match is still tied after 90 minutes in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and after extra time in the final. It begins with the quarter-finals, then semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.

History
In February of 2021, Talamia was the only nation to have its own football federation on Delusia: the TSS (Talamia Sports' Summaka), governing a national football team and Talamia's own domestic league: the Alfa League. The strong cultural football tradition of Talamia pushed sports' minister Antheo Karabos to propose the creation of a body to govern football at an international level, at that moment absent on the planet.

On 5 February 2021, the DSAFF was born, as can be read in the official statute of the federation:

"[...] with the aim of organizing football tournaments for clubs and national teams, of spreading the interest in association football, of ensuring football is accessible to everyone, and of advocating for integrity and fair play."

Karabos appointed Oiktirmon-Nicao Paidarion president of the newly-born federation. Paidarion had already been president and founder of the Talamian club Afestosja and he is known for his revolutionary approach to sports organization in general.

The very first goal of the federation was to organize a tournament for national teams for the summer of 2021, the Comrades Cup. A first announcement of the organization of the tournament was released on March 30 of the same year. Three countries from Delusia responded positively: Syndic Australia, Bhexa, Tuthar, Nia's Port, Itini and Veyoris. When it became clear that the lack of interest in the first edition would not attract further attendees, Padairon decided to turn the Comrades Cup into an invitation-only competition. The Forest region was initially involved, from which the national teams of Blueea, Chan Island, Kepler-0085, World Wildlife Fund and Arklanda joined the competition. Subsequently, the national teams of New Ordiel Kalibleland (from The Internationale), Bunkaiia (from the Council of Constructed Languages) and Lannistter and Jerno (The Socialist Syndacalist Union) also joined the tournament.

As the only founding member of the DSAFF and the first promoter of the tournament, Talamia was chosen as the host nation. Arklanda won the first edition of the tournament, beating Veyoris 2-1 after extra time in the final match, held on 3 June 2021 at the Ebdemar Au'tokra Stadium in Clinepalas.

World Cup Committee
The DSAFF Congress governs the creation of the Comrades Cup tournament and oversees its binding laws. The committee serves t hreekey roles:
 * elect Comrades Cup host nations
 * nominate and elect DSAFF Congress presidents
 * propose and vote on amendments to the DSAFF Constitution.