Forest

The 2021 DSAFF Comrades Cup, also known as 2021 Comrades Cup or simply Talamia 2021, is scheduled to be the inaugural edition of the Comrades Cup, the first initiative launched by the newly formed football federation of Delusia, the DSAFF (Democratic Socialist Assembly Football Federation). It is scheduled to take place in Talamia in May 2021.

Initially launched as an exclusive tournament for Delusia nations, the tournament has subsequently expanded, becoming an invitation-only event. Currently, twelve teams have confirmed their participation, coming from three different regions.

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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 a Talamia's own domestic league: the Alfa League. The strong cultural football tradition of Talamia pushed Talamian sports' minister Antheo Karabos to propose the formation 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:

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 and Tuthar. 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) and Bunkaiia (from the Council of Constructed Languages) also joined the tournament.

Host nation
As the only founding member of the DSAFF and the first promoter of the tournament, Talamia was chosen as the host nation. The Talamian people welcomed the news with great enthusiasm. In short, the cities that would host the matches were chosen and the starting month was set: May 2021.

Venues
The interest in football in Talamia was such that the stadiums, at the time of the tournament's inauguration, had all been modernized, despite the short timing. TSS selected a total of six stadiums to host the Comrades Cup matches. Many of them were refurbished in recent years and the older ones were modernized for the occasion. The capacity of the venues potentially allow a total of 322,000 spectators to be able to attend a match at the same time. The smallest stadium counts 31,000 seats, the largest 84,000.

The chosen stadium were the following:

• The Ebdemar Au'tokra Stadium in the capital city Clinepalas - the biggest one, to host both the first and the final match of the Cup;

• The Pagos Arena in Acroscope - the smallest one, a beautiful structure nestled in the cliff of Scopel; it was renovated thanks to the city modernization process started in 2020 thanks to the DSA Ocean Race;

• The Dionùso Stadium in Anen - an ancient structure that stands on the ashes of a 5000 year old amphitheater;

• The Basi Als Arena in Epacra - a field that floats on the water of the city harbor, which has the wonderful skyscrapers of the center as a backdrop (chosen to favor the inclusion of the Chan Island team formed by non-professional pirates);

• Toxeutà in Fofokoy - home of the latest winner of the Alfa League, Alla Fofokoy;

• DORU in Geitorisma - a structure built entirely of wood, as a sign of respect for the nearby Forest of Pento.

Ebdemar Au'tokra Stadium	Pagos Arena	Dionùso Stadium	Basi Als Arena	Toxeutà	DORU

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Qualification

Between the announcement of its creation and May 5th, 2021, the tournament collected eleven entries, in addition to Talamia, the host nation. Despite being designed as an exclusive tournament for Delusia nations, the most represented region will be Forest (five teams), followed by DSA (four teams) and Anarchy, the Council of Constructed Languages and The Internationale (one team each).

Thanks to the number of answers, since there was no need for qualifying matches, the tournament was organized with a first round, or group stage, in which the twelve teams were divided into four groups of four teams. Each group will be a round-robin of three games, where each team will play one match against each of the other teams in the same group. Teams will be awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams coming first and second and the two best third-placed will qualify for the quarter-finals.

List of qualified teams

Team	Region	DSAFF code	Details
Talamia	Democratic Socialist Assembly	TAL	Talamia National Football Team
Arklanda	Forest	ARK	-
Baldwin Park	Anarchy	BAP	-
Bhexa	Democratic Socialist Assembly	BHX	Bhexa National Football Team
Blueea	Forest	BLU	Blueea National Football Team
Bunkaiia	Council of Constructed Languages	BUN	-
Chan Island	Forest	CHA	Chan Island Football Team
Kepler-0085	Forest	KEP	Keplerian National Football Team
New Ordiel Kalibleland	The Internationale	NOK	National Football Team of New Ordiel Kalibeland
Syndic Australia	Democratic Socialist Assembly	SNA	Syndic Australia Europic Football Team
Tuthar	Democratic Socialist Assembly	TUT	Tuthar National Soccer Team
The World Wildlife Fund	Forest	WWF	-

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Groups

For many of the qualified national teams, this will be the first time they will play an official tournament. Being also the first edition of the Comrades Cup, there is no ranking and consequently no seeds system. DSAFF has decided that this tournament will kick off an official football ranking system. Therefore, for the first group stage the teams will be randomly drawn. It had been predetermined that, as the host, Talamia will be placed in Group A. The draw will be held on Monday 10th of May 2021, in the studios of Pro Diorux TV, in Clinepalas.

Ranking criteria
If teams will level on points, they will be ranked on the following criteria in order:

• Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie

• Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie

• Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie

• If teams will remain level after those criteria, a mini-group would be formed from those teams, who will be ranked on:

  • Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches

  • Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches

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

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Finals tournament

On May the 4th 2021, Padairon announced that the competition will kickoff on Friday May 14th. The 12 teams will be divided into three groups of four teams each, within which the teams will compete in a round-robin tournament to determine which two of those four teams will advance to the eight-team knock-out stage. Those six teams will be joined by the best two third-placed teams. In total, 26 games will be played.

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Results

Group stage

All times are Central European Summer Time (CEST).

In the following tables:

• Pld = total games played

• W = total games won

• D = total games drawn (tied)

• L = total games lost

• GF = total goals scored (goals for)

• GA = total goals conceded (goals against)

• GD = goal difference (GF−GA)

• Pts = total points accumulated

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Talamia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	TBA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Knockout stage

Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	Third place	Final
TBA
TBA − TBA	TBA
TBA	TBA − TBA
TBA − TBA		TBA	Ebdemar Au'tokra Stadium, Clinepalas
TBA		TBA − TBA	TBA − TBA
TBA − TBA	TBA
TBA	TBA − TBA
TBA − TBA

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Third place play-off

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Final

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Statistics

Goalscorers

Awards

Top scorer	Best player	Best goalkeeper	Best young player
−	−	−	−

All-star team

Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
−	−	−	−

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Media

The event sparked media attention from the day it was announced. Numerous nations sent their journalists and commentators to Clinepalas' Pro Diorux TV studios.

The broadcasting rights for the 2021 Comrades Cup were sold directly by DSAFF.

Nation	Broadcaster	Staff
Arklanda	ANT Sports Channels	Sedra Ilham (ANT Sports 1 HD) Basem Staifi (ANT Sports 2 HD)
New Ordiel Kalibleland	NOK News	Erik Karlsson (journalist)
Talamia	Pro Diorux Sports	Auxe Aggelia (commentator) Gian Gianvilipendio (commentator)