The details for WorldNET 2013 can now be announced. The 18th annual IFA tournament, WorldNET 2013, will take place at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)’s Sports Arena in Preston on the weekend of 19/20/21 July 2013.
To enter, a team must be a bona fide IFA team, representing a football team supporters’ website, message board, email group/list or supporters’ trust internet group. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and each team entered must have at least one representative subscribed to the IFAWorldNET Yahoo Group at all times.
The entry fee for WorldNET 2013 has been set at an initial £300, which is non-refundable. Please note that this fee is an initial amount based on a reduced number of teams and no event sponsorship – if/when we reach certain milestones and/or obtain sponsorship, we should be in a position to refund a portion of that entry fee to all teams when they “check in” on the Friday or Saturday. Naturally, we all want to keep the cost for everyone down as much as possible, so we will be doing our best to bring
in some sponsorship for the tournament. You can all do your bit by entering a team and paying your entry fee promptly – the sooner we have cash in the bank, the sooner the cost for everyone reduces.
We are currently in the process of getting an IFA bank account opened. As soon as that unnecessarily complicated process is complete, we will start accepting entries – I will post a further update on the list at this point. The entry form will be available on the IFA website – www.internetfootball.org.uk – and we will accept payments in the form of cash, cheque and direct payment into the account (either in person in a branch or online). We’ll also have a direct debit option as well. PayPal will be available, but due to the extortionate handling fees they charge, anyone wishing to pay using this method should add £10 to their entry fee, so naturally we suggest you use an alternative method where possible.
The format for the event is much the same as in the past, Friday night will see the final of the IFA Challenge Cup and the return of the England v Scotland international. Saturday will be the group stage (groups of either 4 or 5 depending on the number of entries), progressing to the knockout stages for the Cup and Plate on the Sunday.
The weekend will largely be co-ordinated by myself, Steve Cowell and Andrew Kilduff, both of whom have been co-opted onto the IFA Committee, so any off-list queries, questions, complaints, etc should be directed to the three of us. In the meantime I suggest everyone familiarises themselves with the rules which can be found here.
Accommodation will be available on the nearby university campus, more details of which will be released when we have reached an agreement with the university.