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how about look at it this way...
If the Premier Football League were asked for opinions into the qualification into Europe next season, and at the start of the season they say, first 4 will qualify to be in the Champions League... And then.. Some time 5 weeks before the end of the season, they change the rules and say, we have listened to "opinion" and we are changing it to only the top 2 teams, therefore, unlucky teams in 3rd and 4th place...
Do you think that is acceptable to just change the rules of qualification mid season?
Or... Do you think it would be prudent to wait until the season has finished and apply the new rules to next season?
It isn"t a comparable situation though.
Champions League qualification brings with it significant financial gain.
Teams can build into their budget the potential gain of qualification and plan accordingly.
If the number of teams who qualified were changed this would affect that strategic and tactical planning - i.e. those teams who were in the mix to "just" qualify would no longer have a chance of qualifying and money they might have spent on trying to get into the qualifying spot would now no longer be rewarded by the extra funds that would arise from qualification.
With APAT, the only way it would make a strategic difference would be if someone won or finished highly in one or more of the early championships purely because it would mean they would be an automatic pick for the Team Championships.
I
strongly suspect that this isn"t the case. I really don"t think anybody played any differently in the previous championships because this rule was in place.
The effect having this rule, or not having this rule, would be when the teams are picked.
If it was changed after the teams were picked then someone automatically picked could make arrangements - then get dropped, which would clearly be wrong.
Changing the rule before the teams are picked means that nothing in this season has been affected, and hence there is no reason not to change it for this season rather than wait.