I like the WRTC concept. But the cynicism of the OP @K0HB is more clear after reading this thread on CQ Contest forum started by K4XS titled Rules for WRTC...ooops . The organizing leadership committee keeps tweaking qualification rules and maps and appears at best clueless, or worst, biased, overlooking unfairness caused by ambiguity and inequalities between op classifications and regional propagation (like MN in same group as WV ) and then being condescending when confronted about it.
Maybe the rules should be made static, at least for a few editions of the event, instead of changing for every edition. Maybe the IARU should be the repository, or should I say suppository, of the rules.
Others agreed with XS Bill's interpretation, which points out the ambiguity. Even Randy K5ZD proclaimed, "...you are correct that the rules as written do not specify this clearly." And the thread morphs in topic to include the geographic changes and inequalities, for which Hans was far from the only complainer.
I find interesting the praise for the organizers for putting the proposed rules 'out there' for comments, albeit their acceptance of criticism is not so welcoming, or so it seems. OK, I'll second the praise, but as I said earlier, do the rules need to change after every edition of the event? As for clarity, I do not discount the language barrier. Unless one has read the original in Italian, we cannot say for sure.
There have been complaints regarding geographic regions going back to the first time that WRTC participation was competitive - I believe I 2006.
I think the rules and qualification gets tweaked after every event. In Germany for example, one WRTC team was reserved for German hams only. I understand that they did that. They also added one event for qualification standings - the Worked All Germany contest - which had never been used before. In 2014, with USA competition being so high (because the event was held in the USA), the organizers allowed for several different North-america centered contests to count for credit - Sweepstakes, NAQP, Sprint. In 2022, it appears that the Italian organizers are responding to complaints that South America and Asia are under-represented. It appears that the Italians are also trying to be a the youth drum harder than in the past by having seven teams instead of 2 or 3 from Germany.
Clarification. I don't contest in any organized fashion. I'm what you call "incidental". If I hear a contest I might, might mind you, work a few. Just not into hanging paper.