Take into consideration that your opponent might not speak English well enough to answer your question (though I don't know how good RukaNewton's English is)
I don't think there's a need for some deep justification. It just worked well back in GR/vCoH times. I always found it interesting to know who people are rooting for, especially that the most popular player at a time wasn't necessarily the one people considered to have biggest chances of winning the tourney.
Sorry Nullist if this explanation isn't good enough for you, but I don't think I can come up with something better .
The problem you are referring to is people expecting CoH2 to be an elaborate vCoH patch, rather than a standalone. They could have just transplanted the same exact system, as Blizzard did with SC2 from SC. Now THERE is a game that hasnt broken any new ground. Same shit, different package.