When a scout is assigned to a region or country in which I don't have an active competition selected then their knowledge should still improve (in a similar way as to regions without active competitions).
Now most of the time they are idle and only watch games when that country has a club that plays a friendly or in some continental competition. But in real life scouts don't only get information by watching matches. They have a network (locals, friends, trainers, other scouts, agents) in that country, they watch the training, they watch very low leagues or youth stuff or even at some playing field for kids.
Hence scouting should get an overhaul such that a scout doesn't only get more knowledge by watching matches (this will help all scouts but especially the ones assigned to a region without an active competition selected in your save).
At the very least 'simulate' games that your scout can watch but only for the scouts to gain knowledge. So it is still an inactive competition, you won't be able to watch the matches or see any history or results and thus won't burdon the computer. It is merely a statistic to help your scout gain knowledge, detect regen players in that region and spawn regens of that region at your club.
They should really change this. Very unrealistic. The point of having scouts is to discover talents in ways you can't. They should just pretend they watch matches, pretend they are simulated but that the human cannot see them.