All India Football Federation is all set to get into esports and has announced that it is going to hold trials to form and Indian team that will participate in FIFAe Nations Series 2021. This trial will be in the form of a tournament which has been named 'AIFF eFootball Challenge'.
With the selection and forming of a eNational Squad, AIFF announced that this will be a first for India to participate in the FIFAe Nations Series 2021. This is FIFA’s flagship tournament for Member Associations and is contested by eNational Teams in the game EA Sports FIFA 21.
AIFF eFootball Challenge: Details
The AIFF eFootball Challenge is set to take place from March 20 to April 4. The tournament will be played using the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 version of FIFA 21 to decide the winner.
The tournament will use FIFAe Global Series Rankings (West Asia Region) as of February 25, 2021 12:00am IST to determine the qualification and seeding. The winner and the runner up of the tournament will be the ones to represent India in the global competition.
The registration of the AIFF eFootball Challenge is currently live and will be open till March 10. As for the FIFAe Nations Series 2021 it uses a multi-phase structure including online qualifier stages. This culminates into the FIFAe Nations Cup which is the final event. India is set to participate as part of the Middle East and Africa server region.
AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das, calls this a “brilliant initiative” that will "help grow the sport's popularity and boost fan engagement in the country.”
"Gaming has always been a great engagement tool for football fans across the world. Owing to the current pandemic situation the interest in eSports has increased manifold globally. Be it on the field or on a virtual platform, football generates passion and excitement among fans,” Das said. "As a modern and progressive organization, the AIFF is committed to engaging with stakeholders and fans and increasing the popularity and interest in football across the nation. AIFF aims to grow the competition with participation from across the country in the coming years."
“The opportunity to nominate eAthletes from India for the event is a unique opportunity to engage with the gaming community in the country and open a new avenue for fans to connect with the ‘Beautiful Game.’ At the same time, it will help promote the concept of eSports as a career and provide global exposure to Indian eAthletes,"
