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FSDL launches revolutionary esports ISL

With this joint venture, the ISL becomes the country's first major sports league to venture into competitive gaming, in collaboration with EA SPORTS TM.

By Ranjit
FSDL

Bengaluru, October 27: Football Sports Development (FSDL), the operational wing of the Indian Super League (ISL) and South Asia's leading esports company NODWIN Gaming announced the launch of eISL.

With this joint venture, the ISL becomes the country's first major sports league to venture into competitive gaming, in collaboration with EA SPORTS TM.

FSDL has been consistently curating new concepts and platforms to explore the youthful and global facets of football and eISL is another exciting platform to engage the growing number of young football fans in India with the rapidly growing online gaming spectrum. NODWIN Gaming will be the tournament organiser for eISL.

Registrations for the qualifiers will be held on ESL Play and from the events section on PlayStation. Players will have to create an ESL Play ID to register for the tournament on the ESL Play platform. The minimum age to enter the competition is 16.

The first edition of eISL is set to debut alongside ISL season 2021-22 from November 20. The eISL finals will be held on March 20, 2022, with a mega prize pool of INR 74 Lacs and an additional INR 4 Lacs for the Season MVP. 22 esports athletes, 11 male and 11 female, will represent all 11 ISL clubs, driving inclusivity with the growing female presence in the esports arena.

A total of 117 matches will be played as this new esports tournament in collaboration with NODWIN Gaming and EA SPORTS TM will determine the champion of the eISL and will also be an official league qualifying event to the EA SPORTS TM FIFA22 GLOBAL SERIES (FGS) Playoffs as ISL becomes the contributing league for the global tournament post its historic inclusion in EA SPORTS TM FIFA 22.

Aspiring EA SPORTS TM FIFA 22 esports athletes of the country will compete in a total of 11 online qualifiers. Each qualifier will determine the representatives for the 11 clubs - 1 qualifier per club. Each club will play 2 athletes - 1 male & 1 female. An additional 12th all-female qualifiers will determine the selection of the female players in each club. The rest of the 11 qualifiers will be held in the order of the final ISL 2020-21 season standings. The tournament will have online qualifiers, regular season and grand finals. The clubs will play round-robin matches alongside the inaugural eISL season and a leader board will be put in place. The top 4 clubs will advance to the Grand Finals. The finalists will play in a double-elimination format to determine the winner. Keeping the safety measures in place, a bio-secure bubble will be set up for players in Gurugram, Haryana during the course of the eISL season.

FSDL Chief Executive Officer Martin Bain said, "Fan engagement is one of the key factors to building a sport and expanding its footprint. The growing online gaming landscape in India provides a great opportunity to engage with the next generation of fans in the country. The e-sports experience is vital to the future of football and we continue to evolve towards its growth."

"eISL is an exciting platform and we're confident that it'll lead the evolution of fan engagement and contribute significantly to boost the sport's popularity in the country."

The qualifications will take from November 1 to 3 and the Grand Finals March 19 and 20, 2022.

(Source: FSDL Media)

Story first published: Wednesday, October 27, 2021, 9:40 [IST]
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