South Africans vie for the top prize at eLaLiga Fan Cup

The first stage of the eLaLiga Santander Fan Cup, the official amateur EA SPORTS FIFA 21 tournament organised internationally by LaLiga and Electronic Arts, has concluded with unprecedented turnout figures.

During November and December, more than 21 000 entrants from 16 countries took part in a total of 31 online tournaments as part of the national finals, with 40 players emerging who will now go head to head in the regional finals.

Representing South Africa is Kaylan Moodley (2 x FGS Africa Cup Champion), Zaakir Abdulla, Mogamad Zuhayr Abrahams (Orlando Pirates eSports Player) and Masoom Fakie (Bravado Gaming Fifa Player) who will play in the African regional final.

THE REGIONAL FINALS OF THE ELALIGA SANTANDER FAN CUP

The regional finals kick off this weekend, starring the finalists from each nation. Eight players will advance and battle it out for glory in the Grand Final in May in Madrid.

• 30-31 January: North American regional final (USA, Colombia and Mexico).

• 6-7 February: South American regional final (Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina)

• 20-21 February: African regional final (Egypt and South Africa)

• 27-28 February: European regional final and Middle-East regional final (Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey).

• 20-21 March: Asian regional final (South Korea, China, Thailand and Vietnam).

• Spain's representatives will emerge from those competing in the national tournaments, the dates of which will be released soon.

In addition, eLaliga also announces it's partnership with Galaxy Racer for this season. This partnership will firstly reinforce Galaxy Racer’s global positioning to help and foster the international ecosystem and secondly expose the competition to it’s massive audience reach (Over 50 Million Followers).

As part of this partnership Galaxy Racer will exclusively broadcast the event in Arabic on the Galaxy Racer channels. This will contribute in bringing this event to life and spreading it’s reach across the globe and specifically in the Arabic Speaking world.

“We are beyond excited to partner up with eLaliga on this championship. Galaxy Racer’s Middle Eastern & South Asian fan base has always been one of the biggest audiences to European and International Football, so it only made sense for us to partner up with eLaliga and bring the excitement to our home turf!” - Paul Roy, CEO Galaxy Racer

Due to the global public health crisis we are immersed in, the Asian regional finals will be the only ones to be held in person. In the remaining territories the competition will be adapted to a fully online format to ensure the safety of all of the entrants without compromising in the slightest on the excitement and drama on the road to the Grand Final.

THE GRAND FINAL IN MADRID

On 8 May, depending on the pandemic’s evolution in Spain, the eight finalists advancing from the regional finals will face off in the Grand Final in Madrid, where they will compete for a prize of €10 000 (Over ZAR 150 000) as well as enjoying the eLaLiga VIP Experience.

The unparalleled competition event will feature all of the matches streamed on the official eLaLiga channels on Twitch in order to bring the action to the screens of fans the world over.

The final will be held in conjunction with the Grand Final of the Spanish professional competition, eLaLiga Santander, which will take place on the same weekend at the same venue.

As a result, the players of eLaLiga Santander, conceived for professional players from Spain, and the players of the first edition of the eLaLiga Santander Fan Cup, designed to be an introduction to the competitive world, will rub shoulders in the thick of this spectacle organised by LaLiga and Electronic Arts.

Follow all of the news on the competition and its players on the official tournament website (https://fancup.elaliga.gg/) and via eLaLiga's social media channels on Twitter and Instagram.