Germany will send an eSports duo to the FIFA 19 World Cup (FIFA eNations Cup).

The interview break-up of DFB boss Reinhard Grindel, the fuss about sorted out world champions, the dispute about the so-called “Club World Cup”, the early Champions League out of the German clubs: The German Football Association cannot complain about a lack of clarification at the moment.
After all, the DFB Executive Committee has now cleared a construction site: Germany will take part in the first FIFA eNations Cup on 13 and 14 April in London, a kind of virtual World Cup based on “FIFA 19”. There will be 20 teams from all over the world at the start. From Europe, Portugal, England, France, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia and Finland, among others, have confirmed their participation – and now also Germany, which has been drawn for Group C, together with Norway, Sweden, Argentina and Brazil.

The association will decide in the next few days which two German players will be sent by the DFB – the closing date for entries is 31 March. The favorites for this task are Werder Bremen players Mohammed Harkous (“MoAuba”) and Michael Bittner (“MegaBit”), who just a few days ago received the championship trophy of the Virtual Bundesliga Club Championship. Both players also rank in the top 10 in the “FIFA” world rankings. Other top professionals from Germany include Tim Katwanatos (“TheStrxngeR”), Niklas Raeck (“NRaseck”), Hasan Eker (“Hasoo”), Erhan Kayman (“DrErhano”) from VfB Stuttgart, Tim Latka from Schalke 04 eSports and Cihan Yasarlar from RB Leipzig.

DFB General Secretary Friedrich Curtius hopes that the decision “will enable children and young people to find their way into our clubs and take part in the training and games operations via games such as ‘FIFA 19′”. According to Curtius, many active footballers play at the console in their free time: “This trend also plays a role in our planning. This decision is, therefore, a further step towards positioning the DFB well for the future”.

In April 2018, the DFB’s top management agreed that the affiliated clubs should operate ‘E-Soccer’ rather than eSports – a distinction that had been criticized by the eSports Association of Germany, among others. Previously, association president Grindel had fiercely opposed the eSport industry, the eSport plans of the grand coalition and the games industry. Via the German Football League (DFL), the umbrella organization of German football is the licensor of “FIFA” manufacturer Electronic Arts.