FIFA 20: Bundesliga – DFB launches ePokal

To the Bundesliga, there will also be a separate ePokal in FIFA 20 in the coming season, which will be played in larger teams rather than 1-against-1.

The German Football Association (DFB) has strengthened its commitment to eSports and launched the ePokal.

As DFB Interim President Rainer Koch announced at SPOBIS Gaming und Media in Cologne, the FIFA 20 football simulation competition will be similar to the DFB Cup. “The big goal is to create an offer for the 25,000 clubs to be able to compete in the competition”, Koch told the SID.

Football clubs have a constant duty to “deal with social changes”, Koch said because of the ongoing digitalization. The DFB’s “lighthouse project” will be open to all members throughout Germany and will start at the turn of the year. In several preliminary rounds, the 64 best teams will be determined in the ePokal as in real football, and the final is planned for the cup weekend in May 2020 in Berlin.

Koch wants to continue promoting eFootball

The game should not be played in single or duo mode, but larger teams. However, it is not played in the proven “Pro Clubs” mode, in which eleven different gamers play together in a team. The conditions should be equal for all participants, and the registration will take place over the regional associations.

Koch also confirmed the position of the DFB to promote football simulations exclusively: “I very much plead for the DFB to take care of everything that has to do with football”. The term “eFootball” was chosen to “avoid some problems”.

Everyone could have their own opinion about games like League of Legends, “but we are a football association,” Koch said. The DFB recently founded its first national team with 21 players in FIFA 19.