Mamelodi Sundowns and Mettlestate have announced a massive R200k FIFA 23 tournament, with the finals to be held at rAge 2022.
There will be 4 live qualifiers taking place in malls across South Africa, as well as an online qualifier for those who can’t make the live events. The top player from each live qualifier and the top 4 players from the online qualifiers will participate in the top 8 finale. The finalists will be flown out to the top 8 tournament which will be held at the rAge Expo at the Gallagher Convention Centre from 9-11 December 2022.
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club has a long and decorated history in the competitive football scene. Not only are they the most successful football club in the South African PSL, but it has been confirmed that South Africa’s reigning domestic league champions are now featured in the latest iteration of the EA SPORTS FIFA series, with the team being added to the FIFA23 roster.
The Chairman of Mamelodi Sundowns, Tlhopie Motsepe, hopes that the launch of the competition will bring excitement to the esports participants. “Many of the people in our football club are fans of the FIFA series and are aware of the passion that South African gamers have towards the video game”, says Motsepe. “That is one of the reasons that the moment Mamelodi Sundowns was announced as the latest African team to be included in FIFA 23, we knew that we had to give our supporters and fans of the game a chance to celebrate with us.”
“We hope this kickstarts local excitement around football while giving gamers and lovers of FIFA series the chance to play in a competition that was made especially for them. This is our first project in the esports industry and we are excited to see where this leads us. I’d like to thank our staff members, our partners and our board for helping us make this possible,” concluded Tlhopie Motsepe.
Mettlestate’s Managing Director, Barry Louzada, is impressed by the dedication the football team is showing to esports. “Traditional sports and esports overlap in more ways than most people realise. FIFA23 is the perfect example of this. We are ecstatic to see Mamelodi Sundowns football club being represented in this popular international title. But the club is going above and beyond – they are actively supporting and encouraging esports. This kind of tournament is exactly what the FIFA scene in South Africa needs: dedication and opportunity.”
The live finals will take place at the Mamelodi Sundowns stand at the rAge Expo 2022, 9 – 11 December.
