The inaugural ‘eFootball League’ will be officially launched on 11 January 2018. The league will be managed by Global eLeagues who have a wealth of experience in this field following the successful launch and management of the ‘Celtic eSports League’ in 2017.

The league will be broadcast exclusively by Goal on Facebook, Twitter YouTube and Twitch. In 2017 Goal was named the most shared publisher on social media, with a social following in excess of 70m.

The tournament will feature a prize pool of $10,000 and will involve teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Northern Ireland facing off against each other on FIFA 18 (Ultimate Team format).

The league matches the top gamers from across Europe with professional football clubs and organisations in a Champions League style tournament in two divisions: Xbox and PS4. The winners of each division will face off in a grand final which will be held live at a football ground in May 2018.

Sam Brown, Goal’s head of English language said: “Over the past couple of years we’ve noticed the increasing interest in eSports from our fans. For some, FIFA 18 is the main way they interact with football and we’re continuingly looking into how we can provide them the best FIFA content, whether that’s news or the streaming of games. This is why we’ve decided to work with the eFootball League, as it will allow us to showcase some of the best FIFA players and teams in the world, introducing them to new audiences and providing a new home for existing eSport fans.”

Geoff Wilson from the eFootball League said: “We are delighted to have Goal on board for the inaugural league competition. Goal brings a wealth of experience as well as a huge platform to promote the league and the skills of the players during the tournament.

“eSports is growing at a phenomenal rate world-wide and the clubs involved are demonstrating an innovative approach to growing the brand of their clubs online. The eFootball League is an exciting new concept and we hope to attract new fans for not only the league but all the clubs involved.”

Fans can follow all the matches on Twitch and keep up-to-date will all the latest developments on Twitter @global_eLeagues.