TTFA begins first-ever FIFAe Nations Invitational contest

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) began its first-ever FIFAe Nations Invitational tournament virtually on Monday.

A statement issued by the association said this is a pilot scouting initiative to gauge the interest and skill level in FIFA esports domestically.

The TTFA has signed onto this initiative to create a competitive and self-sustaining domestic and international esports ecosystem that is capable of competing against other countries in friendly and non-friendly environments.

Initially, persons invited are to compete online in a competition hosted by Goal eSports and sanctioned by the TTFA. Sourcing its initial top four TT players would be the starting point of their domestic pool.

After this initial invitational, the TTFA will begin rolling out frequent scouting tournaments for the general public, member clubs as well as friendlies.

“In the future, this would hopefully lead to our member clubs taking part in eSports as well as semi pro and pro league level domestic tournaments. The TTFA would seek to provide the necessary space and facilities for our national players as necessary,” the statement read.

Participants must be registered on FIFA.GG to be eligible. While this invitational takes place on ps4 and ps5 systems, moving forward, FIFAe Nations is only to be played on the PS5 system as per FIFA regulations.

For the qualifiers, TT have been drawn in Group B alongside Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic.

The FIFAe Nations Cup 2022 presented by EA Sports gives players the opportunity to play alongside their national teammates in a two versus two format which adds a different, competitive dynamic. The event takes place from July 27-30 in Denmark.

As of Monday night, the FIFAe Nations Series kicked off at a domestic level, with FIFA member associations offering their communities to compete amongst each other and find the most competitive athletes within the country.

Once at the top, the national team might be calling, giving athletes the chance to show their value for the team during FIFAe friendlies.

The TTFA statement added, “In addition, the communities might see activations that are tailored for the less competitive audience during, for example, grassroots and exhibition events. All these activations can be used to help the national coach determine which players will represent the national team in the FIFAe Nations Series.”

The FIFAe Nations Playoffs 2022 will either be played online or offline depending on the final number of participating member associations, during which the 23 nations will be found that will join the host at the FIFAe Nations Cup 2022.