eSports: EA Sports announces the launch of the eChampions League in 2019 in partnership with UEFA

"EA Sports and UEFA are excited to announce the eChampions League (from 02/03/2019), a pivotal tournament expansion to the EA Sports FIFA 19 Global Series and a brand new, authentic way for millions of football fans to connect to the UEFA Champions League through the competition," said the American video game publisher on 09/11/2018.

EA Sports succeeds the Japanese video game publisher Konami and its game Pro Evolution Soccer, which has held the rights to the exclusive use of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League images and logos for its Pro Evolution Soccer video game since 2009. Konami extended its rights for the 2015-2018 cycle on 12/06/2015.

As part of the competition, "eligible competitors will compete on PlayStation 4 and participate in eChampions League Global Online Knockout tournaments 02-03/03/2019, with the top 64 players advancing to a live qualifying event on 26-27/04/2019. Only eight of the world's elite will advance from the April live event to the eChampions League Final. Hosted in Madrid (Spain) on 31/05/2019, the eChampions League Final will be played a day…