SINGAPORE- Two Singaporeans will compete in the Fifa eNations Stay And Play Cup, an international e-sports Fifa20 tournament that is part of a global initiative between EA Sports and the world governing football body.

Professional e-sports player Amraan Gani from Team Flash and Tampines Rovers midfielder Joel Chew will represent Singapore at the tournament, which kicks off on Tuesday (April 21).

A total of 53 Fifa member associations across three regions in the West, Central and East will compete in the Cup. Each member will be represented by a Fifa20 professional e-sports player and a representative who is either a professional footballer, ambassador or celebrity. Each match will be played twice, once between the e-sports players and the other between the representatives from the rival members.

Singapore will face regional e-sports giants Australia and New Zealand in Group B of the East region, with the first match against Australia played on Tuesday (7pm) before taking on New Zealand the next day.

Fans can watch the matches live on the Football Association of Singapore’s Facebook page.

Amraan, who competed at the Fifa eWorld Cup Global Series Playoffs in 2018, said: “I’ve been working on my skills and my teammate is good at the game as well.

“I’m quietly confident that we can progress to the next round although the countries in our group are highly rated in Asia,” added the 26-year-old.

Chew, who joined the Stags last year, has been playing the e-game more frequently since the 2016 edition was released.

The 20-year-old, who plays an average of seven hours a week, said he is “honoured and excited” at the opportunity “as not many people get the chance to do so”.

The top two from the group will advance to the semi-final knockout stage on Friday to compete against the top two teams from Group A, which includes countries such as Japan, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei.

The final of each of the three regions will take place in an hours-long broadcast that includes entertainment such as live music, community engagement, interviews and guest hosts.