Mentioned in this article Teams: Manchester City

FIFA has been running an Interactive World Cup in partership with FIFA’s developer, EA Sports, since 2004. The event, which has seen signups of more than 2.5 million players, has always been regarded as a relatively niche—the months-long event culminates in just a $20,000 first place prize, though the winner does get to attend the FIFA Ballon d’Or (“Golden Ball”) ceremony and meet top FIFA stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]This rumor, if true, is just the first step towards esports and sports eventually being seen as two sides of the same coin.[/perfectpullquote]

All that may soon change, however, as a recent substantive rumor has sprung up stating that FIFA Interactive World Cup will be adding an additional form of qualifying, aimed directly at top football clubs around the world. The “FIFA Interactive Club World Cup”—modeled after FIFA’s own Club World Cup—will be a showcase event between esports teams for those clubs, and its winners will advance to the FIWC Grand Finals.

FIFA football clubs’ entrance into esports has been a steady story over the last year, and shows no sign of stopping. Already, clubs like Valencia CF, Schalke 04, Manchester City, and Sporting Lisbon have signed top FIFA players. Last week, L’Equipe reported that Paris Saint-Germain F.C. was in talks with Millenium to get into esports as well.

The creation of a Club World Cup for FIFA’s esports scene, then, is a natural addition. It makes sense to give these real-life football clubs a digital showcase as well, and could possibly lead to further analogous moves that bring esports and sports even closer. In the meantime, this rumor, if true, is just the first step towards esports and sports eventually being seen as two sides of the same coin.