The first edition of AFC eAsian Cup kicked off at the Virtual city e-games Doha Festival on Thursday and will conclude on February 5. The five-day continental virtual event is organised under patronage of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and in co-operation with Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Qatar E-sports Federation (QESF).
This e-tournament opening day was attended by the AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifah, QESF President Sheikh Abdullah bin Faleh al-Thani, QFA Secretary-General Mansoor al-Ansari, the QESF Secretary-General Faisal Khalid, QESF Deputy Secretary-General and Chairman of E-national team Committee Khalifa al-Haroon, the QESF board member Moza al-Mohannadi and a number of senior officials from AFC and QFA.
Twenty Asian teams will fight for top honours. Teams are pooled into six groups, Group A includes, hosts Qatar, Tajikistan and Lebanon, Group B: Uzbekistan, Syria and India, group C: Iran, UAE and Hong Kong, group D: Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, group E: Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Jordan, Bahrain, Group F: Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan and Oman.
In a post-opening day statement, the QESF President Sheikh Abdullah said: “Our top priority is to promote the e-sports among local community, turning our vision and objectives true and making Qatar a key hub of e-sports in the region and entire world.”
For his part, QESF Secretary-General Faisal Khalid said this historic and inaugural AFC eAsian Cup is expected to attract a big base of football fans, because it comes in conjunction with AFC Asian Cup Qatar.
“This event acts as a unique and positive turning point inside the culture of Qatar community, where everyone can use his/her energy in both physical and mental sports, ultimately a Qatari person will be capable to produce better thoughts and have strong and healthy body,” he said
Twenty teams are fighting for top honours at the AFC eAsian Cup.
