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In light of major football events being cancelled this year, EA and FIFA are pushing the boundaries of what constitutes live football by introducing FIFA ‘play and stay cup’. Through this tournament, EA hopes to raise $1 million to provide relief measures in the fight against COVID 19, as the pandemic of coronavirus continues to roams at large.

In this virtual sports tournament, 20 teams from Europe will participate in a knockout style tournament. The event will be held from April 15th to April 19th, in which teams will choose players  to represent their clubs. Some of the top European clubs participating in this tournament include the likes of Ajax, AS Roma, Chelsea, FC Copenhagen, Liverpool, Porto, Real Madrid. The event will be streamed on EA’s ‘EA SPORTS FIFA Twitch’ Channel, where Players will also be able to avail FUT 20 reward points by linking a Twitch account to an EA account.

“We want to bring the global football community together with the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Stay and Play Cup, so millions of fans can experience the thrill of their favorite clubs and professional footballers playing — even when we have to be apart,” said Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts. “As part of ‘Stay Home, Play Together,’ we’re working to help people around the world find more ways to connect through play. Combined with relief contributions we are making, we hope to make a positive impact in people’s lives during this challenging time.”

The company will pour $1 million from the money raised through the tournament into Global Giving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund, as part of its “Stay Home, Play Together” initiative. Tournaments for other games under the EA banner are being organised in similar fashion including three Apex Legends tournaments, with a prize pool of $100k each.

EA SPORTS Madden NFL 20 held another tournament on Twitch where NFL fans watched their favorite athletes go head-to-head in the NFL Checkdown x Madden Tournament from April 1-2.