"Eleven friends you shall be" - and compete in the FIFA Pro Clubs EU Masters 2021.

"eSports are part of social development and have received a further boost, especially in the last year, when many sports could no longer be played together at sports facilities," reports Doppelpass Managing Director Patrick Baur. For Baur and the team, hosting the tournament at ISPO is an important development step in gaining a foothold in eSports. That's why they've teamed up with industry expert Marcus Meyer, CEO of eSports consulting agency Force of Disruption, and GAMERS ACADEMY, the digital personal trainer for gamers. "It is quite important to us that "real" sports complement console gaming. One must not exclude the other," says Philipp Walter, founder and CEO of GAMERS ACADEMY, "eFootball is an extremely fast-growing field worldwide - especially in economic terms. And not only because of that, it is also extremely exciting. We are delighted to be a partner in the FIFA Pro Clubs EU Masters 2021."

"The Pro Clubs scene in Europe is a scene that is currently still a bit underrepresented," reports Patrick Baur from one of the event's co-sponsors, esport-manager.com. Together with the GAMERS ACADEMY and the eSports consulting agency Force of Disruption GmbH, esport-manager.com is supporting the event in order to offer the Pro Clubs teams a stage for their virtual sport. "We always talk about digitalization, about transformation and about constant change. When you see eleven men and women taking on the role of their avatars and competing against each other on the virtual football pitch in the FIFA Pro Clubs mode, that is the true digital transformation of football," Baur continues, fascinated. Marcus Meyer, Managing Director of Force of Disruption, adds: "eSports is the sport of the future. We always emphasize that. We are delighted to be able to present this innovative format here as part of ISPO, the world's leading platform for the sports industry."

Every Pro Clubs team with at least 11 players can register via esport-manager.com/ispo2021 from 15 January 2021. The registration period ends on 28 January 2021. The draw and the first tournament round will take place two days later. Teams can find further information on the exact procedure at esport-manager.com.

"eSport stands for inclusion, integration and internationality," describes Marcus Meyer. "Values are lived here that we need in our society - especially at the moment - perhaps more than ever." So the virtual borders are open. Teams from all over Europe can register.

"Of course we'll be there. This is a must-attend tournament for our team," announces Bernd Unger from the gaming agency Stage5Gaming, for example, who with the Pro Clubs team S5 Elite Bombers are one of the first teams to register for the tournament. "For us, it's about introducing the sport to a broad audience and making it accessible," continues Unger, who is now also taking a whole new approach to team management with the S5 Elite Bombers from the end of January. "With us, our viewers and fans are actively involved in the team development and management process. With us, fans become eFootball managers. To real decision makers."

First, however, they want to compete against the European teams and get as far as possible in the tournament.