Esports tournament FIFA 19 announces winners

While traditional sports are gaining momentum, the spirit of competition and earnest passion have been demonstrated in the cyber realm. 

FIFA'19 demonstrations took place as part of the cultural programme of the 2nd European Games 2019 on Saturday. 16 professional e-athletes from Belarus contested the champion's title and the prize fund of $2,000.

Despite the worldwide popularity of computer games, the International Olympic Committee still has not given e-sports the same recognition as traditional sports. The Belarusian e-Sports Federation which organised the event stressed that the main goal was to demonstrate that eSports were sports too, the main and only difference being the equipment: a keyboard or a gamepad instead of the usual ball or racket.

Ilya Shimansky (Nemiga Gaming) became champion. He is well known in the Belarusian eSports community as he is two-time META champion who has also represented Belarus at many international championships.

'The inclusion of eSports in the cultural programme of the 2nd European Games 2019 has great significance,' says Ilya Shimansky. 'At the beginning of my career, FIFA was treated rather sceptically, but now the game is gaining recognition at this level of events.  It is a huge step forward, and I hope that the discipline will be included in the Olympic programme one day.'

Champion Ilya Shimansky won a prize of BYN 1,800. The prize for the silver medallist Vsevolod Privalov was BYN 1,200. Aleksandr Suveiko and Roman Polosko came 3rd and 4th, with BYN 700 and BYN 300 respectively. Both gamers are representatives of FC Dynamo Brest.