Egypt’s e-sports community is set to witness a major boost with the launch of the first e-Football Clubs Championship.
The event throws light on Egypt’s ambition to seriously get into the world of online video game competitions, recognizing its growing importance for young people and the future of sports.
Notably, the tournament will begin its qualifying rounds this month and is scheduled to conclude in July.
However, Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhi, proposed an aspiring vision for the future, suggesting that the tournament could be extended to simulate the structure and duration of the Egyptian football league itself, indicating a long-term commitment to e-football.
This came during a press conference in Cairo last week to announce details of the championship.
The government, Minister Sobhi said, wants all young people in Egypt to have a chance to play some kind of sport, reiterating the ministry’s core objective.
He described this new e-football league is a “big step” on the road to getting young people involved in different sports.
“This type of gaming can help the economy and create jobs for young people,” the minister said.
The new championship, organized by the Egyptian Electronic Sports Federation (EESF), will bring 25 clubs together.
For his part, Head of the EESF, Sherif Abdel Baqi, explained the motivation behind this initiative.
While Egypt possesses a wealth of talented individuals in electronic games, he said, many of these individuals lack the necessary sponsorship and support to travel abroad and participate in international championships.
He added that this was why a decision was made to organize an official national championship in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to address this gap and provide a platform for local talents.
The new event seeks to capitalize on the popularity of football to open the door for a true competition in Egypt. It will provide a structured platform for competitive gaming within the nation.
Having these kinds of e-football games brings many good things to young people in Egypt and to sports, in general, specialists said.
It gives young people fun within an event that helps them meet other people and compete with them in a friendly atmosphere, they added.
E-games offer players the chance to get better at thinking fast; making quick decisions; using their hands and eyes together, and working as a team if they play with others.
Minister Sobhi said these games can open the door for new jobs for players; organizers; people interested in the games, and people who make videos about them.
The private sector will also want to support these games, the minister said.
Also, because e-football can be played everywhere, it can help Egyptian players connect with people who play online games in other countries.
Watching these games can be exciting for many people, just like watching regular sports. Every new game and competition helps e-sports grow and become more professional in the country.
Playing football video games as a serious competition has been taking place around the world a while. In the early 2000s, games like Pro Evolution Soccer started having organized games, mostly in Europe. Over time, more and more big gaming events around the world started including football games in their competitions.
A really important moment for e-football becoming official worldwide was in December 2024 when the first big world championship for the e-Football game was held in Saudi Arabia.
The organizers had winners for people playing on consoles and on phones. This was the first time there were official world champions for this specific game as part of a big FIFA event, showing that e-football is now seen as a real competitive game around the world.
Egypt starting its own big e-Football Clubs Championship, with the qualifiers beginning this month and the potential for a longer league in the future, is a sign that the country has already started recognizing e-sports as important and popular among ordinary people.
