June 12 – Manchester City and their seven-sister clubs owned by the City Football Group (CFG) will be competing against each other in an in-house esports challenge Saturday 13.
Titled the CFG Challenge, the event will see CFG pro-FIFA players and esports teams alongside players from the men’s and women’s teams around the group take to the virtual pitch.
CFG have also announced the signing of its first female professional FIFA player, Xiao Jie, who CFG said “will represent Manchester City as part of City’s esports team in China. Xiao Jie will make her debut at the challenge, supporting Sichuan Jiuniu FC’s efforts.”
This weekend’s challenge will give fans watching the opportunity to donate to their club’s chosen charity, supporting Covid 19 recovery efforts in their local area.
Manchester City stars Sergio Aguero and Oleksandr Zinchenko will play off against each other, Georgia Stanway battle it out against teammate Ellie Roebuck and City’s pro esports player Ryan Pessoa will play City legend Joleon Lescott. City is also teaming up with its partners FaZe Clan, to see their player FaZe Tass go head-to-head with City’s Shellzz.
Esports activity will take place across all eight clubs in the CFG group – Manchester City, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos, Girona FC, Montevideo City Torque, Sichuan Jiuniu FC and Mumbai City FC.
Manchester City chief marketing officer, Nuria Tarre, said: “Esports has been a fantastic way to entertain and engage with our fans across the world, particularly during this challenging period. Over the past three months, clubs and players from across City Football Group have taken part in a number of exciting esports events which has seen a significant number of fans tune in to watch. There is a big appetite from fans to see this type of content and the CFG FIFA Challenge is the perfect way for us to bring our extensive CFG esports offering into one place for the first time.”
There are now 16 professional FIFA players and two esports teams in South Korea and China representing CFG clubs in FIFA tournaments around the world.
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