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Football for Friendship holds expert discussion on sports development during pandemic

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Football for Friendship holds expert discussion on sports development during pandemic
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Experts of the international online discussion “Motivation and training in the context of the pandemic: the impact of Internet technologies on sports” reached the mutual conclusion that the pandemic will boost the development of e-sports and broaden the way sports are perceived in the world. It’s expected that the existing trend will strengthen: over the past 3-4 years, the audience of e-sports events has grown 5-6 times.

 

The discussion was initiated by the Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship, which has, for the first time, brought the entire season online in 2020. Meanwhile, the annual World Championship for Young Participants from more than 100 countries is held in the new football simulator Football for Friendship World. In the future, the app will become a gaming platform where anyone can train, join mixed international teams, and play their favorite game in the Football for Friendship format without leaving the comfort of home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Mm0ibEujE&feature=youtu.be

The guest experts — football players and e-sports players — shared their views on how the pandemic is affecting the training process, and whether e-sports will be able to fully replace traditional sports in the future.  Alexey Smertin, adviser to the President of the Russian Football Union and Ambassador of the Football for Friendship programme, and Alexandra Kosteniuk, grandmaster, three-times winner of the World Chess Olympiads, and European Chess Champion, spoke about the impact of the pandemic on professional sports. Igor Bugaenko, head of the Special Projects Department of the Russian eSports Federation (RESF), spoke about the development of Russian e-sports. The discussion was attended by representatives of FC Schalke 04: head of the e-sports division Tim Reichert, League of Legends coach Dylan Falco, and professional FIFA player Tim Schwartmann (“Tim Latka”). The discussion was moderated by Euronews TV host Andy Robini.

Igor Bugaenko expressed his conviction that the pandemic can also have a positive impact on sports: “Despite the cancellation of many offline sporting events, we are doing our best to maintain the quality and spirit of the competitions that are currently held online. The pandemic has affected how people spend their free time. I think the main achievement of this period has been to broaden the way sports are perceived, enabling people to re-evaluate the role of e-sports in the world”. The expert also noted that Russia was one of the first countries to officially recognize e-sports. According to Bugaenko, in the last 3-4 years alone, the audience of e-sports events has grown 5-6 times.

However, according to Alexey Smertin, e-sports are hard to compare to traditional sports, with their “physical overcoming of oneself, pain and hard-to-achieve results”. On the other hand, if we take a professional approach, in both traditional and e-sports it’s important to focus on achieving results; so, in this sense, there’s no difference between them.

Tim Schwartmann (Tim Latka) has a similar view: “If young people want to be successful — be it in e-sports or traditional football — they have to work hard, train a lot for the game, and never rest on their laurels”.

Today, many football clubs are developing e-sports as a separate area. “In recent years, the popularity of e-sports has become evident. By investing time and effort into developing e-sports, we hope to establish a dialogue with the younger generation of football fans”, explains Tim Reichert, head of FC Schalke 04’s e-sports division. Reichert expects that self-isolation will accelerate the merging process of traditional and digital sports several-fold. In his opinion, e-sports and traditional sports already have many things in common: league structures, competitions, psychological demands for players, and regular training.

Alexandra Kosteniuk noted that the past months have become a landmark in the history of sport: “The pandemic has opened up a real Pandora’s box for chess players: if earlier, part of our competitions were already being held online, now it’s the most convenient format for both the audience and participants”. As she explains, the pandemic has stimulated an increased interest in online competitions over the past few months, “even in the case of chess, which is not the most popular sport among viewers, not to mention the world of e-sports in general”.

 

About the programme:

The International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship is implemented by Gazprom since 2013. Over the previous seven seasons, the programme has united over 6 000 participants from 211 countries and regions and over 5 000 000 supporters.

Young Players and Young Journalists are the participants of the programme – boys and girls aged 12 including children with disabilities. Young Players represent different countries and cultures united in the mixed teams. They show that nationality, gender, and physical abilities aren’t a barrier to becoming a team. Young Journalists cover the events of the programme in the International Children’s Press Center. All participants become Young Ambassadors of the programme and continue to share their Football for Friendship experience and promote universal human values: friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions, and honour.

UEFA, FIFA, football federations and the world’s leading football clubs, international charity foundations, famous athletes, politicians, and artists support Football for Friendship. The project has received multiple national and international awards in the field of social responsibility, sports, and communications, including the world record for the most nationalities in a football training session in history.

In 2020, Football for Friendship will be held in the online format. A special digital platform will unite over 10 000 players of all ages. It will become the home for international children’s competitions and a playground where anyone will be able to train, join into the international mixed teams and play their favourite game in the Football for Friendship format without leaving the comfort of their home.

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OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia 2024: Split 1 – Cup 2 Grand Finals To Be Hosted In Vegas Mall Dwarka In Delhi

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Leading gaming and esports media company NODWIN Gaming and renowned video game publisher Riot Games has announced that the upcoming OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia 2024: Split 1 – Cup 2 LAN Finals will be hosted in Delhi. This announcement follows the successful conclusion of Cup 1 in Pune.

The decision to host the finals in Delhi is part of a strategic effort to expose a broad audience to high-stakes esports competition, capitalizing on the region’s rising enthusiasm for esports. The inaugural Cup of the  OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia 2024: Split 1 successfully captured significant attention, drawing an impressive crowd of over 25,000 attendees who watched the champions being crowned at the venue. The event also enjoyed robust online engagement, accumulating more than 700,000 views and more than 100,000 hours of gameplay streamed across various digital platforms. OMEN by HP served as the tournament’s title partner and Philips as the styling partner.

OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia 2024: Split 1 – Cup 2 Finals will be held on 18th and 19th May, featuring the top 4 teams, True Rippers, Revenant Esports, MLT Esports and GrayFox Esports battling it on LAN in Vegas Mall, Dwarka in Delhi. The event will be live streamed on NODWIN Gaming’s YouTube channel. Like Cup 1, the grand finals will be a LAN event aimed at providing a thrilling esports experience to the attendees.

Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming, commented on the choice of Delhi, “The successful completion of the Split 1 is a testament to the growing popularity of esports in the region. We are excited to host Cup 2 Grand Finals in Delhi and aim to provide fans in the region a top notch esports competition where the best teams from across regions compete for the championship title. I would like to sincerely thank our partners for their continued support and for sharing our vision to elevate esports in the region.”

Sukamal Pegu, Esports Lead, India & South Asia, Riot Games, said “The OMEN VCSA is an important platform for us to identify top VALORANT Esports talent from India and showcase them. This year we have seen the competition get more intense with international athletes such as SK Rossi playing in the circuit, giving the fans non-stop entertainment and excitement. The Delhi event will be a cracker!”

Arun Rajappa, Country Manager, India & South Asia, Riot Games, said “We are absolutely elated by the support and enthusiasm that the fans, players and teams of the region have shown to VALORANT. After an exciting Cup 1, we are thrilled to bring Cup 2 to Delhi. We are committed to the growth of esports in the region by fostering the ecosystem and providing more opportunities to fans and players alike.”

This announcement coincides with the conclusion of the VCT Game Changers South Asia Split 1, also hosted by NODWIN Gaming, where MLT Esports was victorious. This tournament is part of a broader initiative to promote inclusivity and provide competitive opportunities for women and other marginalized genders within the VALORANT community.

The Delhi grand finals promise to be a highlight for the VALORANT esports community, offering another chapter of high-level competition in the region.

For further updates and information about the VALORANT Challengers South Asia, follow NODWIN Gaming on social media:YouTube/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook

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Golden Matrix Group Joins Rio Grande do Sul Flood Relief Program

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Golden Matrix Group (NASDAQ: GMGI), a leading B2B and B2C gaming technology company utilizing proprietary technology and operating globally across 17 regulated markets, today announced its participation in the global coalition initiative for flood relief efforts in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

This partnership aims to provide substantial support to the communities in this Brazilian state that have been most devastated by the recent severe flooding.

This initiative is part of the gaming industry’s larger collaboration with local NGOs and humanitarian organizations, marking a significant expansion of our intensive CSR efforts, which saw over 225 community impact campaigns last year alone, primarily through the actions of its subsidiary Meridianbet.

The past week has witnessed unprecedented rainfall in Rio Grande do Sul, turning streets into rivers and isolating entire towns. The current situation remains dire, with hundreds of individuals still unaccounted for, while rescue operations have successfully evacuated over 200,000 residents using boats and helicopters.

The floods have wreaked havoc on infrastructure, with numerous bridges destroyed, severely disrupting access to Porto Alegre. The aftermath of the disaster has also led to looting in supermarkets during the night, adding to the urgency of the relief efforts.

Golden Matrix Group invites its stakeholders and the global community to contribute to this cause.

About Golden Matrix Group

Golden Matrix Group, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a leading B2B and B2C gaming technology company utilizing proprietary technology and operating globally across 17 regulated markets. The B2B division of Golden Matrix develops and licenses branded gaming platforms for its extensive list of clients, and RKings, its B2C division, operates a high-volume eCommerce site enabling end users to enter paid-for competitions on its proprietary platform in authorized markets. The Company also owns and operates MEXPLAY, a regulated online casino in Mexico. In 2024, Golden Matrix completed the acquisition of MeridianBet, a well-established and B2B and B2C sports betting and gaming platform operating and regulated in multiple markets in Europe, Africa and LatAm, providing the combined entity with additional international operations.

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Sky Vegas to sponsor new ITV reality show

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Sky Vegas has been announced as the headline sponsor of The Fortune Hotel, a brand new ITV1 reality entertainment show hosted by comic actor, Stephen Mangan, and produced by Tuesday’s Child.

The new series, set in a five-star resort in the Caribbean, is a gripping new format which sees contestants work in pairs to compete against other hotel guests and get their hands on a briefcase containing a life changing amount of money.

10 pairs of contestants will arrive at The Fortune Hotel, where they will be given an all-important briefcase. Inside one case is the ultimate jackpot of £250,000 in cash, while eight are empty, and one contains the dreaded Early Checkout Card – whichever pair is left holding that case at the end of each show will see their stay brought to a dramatic, premature end.

​​G​uests will attempt to figure out who is in possession of the cash case, whilst trying to keep the contents of their own a secret, and viewers will be treated to a blend of suspense, subterfuge and glamour as the duos compete over eight episodes.

Airing on Monday 13 May on ITV1 and ITVX (and STV in Scotland), Sky Vegas’ sponsorship includes 80” of accreditations per episode, spanning Monday-Thursday over a two-week period.

The ​​​​sponsorship deal also includes 10” bumpers around free programme streaming ​ ​content on the ITVX and STV Player, including website and mobile ​​apps*.

​​​Sky Vegas also has rights to include The Fortune Hotel logo and reference to the sponsorship across​ their own​ platforms​,​ including website and social media.

Commenting on the sponsorship, a Sky Vegas ​​spokesperson said: “​The F​ortune ​​Hotel has the potential to be the next big TV hit, and we are incredibly excited that we are going to be a part of this new show with ITV.

“Our customers enjoy fun and entertaining games, so this sponsorship opportunity just made sense. We’re looking forward to watching the show and enjoying all of its twists and turns with the rest of the ​​​​nation.”

Bhav Chandrani, Director of BE Studios, added: “It’s brilliant to be bringing a brand new format to screens and The Fortune Hotel is real shout-at-the-telly fun. It’s going to be full of twists and turns as we get to watch the gameplay unfold.”

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