It was announced late last year that the ePremier League is returning for its third year and season in 2021, offering UK-based players of FIFA 21 the chance to represent their favourite Premier League club in a virtual football tournament. Now, the ePremier League has announced that it is expanding into China.

According to the press release (via Esports Insider), the Premier League has partnered with Tencent Sports, Tencent Gaming, and EA SPORTS to bring the ePremier League to China. This will be the first ePremier League event to be staged outside of the UK. The tournament will take place on EA SPORTS FIFA Online 4 and kick off on 28 April 2021.

The ePremier League event will assemble ‘some of the best Chinese gamers’ from FIFA Online 4, as well as hand-picked content creators and influencers, who will represent all 20 Premier League clubs.

The tournament will also be streamed live by Tencent, Huya, Douyu and Yizhibo in China.

Premier League Commercial Director Will Brass said:

“The EA SPORTS FIFA Online 4 video game series is one of the key channels through which fans in Asia can engage with Premier League clubs and players.

After three successful ePremier League season in the UK, it is exciting to now be able to take this overseas for the first time and particularly to China – a hotbed for gaming and football.”

All Premier League clubs will be divided into four groups of five teams, with the winners of each group advancing to the knockout stage. The group-stage matches will take place online, but the knockout matches will happen at a LAN event in Wisdom Bay, Shanghai, China starting from 14 May 2021.