Hong Kong Premier League to play out on PES 2020 amid coronavirus suspension

HKPL follows Spain’s La Liga and global Fifa 20 tournament in turning to e-sports to fill football’s vacuum

League’s 10 teams will send a player each to battle it out while local commentators call the plays

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A still from the PES 2020 video game running with the WEHK patch for the Hong Kong Premier League that will be used for the HKFA’s e-Sports tournament. Photos: Facebook/WEHK

Published: 6:09pm, 12 Apr 2020Updated: 7:36pm, 12 Apr 2020

Football is coming home for players and fans after the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) announced an e-sports tournament for the 10 Hong Kong Premier League clubs.

A player from each club will be nominated to represent their team on PES 2020 on the PlayStation 4 in a knockout tournament to be held later this month.

The draw will be made by the computer, while in the absence of an official Hong Kong Premier League licence with game developers Konami they will use a fan-made patch from the Winning Eleven Hong Kong group, which has been releasing updates for the game since 2009.

With the Hong Kong Premier League suspended indefinitely as the city battles the coronavirus pandemic – September is being mooted as a possible restart date – the HKFA has come up with this solution along with ER e-sports.

Kitchee and Tai Po players battle it out on the PES 2020 video game.

Fans will be able to watch along on the HKCSL social networking site, with commentary for the games provided by e-sports experts and local football commentators. Those watching can also win prizes for correctly predicting results.

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