The Malta FA is delighted to announce that it has reached an agreement with Electronic Arts (EA) to renew its EA SPORTS FC™ Pro partnership for the Malta ePremier League for the seventh season.
The competition enables local EA FC players to have the opportunity to further their career in esports by opting to represent one of the 12 Malta Premier League clubs. Additionally, each competitor will be battling it out for a share of the €10,000 prize pool.
Similar to last season, the 2025/26 edition of the competition will have five different stages:
Stage 1, also known as the Training Grounds, will see players who have never qualified to the main stage of the competition face off against one another, with four players qualifying to the Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ). Following that, Stage 2, or the Online Qualifiers, will involve players playing each other, with the top eight players making it to the LCQ.
Stage 3, the LCQ, will involve 32 players challenging one another for 11 spots. Afterwards, the 11 qualified players, together with last season’s champion, Brandsha, will take on each other in Stage 4, the Group Stages, where the top two players from each group qualify to the Knockout Stage, while the third-place players play a mini group stage to pass to the knockout as the best third-placed player.
Lastly, Stage 5, the Knockout Stage, will be in the form of a double elimination bracket. Whoever wins this stage becomes crowned winner of the Malta ePremier League.
The winner of the Malta ePremier League will then represent their respective team and compete in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins as well as the eCL League Phase.
The competition’s opening stage, the Training Grounds tournament, will be held on 12th October 2025, with the following stage, the Online Qualifiers, being held on 11th November and 17th November 2025.
Commenting on the competition, Malta FA Senior Vice President Dr Matthew Paris expressed his satisfaction at the renewal of the EA SPORTS partnership.
“The Malta ePremier League offers local esports talent a unique chance to represent their beloved football clubs,” he said. “It creates a strong link between traditional football and the growing world of esports. We are looking forward to seeing what this year’s edition has in store,” Dr Paris continued.
