RIYADH — One of the hardest journeys in life is going from amateur to elite let alone doing it in under eight months. Since October of 2017, when The Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports was initiated, the federation had already held two major eSports events and now its President Prince Faisal Bin Bandar announced the signing of an MoU with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation President Adel Ezzat to develop the first Electronic Saudi Professional League, ESPL. “Here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia we have great talent, and our duty towards them is providing these platforms where the best come to shine. We are also on a mission to grow the eSports economy and industry. Yes, this is a first step, but also a major step towards positioning the Kingdom as a main eSports hub in the Middle East and the World. My message to all the gamers, today you might be an amateur, but if you work hard and compete you will become can become an athlete,” said Prince Faisal in a speech announcing the MoU. Attending the ceremony to show his support for both federations was Vice president of General Sports Authority Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal, where he said, “This is a major leap in sports in Saudi and I am proud to see such collaborations between the federations.” This MoU comes on the final day of the GSA FIFA 18 Tournament, where eight finalists competed for one of two seats at EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series qualifier. Abdullah Al Judi won the Xbox seat to the eWorld Cup qualifiers and Abdulrahman Al Masri won the PlayStation. The two champions then battled it out for the Inter-Console Super Cup and grand prize of $100,000, which saw Al Masri emerge as the champion. The GSA FIFA 18 Cup is an accredited official EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series qualifier as EA brings competitive FIFA to millions of fans around the world through the EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 in August 2018.