The ‘eNations StayAndPlay Cup’, a virtual tournament promoted by FIFA with the aim of reaffirming the commitment of world football in sharing positive messages during these tough times, has been cancelled due to technical and organisational problems linked to the spread of Covid-19. The format of the tournament includes the participation of teams with a professional eplayer and a player from their respective nation. The Italian duo was formed by AC Milan and Azzurri defender Alessio Romagnoli alongside Raffael ‘Er_caccia98’ Cacciapuoti, Monza Calcio’s professional eplayer and winner of the TIMVISION FIFA20 online tournament on PlayStation organised by the FIGC.

The Azzurri were in a group with Spain, Portugal and Malta, with the Spanish side the only team without a footballer, lining up the celebrity DjMariio, a YouTuber with 5.5m followers, alongside eplayer Jaime ‘Gravesen’ Álvarez instead; Portugal were due to line up with Diogo Mendes and Diogo Jota, the Wolverhampton forward with two international appearances; while Malta’s duo consisted of Christian Spiteri and Dunstan Vella, Hibernian’s midfielder with seven national caps.

The ‘eNations StayAndPlay Cup’ matches, to be played on FIFA (EA Sports) on PlayStation from today until Saturday 25th April, will be rescheduled soon: the FIGC hopes that the Italian team can take part and the tournament can fulfil its original objective.