At the press conference on Monday held at the CyberX Arena, the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) presented already implemented esports projects and further development plans. The introduction was done by Edgaras Stankevičius, Secretary General of the LFF, Ramūnas Vyšniauskas, Founder and CEO of CyberX Arena, and Lecturer at the Sports Management Study Programme of Kaunas University of Applies Sciences Faculty of Business, LFF esports manager Edgaras Abromavičius.

The purpose of the conference was to draw attention to the LFF esports programme and the involvement of football clubs, local and international esports tournaments, collaboration with scientific organizations, the creation and development of digital products as well as to introduce planned research.

“With the growth of electronic sports, the Lithuanian Football Federation entered the field together with the global football community. We started our work in esports in 2019. and today we can already rejoice in the progress and results of digital projects and the added value created by them,” said the LFF Secretary General Stankevičius at the press conference, as well as reminding that the cooperation between the LFF and KUAS Faculty of Business was started in the same year.

At the conference, further cooperation plans between LFF and the KUAS were presented. “We are pleased that the initiatives of KUAS Faculty of Business are gaining momentum. This year, we have renewed the cooperation with the Lithuanian Football Federation by including student internships, preparing final thesis topics, and the selection of FIFA 22 for the KUAS will be announced anytime soon,” said Sports Management Lecturer Abromavičius.

According to Abromavičius, the further development of the LFF and KUAS partnership will be a great opportunity for Sports Management students to implement their ideas. Povilas Labanauskas and Ignas Saulevičius, the third-year students of the Sports Management studying programme have successfully started practice projects related to esports activities. Head of the Tourism and Leisure Management Department Dr Andrius Brusokas adds that the projects with the LFF help to implement the new strategy of the university, innovative sports management projects and expand on international activities.

At the press conference, Edgaras Abromavičius reviewed the LFF esports plans and presented video game projects implemented by the LFF. One of them is the LFF Minecraft game server, which will be opened in February. This project aims to educate the young audience about football and acquaint them with the history of this sport in Lithuania, as well as to organize football tournaments and creative competitions. In April the LFF electronic tournament called Rocket League will take place, the final of which will be held at CyberX Arena.

In addition, the participation in the UEFA’s research programme is planned, which will include a research project on the effectiveness of advertising integration in football broadcasts through interactive media. The latest technologies will be used for this study: virtual reality devices and PlayStation 5 consoles.