The Malta Esports Association is announcing a cooperation with its members which will see a new and exciting way to elect the best Maltese Tekken player to represent the country in international competitions.
Since 2020, the Malta Esports Association has co-hosted a national qualifier together with a selected association member (Level Academy & VIT in 2020; Level Academy in 2022) in order to determine the national champion who will represent Malta in international competitions. In the past, national representatives represented their countries in the European and International championships which were held in Israel, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.
In 2023, the Malta Esports Association is proud to announce a new way for the selection of the national representative for events happening throughout the year.
The National Circuit is a points-based ranking system. Subject to its approval, members and associates of the Malta Esports Association are able to organise Tekken competitions, and depending on the criteria met by the event, points will be distributed to participants, depending on the final standing of each.
The first stage of tournaments will happen between the 1st January – 31st March 2023. During these three months, players will compete in Tekken events which allocate circuit points, and the highest ranked player on the 31st March will be chosen to represent Malta in the European Regional Qualifiers for the IESF World Championship, which will be held in Iasi, Romania.
The rest of the tournaments organised later throughout the year may allocate slots in other international events, such as the European Championship. Therefore, Malta may have more than one national representative in a year, depending on the outcome of the ranking at the indicated time period.
This initiative is aimed at promoting a higher participation rate in events, and giving players more opportunities to compete, and make it on the global stage! The tournaments will run in accordance with a joint ruleset published by the Malta Esports Association, based on international standards.
Restrictions:
- Only tournaments organised by Malta Esports Association members and associates;
- Only Maltese citizens and Maltese residents holding a valid Maltese Residency Card are eligible to acquire circuit points.
- In some situation, international tournaments may require citizenship, and therefore , depending on the requirements of the international tournament, residency alone may not be sufficient to be selected to represent the country;
- Non-residents are not eligible for circuit points, however tournaments which include non-residents may still award circuit points to eligible participants;
- Tournaments that are Invitationals will not be part of the circuit (exceptions may be made for tournaments with a very low percentage of invitees);
- Qualifiers may also be deemed part of the circuit;
- The highest ranked competitor with the most circuit points may be disqualified from being selected as the national representatives, if they do not meet any age, citizenship or residency requirement, or otherwise does not fulfil any requisites imposed by MESA, IESF or any other competent body. This may include inability to meet deadlines to provide information or documentation, disciplinary action taken against the player due to a breach of ethics, competition rules or misbehaviour, or any other reason at MESA’s absolute discretion.
