Electronic Arts and Sony announced the new season of the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) – the official FIFA global football gaming competition. The FIWC is a season-long tournament mirroring the real world of football in which competitors from all around the world participate playing FIFA 10 on PlayStation 3.

This year is the sixth FIWC season. Players will be able to compete for their spot in the Grand Final at one of 10 FIWC Live Qualifier Events across the globe, taking place in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa and the UK, or by playing online. For the first time in the tournament’s history, the online competition of the FIWC via PSN will be split into two seasons. Season one starts with the launch of FIFA 10 on 2nd October and concludes on 18th December 2009.

The ten best players of season one from across the FIFA confederations will go through to the Grand Final, which will take place at Port Olympic in Barcelona on 1st May 2010. Players who didn’t make it during season one have another shot at their spot in the Grand Final in season two, which kicks off on 4 January 2010 and concludes on 31 March 2010.

Registration for participating in the online leg of the FIWC 10 tournament will take place directly inside the retail version of FIFA 10 on PS3 from 2 October across Europe and Asia and from 20 October in North America.

Alongside the 2009 FIWC champion, Bruce Grannec from France, the 31 finalists will compete to be crowned FIFA Interactive World Champion of the Year, rewarded with an invitation to the FIFA World Player Gala along with a USD 20,000 cash prize. The runner up will receive USD 5,000, while the player coming third will be awarded USD 1,000.

Chuck Blazer, member of the FIFA Executive Committee and patron of the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC):

“More than 500,000 players vied for a spot in the Grand Final at last year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup. This makes it the FIFA tournament with the most competitors. The FIWC is becoming more and more popular among all age groups and the great thing is that everybody can participate. Players can face each other whenever they want and wherever they are – this is truly unique.”

Matt Bilbey, VP Marketing, EA SPORTS:

“With the real life football season already underway, FIFA fans the world over are itching to show off their skills in this year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup tournament and they won’t be disappointed. The FIFA development team in Vancouver have worked incredibly hard to deliver players the most authentic football gaming experience ever with FIFA 10. With the game out now, we’re excited for players around the world to start their journey to the top of the FIFA Interactive World Cup league on the PlayStation 3.”

Darren Carter, VP for Brand and Consumer Marketing, SCEE:

“The FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009 was a truly incredible tournament, with over half a million people competing, many of which via PlayStation Network. The FIWC is a great example of what can happen when you take one of the worlds best selling games, mix it together with the world’s favourite games console, and open it up to the community. We are very excited about this year’s tournament and wish everybody competing the best of luck.”