Qatar breaks into esports world

Gulf Times (one of Qatar's main newspapers) reports: Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) and Wega (Truxtun Capital payment system based on Mastercard) will launch a series of Qatar eSports Aspire Wega World Cup online tournaments. And the status of the event is quite loud: the first multigaming World Cup (it would be nice to hear a word from World Cyber Games and World Electronic Sports Games owners). 

The online tournament is to be held on an annual basis at least for four years, and the fourth grand final will be held alongside the FIFA World Cup — in 2022. 2.3 billion esportsmen from around the world (the organizers name such numbers) will have the opportunity to compete for cash prizes. Which disciplines — not announced yet, but we are unlikely to see Tetris or Shrek 2 (or Artifact ha-ha). The list of games is expected to be adequate: shooters and MOBA (beat it, Olympics!).

In addition to the online tournament, there are plans to launch a forty-day esports festival in the Aspire Zone, Qatar. Truxtun Capital President Patrick Monier commented on ambitious plans:

We are so proud to launch this outstanding esports tournament in partnership with Aspire Zone. As a Fintech company providing an innovative digital financial platform, it was a strategic decision to invest in a market expecting 6bn players in the next 10 years. It will help integrate various cultures and ideas among participants. This is a challenge for us to bring Qatar to the forefront of eSports in the world. 

This is looking like a joke, isn't it?