For the first time ever, the IIHF is offering fans the opportunity to represent their country in an international Esport ice hockey competition: the 2020 IIHF Esport Fan Championship. Fans can now register at esports.iihf.com.

Fans from the 16 nations that qualified for the 2020 IIHF Men's World Championship can participate in this tournament, which will be played using the EA SPORTS™ NHL™ 20 game on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One video game consoles.

The Fan Championship will open on 15th May with the qualification phase for Kazakhstan and Belarus. At the end of the qualification, one PS4 and one Xbox national champion for each nation will be crowned and will move into the playoff phase.

During the open qualifiers, to ensure a fair gameplay, all players will compete with their national teams. Playoffs will be held in the classic knock-out format and one matchup between two nations will be decided within four individual games, two on each console. After all games have taken place, the final result determines the winners and the continuation of the championship. In case of a draw, the last two games will be held in a separate Sudden Death, which will be decided through the Golden Goal rules.