Dubai: Iraqi expat Omer Adel, 22, won Dh50,000 as he battled with gamers from all over the UAE in the EA Sports FIFA 18 Challenge at the City Centre Mirdif on July 14.
Courtesy Majid Al Futtaim, FIFA fans were invited to take the hot seat for the interactive games every day at the Mall of the Emirates and City Centre Mirdif from June 23 till the finals. The gaming zone, designed in a way that 26 gamers could play simultaneously with other participants, offered Dh1,000 worth of gift cards throughout the season and a grand prize of Dh50,000.
Adel, who proved his mettle on the virtual football field, is a medical student at the Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University.
He plans on using a part of his prize money to pay his tuition fees.He wants to give a share to his mother who has raised him and his four sisters alone after his father, a cardiac surgeon, was killed during the Iraq war in 2006.
Competitive game
“Some games were easy, some were tough but good. The final was very competitive,” he told XPRESS. Adel said although he was a fan of the Portugal team and supported Croatia in the finals, he played France in his own game.
Apart from the daily hour or two spent on online gaming, Adel occasionally played on the actual football field. He said he tried to manage his time between gaming and studies and hoped to follow his father’s footsteps to become a surgeon. “I felt very happy after winning. I was expecting a victory because I had reached the semi-finals in the last season and was practising the game since then. I was also sad because I had to play against my teammate who is with me as part of the Nasr Esports Club,” Adel added.
