Latest News

Football for Friendship eWorld Championship to be held for the second time in F4F World multiuser simulator

Published

5 years ago

April 27, 2021

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Football for Friendship eWorld Championship (eF4F) will be taking place for the second time at the end of May. After sports fans from over 100 countries took part last year, 211 countries and regions will be represented this time round.

The important events in Gazprom’s International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship (F4F) will be taking place in a digital format this year too because of the pandemic. Following established tradition, a few highlights are being organised to take place in Istanbul, the host city for the final of the UEFA Champions League, from 28th to 30th May.

The 2021 Football for Friendship eWorld Championship (eF4F) will take place on the multiplayer simulator Football for Friendship World (F4F World), which was specially developed for F4F. International team matches can be organised on this platform in real time. The individual users, each of whom is a player on the team, come from different countries. The team consists of a goalkeeper, a defender, two midfield players and two attackers. There is also a trainer and some substitutes. A game runs for 2 halves of 3.5 minutes.

Since 19th April, football academies all over the world have been invited to nominate girls and boys aged 12 to 14 as players. The draw that will put the kids into International Teams of Friendship will be in the middle of May. The Football for Friendship eWorld Championship (eF4F) will take place from 27th to 29th May.

The winners of the 2020 Football for Friendship eWorld Championship were the team “Granular salamander”, whose players came from Bosnia Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Turkey. In the course of the final events in the 8th season of “Football for Friendship”, a new GUINESS WORLD RECORDSTM title was set for the most users in a football video hangout. This year too F4F is aiming once more to set what would be a third GUINESS WORLD RECORDSTM title.

Since December 2020, F4F World has been available to anyone interested, outside of the eF4F tournament as well, free of charge in 27 different languages. An exciting match, in which the Nine Values of Football for Friendship: friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions, and honour, are emphasised, awaits F4F World players. The particular features of F4F World include an original, hand-drawn design, a unique profile modification function, the option of playing in various divisions and leagues, of founding one’s own club or of inviting randomly selected players from around the world to take part in the match. In addition, participants can design their own player as they wish. For example, the players’ hairstyles show the colours of their respective national flags. The 2021 version will also offer some new features like training sessions. The F4F World game is available on MS Windows, Apple MacOS and iOS and was developed by the company DataArt.

Andrey Trusov, DataArt: “It was very interesting and motivating to have the opportunity to contribute to the development of F4F. For me, it was a new experience that there is such a competition for children – one that also promotes values like friendship, fairness, and peace. My colleagues and I engaged very intensively with the whole F4F concept in order to be able to give it form and expression in virtual reality.”

About the programme:
The International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship has been run by Gazprom since 2013. Over the previous eight seasons, the programme has brought together over 15,000 participants from 211 countries and regions and over 6,000,000 supporters.

Young Players and Young Journalists are the participants in the programme – boys and girls aged 12 including children with disabilities. Young Players represent different countries and cultures united in the mixed teams of the Football for Friendship World Championship. They show that nationality, gender, and physical abilities aren’t a barrier to becoming a team. Young Journalists cover the events of the programme in the International Children’s Press Center. All participants become Young Ambassadors of the programme and continue to share their Football for Friendship experience and promote universal human values: friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions, and honour.

In 2020, Football for Friendship was held online. A special digital platform connected over 10,000 players of all ages. It has become the home for international children’s competitions and a playground where anyone can train, join in the international mixed teams and play their favourite game in the Football for Friendship format without leaving the comfort of their home.

iGaming Express

David Natroshvili Recognized as iGaming’s Leading Global Influencer

Published

2 minutes ago

June 2, 2026

Wladimir P.

david-natroshvili-recognized-as-igaming’s-leading-global-influencer

The annual ranking places the SPRIBE founder ahead of figures including Peter Jackson, Denise Coates and Ed Craven.

International industry publication iGaming Express has named SPRIBE Founder and CEO David Natroshvili the most influential person in the global iGaming industry in its annual ranking.

iGaming Express said Natroshvili “pioneered an entirely new category of crash games” and helped turn SPRIBE’s Aviator into a global hit. The publication added that SPRIBE’s growth and product approach have influenced player expectations and operator views on modern iGaming.

The ranking places Natroshvili ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump, Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson, Bet365 Co-CEO Denise Coates, and Stake Co-Founder Ed Craven.

“This recognition belongs to the entire SPRIBE team. Over the past few years, our goal has not simply been to build a successful product, but to create an experience capable of driving the industry in a new direction. I am delighted to see these efforts receive such high international recognition,” said David Natroshvili.

iGaming Express said Natroshvili’s influence extends beyond SPRIBE, pointing to innovation as a driver for creating new markets in iGaming.

The post David Natroshvili Recognized as iGaming’s Leading Global Influencer appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Conference

Danish regulator to speak at Gaming in the Nordics launch event

Published

2 minutes ago

June 2, 2026

Wladimir P.

danish-regulator-to-speak-at-gaming-in-the-nordics-launch-event

On Thursday, June 18, 2026, Gaming in the Nordics will bring together in Copenhagen key decision makers in the regulated (or soon-to-be-regulated) Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian iGaming markets.

Gaming in the Nordics is the latest initiative from Gaming in Europe, which is well known for its annual Gaming in Holland, Gaming in Germany, and Gaming in Spain conferences.

The event will take place at the Better Collective HQ in Copenhagen, and will feature Mr. Anders Dorph, Director of the Danish Gambling Authority as its headline speaker.

Other confirmed speakers include:

Pontus Lindwall, CEO, Betsson
Jesper Søgaard, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Better Collective
Morten Ronde, CEO, Danish Online Gambling Association (DOGA)
Fredrik Stenstrøm, Secretary General, Norway Association for Online Gaming (NBO)
Pekka Ilmivalta, Head of Office, Nordic Legal – Finland
Birgitte Sand, CEO, Birgitte Sand & Associates
Josh Hodgson, COO, H2 Gambling Capital
Peter-Paul de Goeij, Managing Consultant, QuodBonum.se (day chair)

Gaming in the Nordics founder, Willem van Oort commented: “We are extremely pleased that Mr. Anders Dorph has agreed to speak at the Gaming in the Nordics launch event. In my experience, it is always good to able to facilitate a dialogue between regulatory authorities and the industry – which in this case will be very capably represented by Betsson’s Mr. Pontus Lindwall, as well as several leading trade bodies. Although the Nordic markets are in varying states of regulation and market maturity, there nonetheless exist certain commonalities, which together provide a solid basis for the fruitful exchange of lessons learned and best practices.”

Launch event

This year’s Gaming in the Nordics launch event will be a small, half-day conference with a limited capacity for accommodating event attendees.

A full-size, annual Gaming in the Nordics Conference will be held in June in Copenhagen from 2027 onward.

Stay tuned for future updates!

Signup & waiting list

If you would like to attend this year’s Gaming in the Nordics launch event, please register your interest here: https://luma.com/605sboce

As only a very limited number of attendees can be accommodated, all registrants will initially be placed on a waiting list.

We will let you know as soon as possible whether we will have a seat available for you.

For press access, please contact: [email protected].

Video sessions

Key sessions of the Gaming in the Nordics launch event will be recorded and shared with the members of the Gaming in Nordics community.

If you would like to receive updates, including the links to the recorded sessions, please sign up for our Gaming in the Nordics mailing list at www.gamingin.eu.

Sponsorship opportunities available

Sponsorship and media partnership opportunities are available. Please contact Willem van Oort at [email protected] for more information.

The post Danish regulator to speak at Gaming in the Nordics launch event appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Avanti Studios

Avanti Studios finalises seed round

Published

2 minutes ago

June 2, 2026

Wladimir P.

Disruptive live casino supplier, Avanti Studios, has announced the finalisation of its second instalment, raising €5m in this round giving a total of €10m in seed funding.

Having only recently opened the opportunity up to investors, the latest investment round quickly became oversubscribed and closed on 19 May. The oversubscription reflects strong investor confidence in the company’s vision, strategy, and long-term prospects, while providing additional capital to accelerate its growth and commercial execution.

Genting Casinos UK, a first round investor, provided additional investment during this second round, underscoring its continued belief in the new live casino vertical Avanti Studios is building.

The participants of the second investment round join Avanti Studios at a critical stage of its journey, with the deployment of its innovative casino content planned to take place in the coming weeks, June 2026. Operators have voiced continued excitement in bringing new and innovative content to their players in Spain and beyond.

Gustaf Hagman, Co-Founder at Avanti Studios, said: “I’m incredibly proud of the investor group we’ve assembled. Their backing demonstrates not just a belief in our company, but a belief in the future, and I’d like to give a special thank you to the board of Genting Casinos UK for their continued support, guidance and the overall contribution they’ve made to our journey so far.”

Jonas Delin, Co-Founder at Avanti Studios, said: “Avanti is thrilled to have finalised its second stage of funding in what has been one of the biggest investment rounds in an industry start-up this year. We strongly believe that the future belongs to real-time, lifelike, interactive digital humans, and to see so many investors share this vision with us indicates one thing… this is only the beginning!”

The post Avanti Studios finalises seed round appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.