International E-Sport Tournament
Football meets library

Mario Gomez shoots the winning goal in the final. Jérôme Boateng kicks the deciding cross. With the games “FIFA” and “Pro Evolution Soccer” everything is possible at many Goethe-Instituts, just as it is in Jakarta. Xbox, PlayStation and even VR headsets are permanently part of the library’s equipment and are visitor favorites during opening times.

And not only that: in 2018 Goethe-Institut Jakarta initiated an international online video game tournament for Goethe-Institut course participants to compete against players of other institutes in Asia to determine an overall champion. The tournament is played online on PlayStation using “Pro Evolution Soccer”. Play is much more fun together. And it connects football enthusiasts learning German around the globe – from Bandung, Bangkok, Colombo, Delhi and Hong Kong to Jakarta, Calcutta, Pune and Tokyo.

The institute-internal preliminary games determine a player who will represent his/her Goethe-Institut against competitors from other institutes. What’s particularly special about this is that nobody has to leave their country. The games take place in the Goethe-Institut on site. The competitors will be connected via the internet and then have the chance to lead their respective teams to victory, despite thousands of kilometers between them. The language is, of course, German.

In Jakarta each of the 70 language courses has the opportunity to select a representative to compete. The staff of the library have worked out a detailed game schedule that specifies who plays against whom. There will be one “institute winner” at the end, who will then play against the winners of other countries. The playoffs will take place in late July, and on September 1 the final for the championship will be played. We are super excited about who will emerge as the champion of the tournament. And, of course, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it will be our man from Jakarta!