Launching on May 15, the IIHF Esports Fan Championship will see fans from the 16 nations who qualified for the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship be given a chance to represent their country in a digital competition.

NHL 20, the game associated with the biggest ice hockey league in the world, the National Hockey League, is playable on both Playstation 4 and Xbox One consoles.

In cooperation with Infront Sports and Media and eSport Studio, IIHF has launched a portal today to allow competitors to register to represent their home nations.

The first phase of the game will consist of qualification tournaments that will run online from May 15 to 22 and once a national champion is determined for both consoles, they will compete in a playoff that will begin on May 29, with a champion being crowned on June 7.

Both the national champion and the playoff finalist from each nation will have a chance of winning prize money, merchandise and VIP experiences.

The tournament will be streamed live on Twitch by IIHF.

René Fasel, IIHF President, said: "We very much value our partnership with Infront as, thanks to its growing expertise in esports, we are able to bring ice hockey action to fans' homes in a new and engaging manner. 

"We look forward to seeing the fans create their own destiny and become stars of the virtual tournament by representing their home nation."

André Fläckel, Infront's head of gaming and esports, added: "The IIHF Esports Fan Championship is a perfect example of how to leverage the potential of esports in the current situation and deliver a product that fans can get passionate about. 

"Infront is proud to jointly work with the IIHF and eSport Studio, introducing such a promising project in such a short space of time."

Established ice hockey nations Canada, Russia and the United States will be eligible as well as lower-ranked nations such as Kazakhstan, Britain and Italy.