The search for the best virtual soccer player in North America is heating up as FIFA, the world’s governing body of soccer, Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Sony Computer Entertainment announced two live qualifying events of the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009 (FIWC) in North America as well as an online competition, leading to the National Final in New York City where one individual will win the North American championship and the chance to be crowned the  FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009 Champion.

The FIWC has become one of the largest and fastest growing sports gaming competitions in the world with players from around the globe battling it out on EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 09 for PS3 in a bid to be crowned the best virtual soccer player in the world and receive the $20,000 1st place prize.  The best interactive soccer players in North America will be competing for one of 32 berths in the FIWC Grand Final in May in Barcelona, Spain. The 32 finalists will be made up of the winners from live qualifiers which are taking place around the world and will be joined by players who have qualified through the online qualification via PlayStation Network.

There are two live FIWC North American Regional Qualification tournaments and a National Final, presented by promotional partners VISA and adidas. The West Regional will take place on March 7 in Santa Monica, CA, and the East Regional is scheduled for March 21 in Baltimore, MD. Entrants in each Regional Final will be competing for a prize package valued at $2,000 and three berths into the National Final in New York City. In addition, the FIWC North American online qualifying tournament will run from Feb. 12 to March 5 with two berths in the National Final at stake.

Complete official rules and registration can be found at: http://www.easportsworld.com/en_US/FIFA/FIWC

The FIWC North American National Final will take place on April 4 at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in New York City, NY. It will be comprised of eight finalists (3 from each regional tournament and 2 online qualifiers) competing for the North American championship and a trip to Barcelona for the chance to be crowned the best virtual soccer player in the world and receive a $20,000 1st place prize.