The inaugural Pentasia Champions League was declared a roaring success at an annual award ceremony organised by the leading iGaming recruitment specialists.

Swedish outfit Betsson Malta – inspired by leading scorer Lars Johansson, who bagged an impressive 73 goals – covered themselves in glory by coming home in the top spot out of 22 sides from the online gaming and IT sectors.

Throughout the seven-month league campaign, a total of 462 matches with a 5-a-side format were played, with 1,756 goals scored.

Other notable iGaming sides competing included Betfair, Interwetten and Expekt. And there was more good news for Scandinavian supporters as Danes Casino.dk won the Pentasia Cup, beating OnDNet in the final. The league’s Fair Play Award was won by 6PM.

League organiser Chris Vella, Pentasia’s Mediterranean director, explained that the growing number of football-hungry amateur players was one of the chief reasons for setting up the league.

“We sensed there would be great enthusiasm among employees from the online gaming and IT businesses in Malta so we decided to create a proper league and administrative structure that could help foster a genuine community spirit among the players and teams alike,” he said.

“Next season it will be a bigger league. In addition to the 22 teams, another nine already want to join and we haven’t even advertised as yet. I’d also like to express my thanks to the members of the committee who contributed greatly to the success in their own free time while not asking for anything in return,” said Mr Vella.