e-Sport gains official status
IESF Secretary General: “IESF will soon be recognized by SportAccord and the IOC” The movement to recognize esports as an official sport is gaining momentum around the world. Seul (Suomen Elektronisen Urheilun Liitto, Finnish e-Sports Federation), an IESF member representing the Finnish National Federation, has been successfully accepted as an associate member of the Finnish Olympic Committee.
SEUL has been working towards the recognition of e-Sports as a real sport for many years, having received its first sports recognition from VALO (Finnish Sports Confederation). He continues his steps towards building and establishing the social structures of e-Sports and positioning esports as a real sport as a result of its acceptance by the Finnish Olympic Committee.
SEUL Vice President Jonas Kapiainen commented: “Associate membership in the Finnish Olympic Committee means strong confidence in the Finnish e-Sports Federation and e-Sports in Finland.” He also added: “This is an important confirmation that brings us closer to the sports community as a whole and creates new opportunities for collaboration between e-Sports and traditional sports. As an associate member of the Finnish Olympic Committee, we feel more and more of a responsibility in introducing e-Sports as a hobby and top level sport in Finland.”
The movement to recognize e-Sports as traditional sports bodies is a longstanding IeSF policy towards China, Korea and South Africa, which initially forged the way forward. Be that as it may, the acceptance of SEUL as a member of the Finnish Olympic Committee marks a significant step towards such recognition within the sports community as a whole. Only the Italian e-Sports Association (ITeSPA), Danish e-Sports (Denmark e-Sports Federation), Nepalese e-Sports Association (NESA) have also made a significant contribution to this movement.
Alex Lim, Secretary General of the IeSF said: “Congratulations to the Finnish e-Sports Federation for successfully recognizing e-Sports as an official sport. Getting government recognition for a real sport does not only mean that a certain power is now given. This also means infrastructure development responsibilities, hosting national competitions, and responsibilities for recruiting and managing national athletes within the country. This has been a challenging year for the IeSF and this news shows how close we have come to being recognized by the international sports community. The IeSF would like to appreciate and thank its members for their dedication and all efforts to expand and strengthen the e-Sports industry.”
