The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has said that it would officially recognize Esports as a sport and as part of this decision, the IOA will also recognize the Esports Federation of India or ESFI as the governing body of Esports in the country. This decision comes amid the ongoing talks in the Indian Parliament about gaming and esports policy in the country.
Now after the inclusion of Esports in the medal events category of the Asian Games 2022 to be held in China in September, the decision of IOA comes on the heels of the above announcement. Currently, the request for formal recognition of Esports and the ESFI is pending before the association and will be “positively considered” in the next meeting.
Responding to a query, Secretary-General of the IOA, Rajeev Mehta said:
“The IOA would have no say in the team selection for the next Asian games. Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has authorized the Asian Esports Federation for it and the AEF has in turn given the responsibility to the ESFI. The IOA’s duty is to ensure the entry of teams in Asian Games and other such mega-events”.
The Olympic Council of Asia last year in December had cleared the way for the inclusion of esports in the medal event of the next Asian games. In the Asian Games 2018 held in Indonesia, Esports was included as a demo sport with a total of six titles played in the demo category. While the announcement of the inclusion of Esports in the upcoming Asian Games was made last year, the official sources of the ESFI said that they don’t have information about how many titles would be included in the next Asian games.
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