Move over Chad le Clos, eSports is coming!

The International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has taken its first step towards the recognition of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

IeSF has submitted to IOC the “Official Letter of Request” on February 19^th to make its first action to attain the recognition, followed by an answer on April 8^th, by IOC, explaining the detailed procedure and next steps the federation should take. IeSF will submit all related documents for the recognition process and will undergo its first evaluation in December this year.

For the past years, IeSF has been working hard to increase its collaboration with various international sports society members to leverage e-sport into the sports sector. In 2013, it became the official signatory of WADA (World Anti Doping Agency), and also worked togather with OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) by managing the e-Sport event during the tournament. It has also been a member of TAFISA (The Association for International Sports for All) since 2014, and will be hosting the 8^th e-Sports World Championship in October during the 2016 World Sports for All Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Last year in 2015, IeSF has signed an official Partnership agreement with IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations), being connected to one oldest and profound organizations in the sports sector.

IeSF will be taking part in the SportAccord Convention next week, from April 18^th – 22^nd , to take further steps in the sports society. IeSF Secretary General Alex Lim, will be officially participating in the panel discussion during the convention conference program, to increase awareness of e-sports in the international sports society and also portray its official recognition as a sport.

“IeSF is currently working hard to receive SportAccord membership, and simultaneously taking an additional challenge this year to take its steps for IOC recognition” said Byung Hun Jun, President of IeSF. “We still have many tasks to cover and this will be indeed a difficult challenge. Nevertheless, we will keep on driving our forces for e-sports to become an official sport and also care for the welfare of e-sport athletes. This challenge can be successfully completed with the continuous support from our e-sport fans, Athletes, game companies, and partners working together in the e-sports industry”

2016 will be an exciting and challenging year for IeSF. IeSF will continue to develop the “IeSF e-Sports Academy”, manage the e-sports event during 2016 World Sports for All Games, and also work with its utmost strength to be recognized by IOC and attain SportAccord Membership.