In 2024, Russian esports athletes will not take part in the qualifications for the IESF Computer Sports World Championship. The reason was the illegal actions of the secretariat, which, contrary to the charter and decisions of the governing bodies, opposes the participation of Russian athletes.Background
Due to artificially created technical problems, our participation was in question in 2022. Then the situation was resolved: the FCC of Russia assumed all expenses for travel and accommodation, as well as payment of fees for athletes, while teams from other countries participated for free with the full support of the IESF.
In 2023, history repeated itself: the Russian FCS submitted an application to participate in all types of the World Championship program, and Russian athletes in team disciplines had to qualify in the Asian qualifying division. However, for unknown reasons, Russian athletes were not included in the World Championship qualifying schedule. Then-President Vlad Marinescu and IESF Secretary General Boban Totovski referred to a letter from the mayor of Iasi, in which he allegedly said that “Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to participate” due to “threats to their safety.”
Even if such a letter existed in reality, it could not cancel the participation of our athletes in the Asian qualifications. However, without approval by the IESF board, the secretariat published a ready-made schedule of matches, in which the Russian team was not included. This became the reason for an urgent meeting of the IESF board. Based on the results of consideration of the issue, the board decided:
- Although the position of the Iasi administration violates the contract for the tournament, the IESF board did not accept the proposal to cancel or postpone the championship;
- If athletes from any countries are not allowed by the Romanian authorities, they will be able to participate remotely;
- Return Russian athletes to the Asian qualification schedule.
The Secretariat refused to implement the decision of the IESF Board and did not review the composition of the qualification participants. The road to the World Championship was closed by the secretariat, which acted contrary to the decisions of the IESF governing bodies.
Later, a congress was held in Romania, at which representatives of the eSports federations of Ukraine and Sweden submitted proposals to adjust the IESF charter. According to these proposals, membership in the organization could be suspended at the initiative of one of the participants. A list of grounds for suspension of membership was also provided. The amendments would allow the FCC of Ukraine to suspend the membership of the FCC of Russia for accepting the regional federation of the LPR into its membership.
Understanding our situation and the difficulties that the Federation faced in 2022 and 2023, the IESF general meeting, however, not only rejected the Ukraine/Sweden initiative, but also decided by a majority vote to return the flag to Russian athletes, so that in future the Russian FCC and its athletes would not be subjected to no discrimination and continued membership in the IESF and participation in events on a general basis.
Difficult choice
However, the IESF secretariat tried to find ways to circumvent the decision of the congress in order to force the Russian side to refuse participation. The Computer Sports Federation of Ukraine filed another complaint against the LPR and DPR federations that self-organized and joined the FCC of Russia. Several formal meetings of the IESF Membership Committee were held, as a result of which, on behalf of this committee, the board received recommendations: to suspend the “good standing” (which means “no debt”) of the FCC of Russia either until the decision of the congress, or until regional branches in the LPR are excluded from the federation , DPR and even in Crimea and Sevastopol.
The Board reviewed these recommendations, and following the review, an update was published on the IESF website. However, vague wording and inaccurate translations by some Russian media have led to discrepancies ranging from a ban on the flag to a complete ban on Russian participation. However, the official text of the decision at the request of the FCC of Russia was never provided. Instead, four different interpretations of the document were obtained.
At the same time, the representative of the FCC of Russia managed to find out that the IESF board did not make a specific decision on the status of the FCC of Russia (or, moreover, on the flag), but decided that nothing should affect the participation of Russian athletes. After this, the IESF board agreed on Russia's participation in the Asian Qualification Division.
Three months later, in April, as soon as possible before drawing up the qualification schedule, the IESF secretariat finally invited the FCC of Russia to sign a participation agreement. This is a standard document signed by all participating federations. Its purpose is to insure the IESF against possible financial losses in the event of athletes being removed or replaced by federations without valid reasons. But specifically for the FCC of Russia, it contained non-standard provisions that were not agreed upon with anyone: a clause according to which the FCC of Russia must itself agree that its athletes will participate in a neutral status without the right to a flag.
The FCC of Russia signed only the standard version without additional clauses and continued to insist on receiving the exact wording of the “decision” adopted by the board in January. The IESF Secretariat stated that no participation agreement had been signed, and on this basis Russian athletes would not be allowed to participate in the World Championships.
Thus, through numerous bureaucratic tricks, delays and direct pressure, the IESF Secretary General presented the Russian FCC with a choice: either sign a voluntary renunciation of the flag for all participating athletes, or not participate in the World Championship. Such actions completely contradict the decision of the IESF congress, where the majority of federations voted for the complete lifting of sanctions from the FCC of Russia and the return of national symbols. However, the secretariat notified us on April 27 that we were suspended from the competition for allegedly not signing the agreement.
Hoping for the objectivity of the leadership, the FCC of Russia appealed to the IESF board, providing all the necessary documents, correspondence, evidence of the legitimacy of its position, literally asking for justice. The meeting took place on May 7, and only a few days later a notification of the decision was received from the IESF. And again, not from the board, but from the secretariat.
It states that the board’s decision will be retroactively changed, and the ultimatum that the Russian FCC itself must force players to play without a flag will remain in effect until May 15. This internal correspondence was leaked outside, which again gave rise to incorrect interpretations by some media. The FCC of Russia will not agree with the imposed conditions and will continue to believe that the decision of the 2023 congress cannot be violated! In this case, the Secretariat does not have the right to dictate such conditions and cancel the participation of the Russian team if they are not met.
Thus, the FCC of Russia is not withdrawing from the competition, but will not abandon the flag and anthem.
