Markus Koskivirta, IeSF's first chairperson of IeSF's Referees' Commission.

Markus Koskivirta (on left) witnessing the Athletes' Oath at IeSF's 8th World Championships - Jakarta.

 International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) elected Markus Sakari Koskivirta (Finland), as the Chairperson of IeSF’s Referee Commission in June 2017.

             Starting his referee career in 2009, Markus Koskivirta has successfully held various positions as a top class referee. Markus was selected as, and held, the position of head referee of IeSFs 8th Esports World Championship.

"I'm very thankful for this opportunity to ensure the high quality of IeSF World Championship now and in the future. The Rules and Regulations used for competitions are what make a tournament reliable and ensure an even ‘playing field’ for all participants. In addition to guaranteeing the integrity of the World Championship I believe the Commission can benefit other esports operatives by creating a standardized set of rules and guidelines for use openly and around the world. I'm personally looking forward to starting the work in collaboration with the members of the Commission as soon as possible.” said Markus Koskivirta, the new Chairperson of IeSF’s Referee Commission.

             IeSF’s Referee Commission will be focusing on the management of competition regulations for its Esports World Championships. It will also have input on the criteria for venues, regulations for equipment, to allow esports athletes to play in a standardized environment. The commission shall also establish a training system to educate potential esports referees in relation to the International Esports Academy. Such training of referees is designed to support esports athletes once their gaming careers have ended.

             “IeSF is very pleased to appoint Mr. Koskivirta as the Chair” said Alex Lim, Secretary General of IeSF. “With his expertise, IeSF trusts that the new referee commission will be a milestone for standardizing the international esports scene, which is also one of the core mission of IeSF. We will continue enhance the esports ecosystem and create more values for the welfare of esports athletes for the better of esports and protection of players.”

CounterStrike: GO confirmed for IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan

IeSF's 2017 9th World Championships is to be held in Busan, South Korea,

With just days to go before MSSA's Online Provincial Championships IeSF has disclosed the first official game title of '9th Esports World Championship':

The game title is - "Counter Strike: Global Offensive"

Even though IeSF has successfully held its World Championships since 2009, CS:GO only made its debut at the 8th World Championships - Jakarta in 2016.

Needless to say the competition was fierce, South Africa found itself in a group of 'death', but the brave Protea eSports Team soldiered on and gave of their best to win the hearts of all the nations present.

However the gold was taken by Finland (ENCE eSports), silver China, and bronze was taken by South Korea. According to IeSF officials, the CS:GO games recorded the highest viewership figures out of all the games played.

MSSA is confident that it will be able to put a squad together for 2017 that will be able to successfully challenge the other nations.

Already MSSA's Ladders, Rankings, and championship results show an ever improving level of competitiveness and skill.

There is no doubt that the Online Provincial Championships, the Mpumulanga Championships, and the National Team Trials will bring out the very best of South Africa's true competitive gamers as they battle for the prize of being selected for the Protea eSports Team that will travel to IeSF's 2017 9th World Championships - Busan.

Finnish eSports Federation accepted as an associate member of the Finnish Olympic Committee

The Finnish and South African eSports teams at IeSF's World Championship - Baku. 

Finnish eSports Federation (SEUL) has been accepted as an associate member of the Finnish Olympic Committee in the Olympic Committee general meeting held 26th November 2016 in Lahti, Finland.

Associations and foundations promoting physical activity and sports can be accepted as associate members.

“Associate membership in the Finnish Olympic Committee signals strong confidence in the Finnish eSports Federation and e-sports in Finland.

It’s an important acknowledgement which brings us closer to whole sports community and creates new possibilities for co-operation between e-sports and traditional sports.

As an associate member of the Finnish Olympic Committee we have an increasingly important responsibility to represent e-sports as a hobby and top-level sports in Finland“ commented SEUL vice-president Joonas Kapiainen, who attended the general meeting.

Finnish eSports Federation has been an associate member for Finnish Sports Confederation (VALO) since October 2014. The Finnish Olympic Committee and Finnish Sports Confederation fusion on 1st January 2017, after which the new Olympic Committee operates independently as the umbrella organization for Finnish sports field.

For additional information:

Joonas Kapiainen                                                       Erkka Jouste
joonas.kapiainen@seul.fi                                            erkka.jouste@seul.fi
Vice-President                                                           President
Finnish eSports Federation - SEUL                             Finnish eSports Federation - SEUL

Also see:

About the Finnish eSports Federation (http://seul.fi/lang/in-english/)
About the Finnish Olympic Committee (http://www.sport.fi/olympiakomitea/briefly-in-english)

22nd Annual KwaZulu Natal Championships - 9 & 10 July 2016

The 2010 MSSA Protea COD 4 team - all from KZN.

Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg shall be hosting the 22nd Annual KwaZulu Natal Championships on 9 & 10 July 2016.

KwaZulu Natal Championships has always been popular among gamers  and has helped many  a gamer  achieve both provincial and national colours.

Since 2000, over 15 gamers from KwaZulu Natal have been called up for duty in various Protea teams. Such players/gamers have travelled to the USA, South Korea, China, Namibia, Botswana, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Finland in order to officially represent South Africa  in international competitions.

MSSA's KwaZulu Natal Championships counts towards eligibility to the 2017 National Team Trials (NTT) and, as such, there is much interest by a number of clubs and teams in such event.

All readers are reminded that the closing dates for entries is 1 July 2016.

Details for each of the disciplines may be found on:

Board games
eSports 
Wargames

At such championships the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Team shall be selected to represent the KwaZulu Natal in the Inter-provincial Test Matches.

If only....

Finland vs MWEB Protea eSports Team

Turning on my television my senses were again bombarded by cricket...

Now that is all well and good, especially for cricket  lovers, but for those who do not really care much for  cricket (which quite frankly) is  the majority of the population, it is  somewhat of a bore!

One can also only imagine if all of the other sports were given the same amount of coverage, how much bigger and better funded would those sports be?

Even 'Cinderella' sports would grow exponentially as many of such sports would  be much more interesting to watch, and with increased advertising would be able to far more entertaining to the viewer at home.

However, for eSports, which already, in my opinion, is in the  top five watched sports, increased TV coverage would see benefits accrue  to players  on a never-before-level.
Yet SABC TV, and SUPERSPORT stick to the tried-and-tested recipe and will probably only change once they have  realised that they are flogging a 'dead-horse'.

IeSF's 7th World Championships - Seoul

Team eSports SA with Team eSports Finland at the 6th World Championships - Baku

Mind Sports South Africa has just received a communiqué (as attached hereto) from its international controlling body, namely, the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) in which major changes have been made to the 7^th World Championships.

The first change is that the City of Lodz will no longer be the venue of such championship. Instead, the 7^th World Championships has been awarded to the City of Seoul in South Korea.

The second change is that due to the change in host city, the event shall be held from 2 to 5 December 2015.

Even the titles being offered has not escaped unscathed. The titles being held at the 7^th World Championships are now:

• ‘League of Legends’,
• ‘StarCraft® II’ and
• ‘Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft™’.

All the titles are opened to all potential players regardless of gender, disability or age ever since they are officially selected by the National Federations representing their countries.

Although the changes come as a surprise to Mind Sports South Africa, the robust nature of the MSSA's own rules ensures that South Africa will be present and able to deliver a solid MWEB Team eSports South Africa.

In that all MWEB sponsored MSSA LAN and online championships within a calendar year count towards qualification to the annual National Team Trials, the MSSA already has a number of players who qualify to battle it out for a place in the official Protea Team. Joining those who have, or will still qualify at the Western Cape Championships to be held on 22 & 23 August 2015 will be those players who bravely represented South Africa at the 6^th World championships – Baku.

The Western Cape Championships to be held on 22 & 23 August 2015 will probably be the last opportunity for payers to qualify for the prestigious National Team Trials.

The Western Cape has a number of gamers of exceptional standard, and since 2013 at least 50% of every MWEB Protea Team has been made up of gamers resident in the Western Cape.

With the official Entry Registration for 7th e-Sports World Championship 2015 now having opened, the MSSA shall soon announce the date for the official South African National Team Trials.

Finland shows its strength!

One of the biggest problems that all South African sport has, is the lack of international competitive experience.

It is largely due to the lack of sufficient funds that many of South Africa's teams are prohibited from participating in enough international competition.

Thus, through the IeSF's international on-line test matches, South Africa is afforded the opportunity to play against the best teams in the world and to prepare for the annual world championships at a fraction of the cost.

The MSSA thus uses the on-line test series to help prepare the team for the rigours of the world championships as well as to continually evaluate not only the South African Protea team, but also the other international teams.

Thus on Saturday, 4 October 2014, South Africa took on Finland.

The Finnish team boasts of many of the world's top players, and, arguably, the Finnish team is one of the most dominant teams in world eSports.

Thus, South Africa knew what was at stake as well as the fact that the South African team were clearly the underdogs.

The test match was to be played in two titles, being StarCraft II and Dota 2.

Unfortunately the one game of StarCraft II had to be cancelled due to connectivity issues. The game involved Yolandi 'Ananke' Williams who was to play from Wits University. Even though Wits has an incredible internet connection, it proved not to be reliable enough for the test match and such game was cancelled. Of course Yolandi was saddened by the cancellation as she was looking forward to a rematch against Niina "Soyhi" Kahela (Finland) whom Yolandi had faced off against at the 2013 IeSF World Championships - Bucharest.

In the StarCraft II match between Nathan 'Static' Anderson (SA) and Vesa "Welmu" Hovinen (Finland), Nathan lost both games. However, it must be noted that Vesa is arguably one of the top players outside Korea. On examining the replays, it is absolutely clear that Nathan is much improved since he represented South Africa in Bucharest in 2013. The replays too show where work has to be done.

In Dota 2, the Finnish team, ably lead by the world-renown Kalle "Trixi" Saarinen delivered two resounding defeats on the South African team. No quarter was given by the Finnish team who demonstrated why they are the main contenders for the World Championship title.

However, the South African team showed remarkable improvement since their game against Egypt in August. Lessons have been learnt and the team has improved.

There is still a long road to travel, and much improvement still needs to be done.

Nevertheless, the optimism, willingness to learn, and commitment shown by the South African team bodes well for the remaining test matches as well as for the actual World Championships.

The on-line test matches thus provide a valuable platform for the South African eSports players to test themselves against the international opposition, have a critical look at their tactics and prepare for the upcoming 2014 World Championships to be held in Baku.

The South African team consists of:

Dota 2

Name	Nick	Club	Residence
Ion Todd (Team Captain) Jason Bredberg DylanHenderson Saleem Manjoo Timothy van Reenan Mostert	ION Mehcrim PIXELPUSHA SLIMZ ZEALOT	Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports	Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town

StarCraft II: Men

Name	Nick	Club	Residence
Nathan Anderson	Static	Veneration	Cape Town

StarCraft II: Women

Name	Nick	Club	Residence
Yolandi Williams	Ananke	Snaz Gaming	Roodepoort