The International Esports Federation (IESF) is a global organisation based in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

whose mission it is to have esports recognized as a legitimate sport.

Member Nations

So far, there are 130 member nations in IESF:

History

The International Esports Federation was founded on August 8, 2008, by nine esports associations from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

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, Switzerland,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and held its first general meeting in November of the same year. A year later, on December 12, the IeSF was able to host its own international tournaments, starting with the "IeSF challenge" in 2009, followed by "IeSF Grand Finals" in 2010, and the "IeSF World Championship" in 2011 and onward. 2012 saw a massive breakthrough for esports and the IeSF, as the IeSF 2012 World championship presented an esports tournament for women for the first time. On July 7, 2013, IeSF was selected as counterpart for the

electronic sports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although org ...

discipline of the 4th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. This was a big breakthrough for esports and the IeSF, as the branch was introduced in an Olympic event for the first time. In May 2013, IeSF was approved as the official signatory of the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

in the branch of e-Sports. In July 2013, IeSF submitted an application to join Sport Accord, and is expected to be approved as a temporary member in April 2014. In November 2013, IeSF saw a successful overseas launch of its events, as the IeSF 2013 World Championship and the 2013 General Meeting was held in the city of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, in what was the first time of an IeSF event held outside of

. In May 2014, IeSF was approved for membership by

TAFISA The Association For International Sport for All (TAFISA) is an international non-profit sport for all organisation which aims to bring joy, health, social interaction, integration and development to communities and citizens around the globe thr ...

. The IeSF will be represented at the 2016 TAFISA World Games for All, to be held in Jakarta. In 2014, IeSF restricted female players from participating in the Hearthstone tournament, as part of the World Championship division of tournament into male and female sections. IeSF later revised the policy, uniting the section into open-for-all tournaments while maintaining female-only tournaments with smaller prize pools. In the 2015 World Championship, an esports panel was hosted with guests from international sports society to discuss the future recognition of esports as a recognized, legitimate sporting activity worldwide. The four federations which are newly represented in the IESF are Colombia's Federación Colombiana de Deportes Electrónicos (FEDECOLDE), Kazakhstan's Qazaq Cybersport Federation (QCF), Turkey's Turkish Esports Federation (TESFED), and Ukraine's Federation of E-Sport of Ukraine (UESF).Zalik, D. & Dejan. (2019-08-25). Esportsbets.com
International e-Sports Federation Launches Initiative To Bring Esports To The Olympics.
/ref> The addition of four more countries brings the IESF's total count of member nations to 60, with six continents represented. Asia and Europe make up the bulk of the numbers with 24 and 22 respectively, with Macau's arrival in 2016 marking the last time a new member joined until now. In July 2016, Macau became the 56th member nation of the IESF. The International eSports Federation (IeSF) has voted to accept the United States eSports Federation (USeF) as a full member. The decision, taken at the IeSF General Meeting in Kaohsiung in Taiwan, means that USeF is the official recognized national governing body of esports in the US. Esports is set to expand across the Middle East with Korean non-profit International Esports Federation (IESF) recently announcing plans to enter the region. IESF has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UAE's Motivate Media Group, parent company of ''Gulf Business'', to expand regionally. Currently, the Esports category has over 300 million gamers across the Middle East alone.Freelance, M. (2019-11-14). GulfBusiness.com
Motivate, IESF sign MoU to grow regionally.
/ref>

World Esports Championships

So far, the IESF has held fourteen World Esports Championships:

References

External links

* {{Esports competitions International sports organizations Esports governing bodies Sports organizations established in 2008 2008 establishments in South Korea Esports in South Korea