The International Esports Federation (IESF) is a global organisation based in
South Korea whose mission it is to have
esports
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 orga ...
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,
South Korea,
Germany,
Austria,
Belgium,
The Netherlands,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Vietnam and
Taiwan, 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 discipline of the 4th
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (abbreviated as AIMAG) is a pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. It is organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and consists of Indoor and martial ...
. 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 in the branch of e-Sports.
In July 2013, IeSF submitted an application to join
Sport Accord
Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) is the umbrella organisation for all (Olympic and non-Olympic) international sports federations as well as organisers of multi-sports games and sport-related international association ...
, 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,
Romania, in what was the first time of an IeSF event held outside of
South Korea.
In May 2014, IeSF was approved for membership by
TAFISA. The IeSF will be represented at the 2016 TAFISA World Games for All, to be held in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, 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.
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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.[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