Esports to make debut as medal sport in 2022 Asian Games

KUALA LUMPUR: Esports will make its debut as an official medal sport at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China next year, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said yesterday.

It announced this at a virtual partnership signing ceremony today where the OCA and Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) was made its sole partner for organising and managing the esports programme at the games scheduled for Sept 10, 2022.

This means the AESF will organise and manage the regional qualifying competitions and the event itself at Hangzhou 2022, with the full support and authority of the OCA. This arrangement, according to the OCA, will continue in future Asian Games.

Six medal events will be contested under the esports programme at Hangzhou 2022, and the AESF will select the titles and submit the list for approval by the OCA.

Apart from this, both the OCA and AESF also announced their “Road to Asian Games” campaign during the ceremony, which will include educational aspects, sustainability and legacy projects, grassroots development, career pathways, health and well-being support and a community outreach initiative known as the AESF Experience Programme.

AESF president Kenneth Fok was quoted as saying that the Asian Games presents the best stage for it to share the Olympic values with the esports community, and it will strive to make the esports community develop further through this opportunity.

“We look forward to a successful collaboration with OCA as well as the Local Organising Committee of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 ” he said in a statement.

OCA director general General Husain Al-Musallam said the Asian sports governing body will provide full support for a successful staging of esports event at the games.

At the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia in 2018, esports was as a demonstration event, featuring titles like League of Legends, Arena of Valor, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, StarCraft II, Hearthstone and Clash Royale.