Global Esports Federation announced in Singapore, to be led by Olympic veterans

Esports has known to be the Wild West. Mostly because there is no governing body and a lot of scams and scandals plague the history of esports. One of the biggest scandals played out this year itself. And that wasn’t just the end of it. There were a lot more which played out, and some are still underway. In a state like this, it is important that there be some regulation. And the Global Esports Federation looks like a step in the right direction. 

The Global Esports Federation has been set up in Singapore and is headed by the Secretary General of Singapore National Olympic Council, Chris Chan. But he isn’t the only member who has held a position with the Olympics.  One of its three vice-presidents, Ms Charmaine Crooks, represented Canada at the Olympics, winning a silver medal in 1984 as part of a 4x400m relay team. The other two vice-presidents are Mr Wei Jizhong, an honorary life vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia, and Mr Edward Cheng, vice-president of Chinese technology giant Tencent, which is also GEF’s global founding partner. 

• To encourage and support the establishment of national e-sports federations with a set of relevant standards, guidelines and regulations;
• To establish an athlete commission, with a focus on athlete well-being, development of standards for fair play, career support, and education to ensure safe, doping-free and ethically compliant practices;
• To convene and stage e-sports competitions, conventions, fora and developmentprogrammes;
• To develop world-class governance structures and guidelines for the GEF, and; 
• To create, develop and stage the annual flagship Global E-Sport Games, with the first Games – likely to be in China – to be staged at the end of next year.

“We are excited to navigate the pathway and shape the future with the launch of the GEF,” said Chris Chan. “The GEF will help develop the credibility, legitimacy, and prestige to esports in society by leveraging the history, foundations, values of sport, and the principle of harnessing technology and innovation for sports.”