Singapore.
THE Global Esports Federation, the world’s fastest growing institution with 67 members to date, is celebrating its first anniversary amid a number of landmark achievements despite the Covid-19 pandemic pegging back sport on a worldwide scale.
Its board met in full Wednesday – the first anniversary since the worldwide launch at its headquarters in Singapore, to celebrate an unprecedented year marked with landmark achievements, and confirmed key priorities for the new year
“Around the world, this year has been so very challenging for so many. Yet our ability to convene has been proven,” said Chris Chan, the president of Global Esports Federation.
“Inspired and guided by a strong set of universal values, led by the Global Esports Federation board, and more than 100 Commission Members and colleagues contributing their time and expertise, we have rapidly accelerated engagement with the global esports community. It is true, we are connecting the world through esports.”
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At the worldwide launch a year ago, the GEF marked a historic moment for esports, establishing a strong partnership with Tencent as the founding global partner. Since then, the GEF has made significant headway in expanding its global footprint through various strategic partnerships – with among others, the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Olympic Council of Asia and its 45 national Olympic committees, the Olympic Committees of South America (ODESUR) and the Invictus Games Foundation, founded by The Duke of Sussex.
“Today, in just one year, we can already celebrate more than 110 partnerships including 67 member federations who will convene at the GEF General Assembly today. Each of our global partners, both strategic and commercial, are firmly committed to the universal values of equality, diversity, inclusion, fair play and innovation, and to elevating the opportunities for esports throughout the world,” added Chan.
The anniversary celebration was further marked by the inaugural edition of the #worldconnected series (#wcs20), comprising a global collective of esports community events, and GEFcon – the Global Esports Convention – a thought leadership, ideas and innovation incubator, featuring 14 sessions over two days with 50 speakers from across the globe and thousands of registrants.
The board confirmed its commitment to hosting the GEF’s flagship event – the Global Esports Games – in 2021. Full details of the GEG will be announced in the new year, along with new commissions line up for 2021 to power-up the GEF’s mission to convene the world’s esports ecosystem.
“There is much to celebrate for our achievement so far. All the same, our vision to promote a safe, inclusive and healthy esports ecosystem that celebrates and inspires youth remains paramount in all that we do,” remarked Chan.
The GEF will continue to develop the recently launched Performance+ health and wellness initiative, supported by world sporting legend, Cristiano Ronaldo – to encourage responsible esports and promoting optimised performance, wellness and a balanced lifestyle.
Despite 2020 being a year of uncertainties and challenges, esports continues to grow globally. As a further acknowledgement of the rise of esports, the OCA confirmed its place on the sports programme for the prestigious Asian Games, with the 19th edition to be held in Hangzhou, China in 2022.
The confirmation and announcement came at the 39th OCA General Assembly, held Tuesday in Muscat, Oman.
“I take this opportunity to congratulate the Olympic Council of Asia for the inclusion of esports in the Asian Games, and on the announcement of Doha and Riyadh hosting the 2030 and 2034 Asian Games, respectively,” said Chan.
The Global Esports Federation proudly draws on a diverse range of experience and expertise from the worlds of esports, sport, science, technology, academia and research, to elevate the future of esports, bringing the global community together through a #worldconnected. – www.globalsport.org/ sports reporter
