Lausanne, Switzerland, June 2, 2022: Building on its partnership with the Olympic Council of Asia, the Asian Electronic Sports Federation held a meeting with the International Olympic Committee at Olympic House in Lausanne on June 1.
The AESF is working in partnership with the OCA to develop esports in the continent, with the “Road to Asian Games” campaign already in place as a regional qualifying competition for Hangzhou.
For the meeting in Lausanne, the IOC was represented by Sports Director Kit McConnell and the Head of Virtual Sport and Gaming, Vincent Pereira, while the AESF was represented by Director General Sebastian Lau and Chief Operating Officer Steve Kim.
The AESF outlined its achievements in the past five years, notably their collaboration with the OCA to produce a systematic structure of continental qualification for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, and shared the Asian Games esports titles selection system and criteria which has removed violent, sexual and discriminatory content from the esports titles to be contested.
The meeting also discussed the IOC’s Olympic Virtual Series in 2023, the finals of which are scheduled to be held in Singapore.
McConnell said the AESF was playing a “pioneering role” in the integration of esports into a major international multi-sport event such as the Asian Games.
“We are excited to learn about AESF’s collaboration with OCA, and your tireless efforts have helped make esports become one of the medal sports in the Asian Games,” he said.
“This learning curve will help provide us with more information and tips to apply for our virtual sports programme and establish a closer collaboration with publishers.”
McConnell said the IOC obtained a lot of information from the AESF delegates and looked forward to further dialogue over a possible collaboration.
On behalf of AESF, Sebastian Lau said: “We believe that the collaboration between National Olympic Committees and National Esports Federations is critical for the further development of esports. One of the key AESF membership requirements is NOC recognition or affiliation.
“We would be more than happy to support and assist the IOC and OCA for virtual sport and esports related programmes and agenda in the near future.”