The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) have announced a new program, ‘Road to Asian Games’ for the upcoming 2022 Asian Games.

Additionally, the OCA has confirmed again the appointment of the AESF as the only Technical Delegate who will take charge of all the matters of technical conduct for Esports events at the 2022 Asian Games.

The AESF will be the exclusive organizer of ‘Road to Asian Games’, the official qualifier program and competition of esports to the Asian Games final, as per the official release.

The AESF is the first Esports federation to introduce a direct pathway, ‘Road to Asian Games.’ In this, event title selection and confirmation will be decided by AESF.

The campaign will begin in Hangzhou 2022, and with AESF to continue the organization of Esports through to Nagoya 2026, Doha 2030, and beyond.

According to the AESF official release, this initiative will be the first of its kind to bring fair and equal opportunities to all publishers and advance esports developments not just to Asia, but worldwide.

With Esports making its debut as a medal event at the Asian Games, the AESF ‘Road to Asian Games’ campaign will also extend beyond the competition scenes.

This campaign intends to bring the Olympic Spirit to esports and introduce an education program for participating Esports athletes to share the Olympic Movement and Values.

AESF mentioned that with plans for the promotion, sustainability and legacies underway, the emphasis will be on education and development in Esports.

The key area of focus will be grassroots development, inclusion programs, career pathways, health and wellbeing support, as well as athlete’s rights and protection.

Commenting on the new program, Lokesh Suji, the Director of Electronic Sports Federation of India (ESFI) and the Vice President of the AESF, said,"We are extremely proud and applaud this joint initiative. As much as I personally congratulate the sustained efforts put by our President Kenneth Fok and the entire AESF team.”

He added: “This is also an opportune time for the Indian esports athletes to be more conscious and be part of the Championships organized by ESFI and help us to make the national ranking scrims/tournaments more wholesome and meaningful in terms of not only being extremely competitive but also reaching out to the talented esports athletes across the country who are looking for opportunities to play for India and represent at the highest platforms including Asian Games in the coming times."

"We are at the moment also waiting for the game titles to be announced so that we can start the Scrim tournaments for the same in India too," he further noted.

 

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