 Logo | |
 Member nations per April 2024 | |
| Abbreviation | IESF |
|---|---|
| Formation | August 11, 2008 |
| Type | Sports federation |
| Headquarters | Busan, South Korea |
Official language | English |
President | Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud |
Main organ | General Assembly |
| Website | https://iesf.org |
The International Esports Federation (IESF) is a global organization based in South Korea whose mission it is to have esports recognized as a legitimate sport.
As of July 2024, there are 146 member states of the IESF, including: [1]
Afghanistan 
Bahrain 
Bangladesh 
Bhutan 
Brunei 
Cambodia 
China 
Chinese Taipei 
Hong Kong 
India 
Indonesia 
Iran 
Iraq 
Japan 
Jordan 
Kazakhstan 
Kuwait 
Kyrgyzstan 
Laos 
Lebanon 
Macau 
Malaysia 
Maldives 
Mongolia 
Myanmar 
Nepal 
Oman 
Pakistan 
Palestine 
Philippines 
Qatar 
Saudi Arabia 
South Korea 
Sri Lanka 
Syria 
Tajikistan 
Thailand 
Timor Leste 
Turkmenistan 
United Arab Emirates 
Uzbekistan 
Vietnam 
Albania 
Armenia 
Austria 
Azerbaijan 
Belarus 
Belgium 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Georgia 
Germany 
Gibraltar 
Greece 
Hungary 
Iceland 
Ireland 
Israel 
Italy 
Kosovo 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Moldova 
Monaco 
Montenegro 
Netherlands 
North Macedonia 
Norway 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Russia 
San Marino 
Serbia 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
Switzerland 
Turkey 
Ukraine 
Wales The International Esports Federation (IeSF) was established on August 8, 2008, by nine esports [2] associations from Denmark, South Korea, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Vietnam, and Taiwan. In November of the same year, the organization held its inaugural general meeting.[ citation needed ]
A year later, on December 12, 2009, the IeSF hosted its first international tournaments. These tournaments included the "IeSF Challenge" in 2009, followed by the "IeSF Grand Finals" in 2010, and the "IeSF World Championship" starting from 2011 and onward. [3]
In 2012, IeSF introduced the first-ever esports tournament for women during the IeSF 2012 World Championship.[ citation needed ]
On July 7, 2013, IeSF was chosen as the representative for the electronic sports discipline at the 4th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, marking the first time esports had a presence in an Olympic event. [4]
In May 2013, IeSF gain recognition as the official signatory of the World Anti-Doping Agency within the branch of esports. [5]
In July 2013, IeSF submitted an application to join Sport Accord, with expectations of becoming a temporary member in April 2014. [6]
In November 2013, the IeSF hosted the IeSF 2013 World Championship and the 2013 General Meeting in Bucharest, Romania, a significant departure from their usual South Korea location.[ citation needed ]
In May 2014, the IeSF was granted membership by TAFISA and announced its participation in the 2016 TAFISA World Games for All, to be held in Jakarta. [7]
In 2014, IeSF initially implemented gender-based restrictions in the Hearthstone tournament, but later amended its policy to merge the sections into open-for-all tournaments while still maintaining female-only tournaments with smaller prize pools. [8]
During the 2015 World Championship, an esports panel was hosted with international sports society representatives to discuss the potential recognition of esports as a legitimate sporting activity worldwide. [9]
The IeSF expanded further with the inclusion of new member federations, such as Colombia's Federación Colombiana de Deportes Electrónicos (FEDECOLDE), Kazakhstan's Qazaq Cybersport Federation (QCF), Turkey's Turkish Esports Federation (TESFED), and Ukraine's Federation of E-Sport of Ukraine (UESF), bringing the total member count to 60, spanning six continents. [10]
In July 2016, Macau became the 56th member nation of the IESF. [11]
In 2018, IESF voted to accept the United States Esports Federation (USEF) as a full member, establishing USEF as the officially recognized national governing body for esports in the United States. [12]
In a bid to expand into the Middle East, the IeSF signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UAE's Motivate Media Group, the parent company of "Gulf Business," as the esports community in the Middle East continued to grow, with over 300 million gamers in the region. [13]
In October 2023, IESF appointed Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family, as its president. [14]
In 2024, the International Esports Federation received a record number of bids from over 30 cities across six continents to host the 2025 and 2026 World Esports Championship and Regional Qualifiers. IESF is reviewing the bids based on criteria such as sustainability and inclusivity. General Secretary Boban Totovski noted the rapid growth of IESF events and the significant value they bring to host nations. The 2024 World Esports Championship is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, solidifying the city’s growing prominence as a key center for global esports. [15]
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams.
The International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) is an association of the world governing bodies for contract bridge, chess, draughts, eSports, go, xiangqi, mahjong and card games.
The Namibian Electronic Sports Association (NESA) is the governing and representative body for Electronic Sports in Namibia. It was founded in 2010, and affiliated to IeSF in 2011 as the third country from Africa to obtain membership after South Africa and Egypt. NESA organises various esports leagues and the Namibian National esports team. In 2012 it was closed due to lack of community interest and participation. It was re-opened in 2013 by the original founders and select members from the community. The first formal National Team was selected in 2014 for DotA2, called the Desert Sidewinders. NESA has since awarded National Colours via the Namibian Sports Commission annually and expanded on the number of National titles hosted per year. In 2017 NESA sent the very first Namibian esports athlete abroad to participate in Tekken7 at the IESF World Championship held in Busan, South Korea. More Namibian athletes has since then been sent to partake in the annual IESF World Championship and numerous online international test matches are hosted each year.
The International Federation of Muaythai Associations, or IFMA, called the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur until 27 July 2019, is a sport governing body of amateur and professional Muay Thai and Muay boran consisting of 140 member countries worldwide with 5 continental federations after unification of International Federation of Muaythai Amateur and World Muaythai Council. IFMA is officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF), the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) International World Games Association (IWGA), and Trim and Fitness International Sport for All Association (TAFISA). Muaythai has been included in many official sport programs such as the World Games, World Combat Games, Arafura Games, TAFISA Games, SEA Games, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Asian Beach Games, Demonstration Sport in the Asian Games.
ESL Gaming GmbH is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, and the oldest that is still operational. Based in Cologne, Germany, ESL has eleven offices and multiple international TV studios globally. ESL is the largest esports company to broadcast on Twitch.
The League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) is the professional League of Legends esports league run by Riot Games in the EMEA region, in which ten teams compete. Each annual season of play is divided into three splits, winter, spring and summer, all consisting of three weeks of round-robin tournament play, which then conclude with play-off tournaments between the top six teams. At the end of the season, the top performing teams qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LEC represents the highest level of League of Legends play in the EMEA.
The British Esports Federation is the national body for esports in the United Kingdom. It was established in March 2016 as the British Esports Association to help develop the UK's grassroots esports scene and provide an infrastructure to nurture future talent.
Blizzard Entertainment's online collectible card game Hearthstone became played professionally quickly after its release in March 2014. The game is played as an esport, with high-level tournaments such as Blizzard's official World Championship featuring prize pool of up to $1 million, and livestreamers can earn money streaming gameplay on Twitch.
Esports were featured at the 2018 Asian Games as a demonstration sport, meaning medals won in this sport would not be counted in the official overall medal tally. It was held from 26 August to 1 September 2018. Six video games were featured in the demonstration event, Arena of Valor, Clash Royale, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Pro Evolution Soccer, and StarCraft II.
Professional StarCraft II competition features professional gamers competing in Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game StarCraft II. Professional play began following the game's initial release in 2010, as the game was the sequel to StarCraft, considered one of the first esports and the foundation of South Korea's interest and success in competitive gaming. Between 2016 and 2019, competition was centered around the Global StarCraft II League in Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit everywhere else, with all Blizzard-sanctioned events being under the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) banner. Since 2020, Blizzard changed the format of WCS by entering into a three-year partnership with esports organizers ESL and DreamHack.
The American Pole League (APL) represents pole and aerial athletes in the United States. The APL is the officially recognized federation representing the United States in the International Pole Sports Federation (IPSF), which is the international governing body for pole sports. The American Pole League holds a yearly national championship, and qualifying athletes go on to compete at the international level in the annual World Pole Sports Championships hosted by the IPSF. The American Pole League's stated mission and vision involve raising the profile of pole sports and supporting pole athletes, coaches, and judges.
The 2027 AFC Asian Cup will be the 19th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament involves 24 national teams after the expansion in 2019. It will be held in January 2027 in Saudi Arabia.
The International Teqball Federation is the governing body for the sport of teqball and para teqball. FITEQ is responsible for the organisation of teqball's major international tournaments, notably the Teqball World Championships.
The Philippine Esports Organization is the national governing body for esports in the Philippines. It is a member of the International Esports Federation (IESF) since 2012 and is an associate member of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) since 2020.
Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud is a Saudi royal. He is the chairman of Saudi Esports Federation and the Arab eSports Federation since 2017. He is also vice president of the Global Esports Federation.
The Global Esports Federation (GEF) is a non-governmental organization that convenes the world's esports community. It was established on December 16, 2019, and is headquartered in Singapore, where it is a registered society under the Singapore Registry of Societies.
Esports at the 2022 Asian Games were held at the China Hangzhou Esports Center in Hangzhou, China from 24 September to 2 October 2023.
The Esports World Federation (EWSF) is a Philippine-based international organization that serves as an umbrella body for international federations in electronic sports (esports) and digital sports and other game genres across the world.
The Bangladesh Youth Development & Electronic Sports Association is the national governing body for esports in Bangladesh. It is a member of the International Esports Federation, Global Esports Federation and Asian Electronic Sports Federation.
