Latest news with #InternationalEsportsFederation
Business Insider
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
Ukraine pulls out of World Esports Championships after Belarus gets green light
The European Esports Championship 2025 will be held in Pristina, Kosovo, from July 9 to July 13. Ukraine will boycott the 2025 World Esports Championships in Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (women's), and PUBG Mobile due to Belarus' participation. The Ukrainian Counter-Strike 2 team will compete, as Belarus did not qualify for this discipline. Ukraine will walk away from three big competitions at the World Esports Championships 2025 following Belarus' approval to compete. The Ukrainian Esports Federation said no to Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang women's matches, and PUBG Mobile tournaments. The International Esports Federation permitted Belarus to compete with its national flag. Ukrainian officials didn't like this decision one bit. They said they felt bad about pulling out but had to stick to their beliefs about what's right and wrong in sports. Ukraine only pulled out, while Belarus made it through the qualifications. Their Counter-Strike 2 squad gets to play because Belarus didn't qualify for that game. This shows Ukraine picked its battles carefully instead of walking away from everything. Ukraine's Team Still Competes in One Game The Ukrainian organization TNL will send its Counter-Strike 2 players to represent the country. These players won every single qualifier they entered, which puts Ukraine in a strong spot for at least one championship. This mess shows how hard it gets when politics meets competitive gaming. International gaming groups have to figure out how to keep things fair while dealing with real-world conflicts. Belarus let Russian troops use its territory for military operations. This fact shapes how Ukraine thinks about competing alongside Belarus teams. Ukrainian sports groups have said no to events that include countries backing military moves against Ukraine. Ukraine has done this before in other sports. Judo athletes from Ukraine skipped their world championships when Belarus got permission to compete under their flag starting in June 2025. The International Judo Federation caught heat for letting this happen. Ukrainian sports bosses follow the rules from their Ministry of Youth and Sports. These rules say Ukrainian athletes can't compete when enemy nations show up with their flags. This applies to all sports, not just video games. The European Esports Championship will be held in Pristina from the 9th to the 13th of July. About 180 players will compete in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and other popular games. This tournament decides who gets spots at the world championship. Kosovo's government and their Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Sports are backing the event in their capital city. National teams will fight for qualification spots and bragging rights in their region. Professional gaming keeps getting bigger worldwide. The International Esports Federation works with more than 140 national groups. They want governments to recognize esports the same way they do traditional sports. This situation puts international gaming organizations in a tough spot. They need to balance keeping competitions open to everyone while dealing with pressure from countries that have political problems with each other. Ukraine's choice shows how world events affect who shows up to compete in video game tournaments.
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
National Esports Championship begins to select team India for WEC 2025, Indian squad for BRICS Games finalised
The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) launched National Esports Championship 2025 (NESC25) on Wednesday to select the Indian team for the 17th World Esports Championships (WEC), organised by the International Esports Federation (IESF). The national qualifiers, running online from May 22, will feature top Indian athletes competing in Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) and DOTA 2, with registrations open till May 19. Matches will be streamed live on ESFI's official YouTube channel. Furthermore, last year's NESC winner in eFootball will be granted a direct slot at the 17th WEC, following the game's removal from the previous edition's line-up. 'With NESC25, we aim to carry that momentum forward and deepen our international impact,' ESFI Director Lokesh Suji said. 'Our vision is clear—to make India an esports superpower through structured pathways, high-performance platforms, and consistent global representation.' The ESFI also finalised the Indian roster for the upcoming BRICS Esports Championship 2025, set to take place at VK Play Arena in Moscow from May 28 to June 3. After a double-elimination qualifier featuring 60 players from across the country, Gurashish 'Soul' Singh emerged victorious, followed closely by Shubham Khorwal. Both athletes will represent India in Tekken 8 at the BRICS event, where the nation made history with a silver in the previous edition. As part of Russia's official sports calendar, the tournament will see participation from China, South Africa, the UAE and Turkey among other nations.
