eSports winner Choi “Bomber” Ji Sung with the championship trophy after defeating his rival in the final
In response to a Times’ enquiry last week on the possibility of recognizing electronic gaming (eGaming or eSports) as an official sport in the MSAR, the Sports Bureau (ID) has insisted that, as in the past, formal recognition is not on the horizon.
According to an emailed statement from the bureau, “[the] Sports Bureau has to entirely consider the development of sports […] including the suitability and acceptability [of them] in society.”
“As of today, although eSports has been recognized as a sports event in some other countries, each region should have their own considerations. According to Macau’s current situation regarding the acceptability of eSports as a sports event, our standpoint remains unchanged that eSports is not recognized as a sports event,” the statement continued.
Mainland China formally recognized eSports as an official sports program to be overseen by the General Administration of Sport of China back in 2003. By 2008, two professional gamers carried the Olympic torch in Hainan, en route to Beijing for the Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony.
The activity has also been formally acknowledged by the relevant authorities in South Korea, the U.S., and Russia, among others. Russian authorities, after initially becoming the first official sporting agency to recognize eGaming in 2001, has only recently reinstated its status after having revoked it in 2006.
The difficulties stem from that fact that defining sports, and especially defining video games as sporting activities, has always been a controversial matter. Proponents for the establishment of eSports as a formal, recognized sport, point out that such activities ought to be classified according to three criteria; careful planning, precise timing and skillful execution.
Even in Macau, the problem of whether or not to recognize eGaming as a sport has been a sensitive subject. In the 4th Asian Indoor Games held in Macau in 2007, eSports was one of the sporting events, officiated by the Sports Bureau.
“During that time we emphasized clearly that eSports was not a recognized sport in Macau,” the ID wrote in regards to the matter.
The ID did not reply by press time to a Times’ enquiry for a more detailed explanation of why recognition is not on the horizon. From their initial response, it seems that the government agency is seeking to promote “an average universal improvement on [resident’s] health standard,” and does not consider the typically immobile and indoor nature of eSports to be conducive to this end.
“As one of the government departments, [the ID] must consider both the public and society,” noted the statement. “We should carry out the [promotion of] positive and popular sports, as well as develop fitness to our citizens, to create a healthy physical sports environment.”
However, critics of this perspective have repeatedly argued in the past that physical exertion and outdoor playing areas – regularly associated with conventional sporting definitions – are not actually required by all traditional sports that are widely recognized today. For example, the International Olympics Committee and over 100 countries today recognize chess as a sport, though it cannot be said to require significantly more physical exertion than eGaming.
Macau latest to join int’l eSports association
South Korea, considered by some to be the cradle of eSports, saw the establishment of an international organization some eight years ago, with the mission of having electronic sports recognized as a legitimate sport worldwide. While the organization’s affiliate entities are not government agencies but private groups and clubs, a total of 46 member nations are part of the International eSports Federation (IeSF). The latest member country to join IeSF was Macau, spearheaded by local association, Grow uP eSports, which was accepted into the organization last month and is now able to send eGaming athletes to compete at the eSports World Championship held in Jakarta later this year.
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