The Korea eSports Association (“KeSPA”) has been expelled from the Integrated Korean Olympic Committee, Kukinews has reported. It has later been reported by Inven Global, in English, that although normal rules would state that it would be impossible for KeSPA to enter the Committee again, the situation is different from what was first reported.
KeSPA has told Inven that it has indeed been relegated from “official member” to “reserved member”. The reason for the relegation, the report explains, is that since the Korean Olympic Committee and Korea Council of Sport for All consolidated to form the Integrated Korean Olympic Committee, the standards required to retain membership became more complex. KeSPA further explaind to Inven that “the conditions to maintain membership in the Committee became much more strict; an organisation must have six branches within a year and must have an office in each branch”.
KeSPA did not expand as such and establish official branches as it did not have such plans, and additionally it was not aware of the plans at the time. Additionally, the association has revealed that among the 24 reserved members that were selected in 2016, 22 groups have actually been expelled from the Committee for not meeting the aforementioned rules.
The association further mentioned: “if esports can become an official event in the Olympics/Asian Games, the condition to enter the Integrated Korean Olympic Committee will also be mitigated. We are doing our best to meet the Committee’s new rules”.
Esports Insider says: What initially seems a blow from KeSPA seems slightly less so given that 22 of 24 members were expelled which seems somewhat bizarre. What this means for esports, and the Olympics/Asian Games only time will tell, but KeSPA has revealed it will release a statement soon addressing the issue.
