After years of talk surrounding a professional union for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA) has officially been revealed.
The union, which was set up earlier in 2018 by Scott “SirScoots” Smith alongside the Danish Elite Athletes Association, has around 90 players involved – including seven players that have formed the board.
The founding board members of the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association is as follows:
- Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
- Epitacio “TACO” de Melo
- Tarik “tarik” Celik
- Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
- Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert
- Chris “chrisJ” de Jong
- Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt
The union’s daily operations, which includes legal counseling for the players involved, will be run by legal adviser Michael Døi and Mads Øland, CEO of the Danish Elite Athletes Association. It’s said that members of the association will confirm the aforementioned board or elect an entirely new one within the first year of its operation.
Michael Døi commented on the association: “As any other players’ association, we will work to secure the best possible working conditions for players in CS:GO, while of course taking into account the special nature of the industry. In any sport, it makes sense that players can influence their employment conditions. There is certainly a huge difference in how CS:GO contracts are structured, and there will definitely be players that could benefit from guidance when signing them. Our goal is to represent the players in the best possible way and help the entire scene grow in a positive direction. We see a lot of possibilities for doing that.”
Requirements for additions to the association is simple: if a player is contracted or looking to acquire a contract as a professional CS:GO player and “competes at an elite level” then they qualify. Døi explained to HLTV that the CSPPA is still actively reaching out to players who are yet to hop on board.
Esports Insider says: Associations such as the CSPPA have been hot topics for quite some time in esports, and it’s encouraging to see one finally announced – the experienced board is a definite bonus. We hope the CSPPA is put to good use and benefits professionals in the scene.