The International eSports Federation lifted the sanctions against Russian players. There are suspicions of corruption against the leadership of the union.
The prize pools in e-sports are up to several million. Illustration picture. Intel
The international e-sports federation IESF voted that Russian players can once again compete under the Russian flag and represent their country. E-sports is electronic competitive gaming.
All sanctions were removed from the players and the Russian national anthem can also be heard at the world championships organized by the IESF in the future, if there is a reason for this.
The decision has caused the sports federations of several other countries to relax. According to the Finnish eSports Association (SEUL), the decision is shameful.
Chairman of SEOUL Otto Takala says that the Russian eSports Federation has, among other things, established a remote office in the areas occupied by Russia in Ukraine during the past year.
– The Russian eSports Federation promotes Russia’s imperialist policy with its actions, and as a thank you for that, the international sports federation IESF rewards them, Takala roars.
According to the Russian Sports Federation The votes of the IESF were divided as follows: 32 to overturn the ban, 13 to keep the ban and 25 did not vote.
A year ago, the e-sports federations of several countries from the Nordic countries and Europe proposed the exclusion of Russia from the world championships and lost the vote.
Corruption suspicions
According to the view of SEUL and other Nordic e-sports federations, there are great ambiguities in the operation of IESF.
– IESF’s operating culture, especially the shortcomings of organizational democracy and the lack of transparency of operations, has long been the focus of organizational influencing activities, SEUL says in his announcement.
Takala says that IESF’s top management, such as the chairman Vlad Marinescuan and Secretary General Boban Totovski suspicions of corruption have also been swirling around since early summer. However, it has not been possible to confirm this.
– The board and the rest of the management have denied the allegations, but no investigation or investigation of the allegations has been done, says Takala.
The Finnish sports federation boycotted the world championships to support the Ukrainian e-sports federation. Together with other national sports federations, SEUL continues to work to improve the operation of IESF for the time being, despite the challenges.