IOA chief Batra meets officials of 9 sports federations

New Delhi:  Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra met officials of nine national federations, including esports, chess, sepaktakraw, and softball among others at the Olympic Bhawan here.

The national bodies of bridge, ju-jitshu, kurash, and sports climbing also met Batra here on Monday evening.

Esports is set to make its debut as a medal event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China to be held from September 10 to 25.

“We discussed and apprised Batra ji on the preparations, requirements and future planning for the country’s Esports contingent and ‘AESF’s Road to Asian Games’ program which will be launched soon to select the national esports contingent of our country,” Esports Federation of India Director and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) Lokesh Suji said in a statement after the meeting.

The AESF is recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia as the sole governing body for esports in the Asian continent. It is also in charge of technical conduct for esports at the 2022 Asian Games.

The meeting was co-chaired by chef-de-mission Bhupender Singh Bajwa and detailed discussions were held regarding training camps and various expenditures that are required.

During the meeting, IOA stressed on the need for a fair and transparent selection process of players and athletes. The last date for the submission of the Indian team is April 15 this year.

The Global Esports Federation (GEF) are in charge of conducting the trial events for the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championship at this year’s Commonwealth Games which will be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.

The 2022 edition of the Asian Games will see medals being awarded in eight categories of esports, which are EA SPORTS FIFA branded soccer games, an Asian Games version of PUBG Mobile and Arena of Valor, Dota 2, League of Legends, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Hearthstone and Street Fighter V.