GLOBAL ESPORTS FEDERATION ENDORSES WORLD’S MOST BRUTAL, BIGOTED REGIME

The Global Esports Federation (GEF) has once again shown just how out of touch it is with the community it claims to represent, naming the Saudi capital Riyadh as a host city for the Global Esports Games.

According to the GEF, which was founded in partnership with Chinese entertainment giant Tencent, its Global Esports Games will be hosted by Singapore this year, followed by Istanbul in 2022, and Riyadh in 2023 – yes, the capital of Saudi Arabia.  

Regarding the plans, Paul J. Foster, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Esports Federation, said: “We have listened to the athletes and players, the incredible publishers and developers, and the wider community to create a platform for athletes to shine, representing countries and territories as in other prestigious multi-sport competitions.”

Adding to the absurdity of choosing to hold the 2023 games in the capital city of a country run by one of the world’s most brutal, bigoted and intolerant regimes, the GEF has said its convention series, GEFcon and GEFestival, which are held in conjunction with the games, are events intended to “celebrate esports culture.” 

Esports, and wider gaming culture, is at the forefront of equality, diversity, and inclusion. As both Riot Games and BLAST found out when they lent tacit support to the Saudi regime in misguided, and very short-lived, partnerships last year, the global gaming community has little patience for those pandering to barbaric bigots – no matter how wealthy they may be. 

Interestingly, Riot Games, along with Capcom, Konami, and SEGA are also partnered with the Global Esports Federation, as are Commonwealth Sport, dentsu, the Global Esports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft, Invictus Games Foundation, ODESUR, the Olympic Council of Asia, and UNESCO among others. 

Will the GEF see sense and terminate its plans for Riyadh, or will it attempt to justify collaborating with a regime that openly practices extreme sexism, criminalises the LGBT community, and rejects democracy and international human rights? Will the GEF’s supporters pull the plug before Riyadh, or will we really see organisations and companies that claim to promote inclusion and diversity support an event that legitimises the situation in Saudi Arabia?

It is important to remember that Saudi Arabia is a totalitarian state. Doing any business with it, is by definition, giving support to the regime. In a country like Saudi Arabia, it is absolutely impossible to argue that holding an event there is non-political.

Whatever GEF does, it’s time that the global esports and gaming community says “enough is enough” when it comes to Saudi Arabia. We simply cannot espouse human rights and equality on one hand, and then tolerate giving tacit endorsement to a regime that stands for the complete opposite.