"E-Sports Federation of India"- the latest gaming scam to rock the country

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iPwnz

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For those unaware, the Indian E-Sports community was very recently rocked by an ugly controversy involving a private organization called "E-Sports Federation of India (ESFI) who claim to be the "National governing body of e-sports in India" (lol). And this organization E-Sports Federation of India is apparently the Indian branch of the Asian E-Sports Federation (AESF) and AESF is in charge of doing the E-Sports event in the Asian Games 2018. Yes! E-Sports in the Asian Games!

For more details about the Asian Games
League of Legends among the debut esports titles at 2018 Asian Games

Now, two days ago on June 7, a very popular Indian CSGO personality and caster "Bleh" posted on Twitter the player contracts made by the ESFI and I quote him:
This is the contract players are being coerced to sign to participate in the Asian Games if they're from India. The qualifiers are being hosted by @esfindia I am no authority on contracts, but a cursory glance shows how utterly vile and atrocious this contract is
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You can see some of the screenshots of the contracts below:
IMG_20180609_231439.jpg

IMG_20180609_231442.jpg

IMG_20180609_231443.jpg

IMG_20180609_231445.jpg

This news spread like wildfire and many prominent E-Sports personalities and journalists picked it up.

This forced the ESFI to release the statement below on their Facebook page

It has been brought to our attention that there are several concernsr egarding the ‘Regulations, Terms & Conditions for National Esports Championships-2018 (Road to Asian Games) and Participant Declaration’ issued by us for the NESC. We, at ESFI care deeply abou the esports industry in India and have the sole intention of working towards the betterment and improvement of the sport. We hereby request all players, teams, interested persons and stakeholders to provideus with their inputs and comments regarding the aforestated regulations by 15/06/2018 at contact@esportsfederation.in.
ESFI shall take into consideration the comments and inputs provided to us by players, teams, interested persons and stakeholders and after
the requisite review process shall accordingly publish the amended and updated Regulations. Meanwhile, the present ‘Regulations, Terms & Conditions for National E-Sports Championships-2018 (Road to Asian Games) and Participant Declaration’ already issued by us shall remain in force until further notice.
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News posted on:

[unikrn] India's Asian Games Contract Forces Players to Pay for Travel & More
[Gamegeek.gg] E-Sports Federation of India Controversy
[ESPN] Three lawyers weigh in on the Esports Federation of India player contract

And as for how this bs of a company managed to get the rights and authority from the Asian E-Sports Federation will be for discussion on another day because nothing about it is known right now.

PS: Forgive me for any mistake or error on my part, I'm typing all these from my mobile. :D
 
betterment of whom? all costs etc is borne by player, and if he does not turn up, then he has to pay the bs company for 'their' anticipated losses within 15 days? they want free money from fools.
 
6pack said:
betterment of whom? all costs etc is borne by player, and if he does not turn up, then he has to pay the bs company for 'their' anticipated losses within 15 days? they want free money from fools.
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I know man.
It's like this,
ESFI to the national rep. teams: you will go participate in the event at your own cost and expenditure. You will do all the work and whatever we tell you. You cannot back out from it. If you win something we will take our share. But if you do anything which can land us in trouble or give us a bad name we will take legal action against you (having signed the contract and agreement form).
"Scam" may not be the most appropriate word for this but looking at how this thing is, it's nothing short of a scam.
This is ****ed up. And the saddest part? The parent organization Asian E-Sports Federation (AESF) is still silent on the matter.
 
useless federation who don't want to do anything other than look like complete d--ks.

sports people should boycott this federation and its parent body too. zero representation from india in any games. let the govt eat mud.
 
The Indian counterpart has not been recognized by the IOC (yet) let alone the GOI so I don't think the govt will be bothered to even listen to the issues.

ESFI apparently did a small talk with AFK gaming about the whole issue and while the article doesn't say much and gives little clarity and information than what we already know it does bring up something very interesting (something which I personally never expected):
Screenshot_20180611-185224~2.png

There they said something about being in talks with "various stake holders", who or what org these are they didn't say but if some renowned people really did discussed with them or come to some sort of understanding and agreement with ESFI then things could get nasty. Truth be told, people just want to have a share of the pie. But it's not surprising because Asian Games is no minor event or tiny feat to play in.

As for the boycott, it's easier said than done. The Asian body, AESF, is the main org which is directly related to the Asian Games. Boycotting them would bring no benefit to the Indian community whatsoever. But what we can do as a community is bring an overhaul change in its Indian arm, ESFI.
But the tricky thing here is what's being said in that screenshot. If the reputed event organizers don't stand with the community then it will be a huge mess. Because some personalities are in contract with them and if their orgs decide to somehow work together with ESFI I doubt they will just openly speak it up. This is just my speculation for now.
 
deezcnuts said:
IOA to officially recognize Esports and ESFI
www.talkesport.com

IOA to officially recognize Esports and ESFI » TalkEsport

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has said that it would officially recognize Esports as a sport and as part of this decision, the IOA will also recognize the Esports Federation of India or ESFI as the governing body of Esports in the country. This decision comes amid the ongoing talks in the...
www.talkesport.com www.talkesport.com
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Indian esports is doomed...RIP
 
One of the many things I hate about India. What a shit show. I wonder if afk/nodwin people will feel salty about this. I know for a fact that they might also want to have a say on the matter seeing as how they have been partnering with a bunch of orgs to head esports activities here. Jealousy and greed everywhere already around here and the scene has barely just taken off the ground.
 
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e-Sports in India is doomed because of shitbags like them. Just when things seem to head in te right direction, some scandal or another ruins things. Damn, damn, damn.
 
Mr.J said:
Governing body for e-sports as much sense as governing body for card games or tabletop games.

None at all.
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I agree but this is related to an international event so they might actually justify it. Also I strongly suspect that someone might be lobbying for that recognition. Though I hope it kicks those *you know who* out from their dreams for thinking they can screw around just because they have the biggest connections in the industry. about damn time the ego trip take a break.
 
... including and not limited to commercial exploitation.
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This isn't some reading-between-the-lines legal workaround, it is a bold-faced declaration. They literally used the term "commercial exploitation", who are they kidding with absolute malarkey like "... the sole intention of working towards the betterment and improvement of the sport."

This should be illegal.
 
Afkgaming said they couldn't verify the authenticity of the article. Someone please archive that talkesports article for future use.
 
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