E-Sport is finally recognized as a proper sport

A few days ago The Swedish national sports federation had its annual general meeting. And one of the points up for voting was whether E-Sport should be allowed to become a member organization or not.

E-Sport becomes a sport sport

This was not the first time the Swedish E-Sport organization have applied to become a member of the Swedish national sports federation. Nor was it the second time. In fact, I can't say how many times they have applied. But all the previous attempts have been voted on with a majority saying no to their inclusion.

And with the board officially against the Swedish E-Sport organization joining up, it looked to be yet another disappointing vote. But to most people's surprise, the members voted against the board. And as a result, the Swedish E-Sport organization is officially a full fledge member of the Swedish national sports federation.

What is the big deal?

There are actually several things this means. The biggest one is that the Swedish E-Sport organization and its members now can get grants. This means that the clubs will be able to get money for practice, and have places available to them they would otherwise not have. Just like any other sports club.

Finally, E-Sport clubs will have the same resources available to them as any other sports club

In short, this has not only opened new doors, it literally has kicked them in. And it will be a very interesting time to see and follow how they will be able to take advantage of this. Hopefully, it will mean that the Swedish E-Sport teams will have a big leg up on the rest of the EU. And maybe will be able to close the gap a little with the Asian E-Sport scene.

There is also a very high probability that this will have a knock-on effect. And other countries now will accept their E-Sport organizations as members of their national sports federations. At least this is what the chairman of the Swedish organization thinks will happen. He stated that many other organizations have iterated to them that once they will have a precedent, it will open the door for them as well.

This will hopefully mean that the global E-Sport scene will be able to move ahead and have the resources available much like any other sport. And who knows, maybe we will see E-Sport make its entry into the Olympic games. If they have enough money to bribe the right people that is.

This also means that E-Sports will have more tools and resources available to them to combat toxic player behavior. Something that I would argue has no place in sports or E-Sports. But sadly can be pretty rampant in many games. But with the possibility of more E-Sports organizations getting recognized. Seeing them globally adopting a similar thing to how football has their "Fairplay". They might then maybe be able to put more pressure on the game developers, or at least they will be able to work together with them on equal footing as a global organization. It would eliminate the whole "we can't police just your country in this game" argument.

Hopefully, this will also open the door for Airsoft to be able to join. Something they have been trying to do the last couple of years as well. Similar to how E-Sports have tried to join up.

What are your thoughts on this, do you think E-Sport should be recognized as a sport? Please share your thoughts on this in the comment section.

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