The International Esports Federation (IESF) is a global organization based in South Korea whose mission it is to have esports recognized as a legitimate sport.
The International Esports Federation (IeSF) was established on August 8, 2008, by nine esports[2] associations from Denmark, South Korea, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Vietnam, and Taiwan. In November of the same year, the organization held its inaugural general meeting.[citation needed]
A year later, on December 12, 2009, the IeSF hosted its first international tournaments. These tournaments included the "IeSF Challenge" in 2009, followed by the "IeSF Grand Finals" in 2010, and the "IeSF World Championship" starting from 2011 and onward.[3]
In 2012, IeSF introduced the first-ever esports tournament for women during the IeSF 2012 World Championship.[citation needed]
On July 7, 2013, IeSF was chosen as the representative for the electronic sports discipline at the 4th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, marking the first time esports had a presence in an Olympic event.[4]
In May 2013, IeSF gain recognition as the official signatory of the World Anti-Doping Agency within the branch of esports.[5]
In July 2013, IeSF submitted an application to join Sport Accord, with expectations of becoming a temporary member in April 2014.[6]
In November 2013, the IeSF hosted the IeSF 2013 World Championship and the 2013 General Meeting in Bucharest, Romania, a significant departure from their usual South Korea location.[citation needed]
In May 2014, the IeSF was granted membership by TAFISA and announced its participation in the 2016 TAFISA World Games for All, to be held in Jakarta.[7]
In 2014, IeSF initially implemented gender-based restrictions in the Hearthstone tournament, but later amended its policy to merge the sections into open-for-all tournaments while still maintaining female-only tournaments with smaller prize pools.[8]
During the 2015 World Championship, an esports panel was hosted with international sports society representatives to discuss the potential recognition of esports as a legitimate sporting activity worldwide.[9]
The IeSF expanded further with the inclusion of new member federations, such as Colombia's Federación Colombiana de Deportes Electrónicos (FEDECOLDE), Kazakhstan's Qazaq Cybersport Federation (QCF), Turkey's Turkish Esports Federation (TESFED), and Ukraine's Federation of E-Sport of Ukraine (UESF), bringing the total member count to 60, spanning six continents.[10]
In July 2016, Macau became the 56th member nation of the IESF.[11]
In 2018, IESF voted to accept the United States Esports Federation (USEF) as a full member, establishing USEF as the officially recognized national governing body for esports in the United States.[12]
In a bid to expand into the Middle East, the IeSF signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UAE's Motivate Media Group, the parent company of "Gulf Business," as the esports community in the Middle East continued to grow, with over 300 million gamers in the region.[13]
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Chad
Congo
Djibouti
DR Congo
Egypt
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Libya
Madagascar
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Tunisia
Zimbabwe
Bahamas
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Guadeloupe
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Panama
Peru
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Cambodia
China
Chinese Taipei
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Macau
Malaysia
Maldives
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Timor Leste
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Georgia
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Kosovo
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Wales
