Indonesian government has officially recognised esports as a sports discipline. The Indonesia Ministry of Youth and Esports and National Sports Committee (KONI) have given their nod of approval to esports during the 2020 National Conference of Central KONI.
As per the reports of VPEsports, The Indonesian government has also appointed Indonesia Esports Managing Committee (PB ESI) as “the only institution that can cover esports in Indonesia under KONI.”
Indonesia becomes the third country after Phillipines and Malaysia to recognise esports at the same level as traditional sports among the Southeast Asian countries.
PB Esports Indonesia (PBESI), is formed with a goal “to encourage the growth of esports in Indonesia by making Indonesia the most active and attractive esports center of Asia”, says their official website.
Recognising Esports as an equivalent to normal sports brings in a huge pool of opportunities for the industry. The most important change could be implementation of esports tournaments in the national sports events like National Sports Week(PON). The PON or Pekan Olahraga Nasional is a multi-sport event held every four years in Indonesia.
“Esports deserves to be recognized as an official sport as it implies skills, agility and strategy, some of the most important tools of any sports athlete”, says Daily Chairman of PB ESI during the same conference.
Esports has already been included into international multi-sports tournaments like 2018 Asain Games where League of Legends, StarCraft II and Clash Royale was played as demonstration sports. Later in 2019, SEA Games included esports in the medal events for the first time.
