International Esports Federation


The International Esports Federation is a global organisation based in South Korea whose mission it is to have electronic sports recognized as a legitimate sport.
It has also just revealed an agreement with the Asian Electronic Sports Federation, which saw the pair sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the objective of further promoting esports.

Member Nations

So far, there are 69 member nations in IESF:
ContinentMember Nations
Africa,,,
The Americas,,,,,,,,,,
Asia,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Europe,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Oceania,

History

The International Esports Federation was founded in August 8, 2008 by nine esports associations from Denmark, South Korea, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Vietnam and Taiwan, and held its first general meeting in November of the same year.
A year later, in December 12, the IeSF was able to host its own international tournaments, starting with the "IeSF challenge" in 2009, followed by "IeSF Grand Finals" in 2010, and the "IeSF World Championship" in 2011 and onward.
2012 saw a massive breakthrough for esports and the IeSF, as the IeSF 2012 World championship presented an esports tournament for women for the first time.
In July 7, 2013, IeSF was selected as counterpart for the electronic sports discipline of the 4th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. This was a big breakthrough for esports and the IeSF, as the branch was introduced in an Olympic event for the first time.
In May 2013, IeSF was approved as the official signatory of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the branch of e-Sports.
In July 2013, IeSF submitted an application to join Sport Accord, and is expected to be approved as a temporary member in April 2014.
In November 2013, IeSF saw a successful overseas launch of its events, as the IeSF 2013 World Championship and the 2013 General Meeting was held in the city of Bucharest, Romania, in what was the first time of an IeSF event held outside of South Korea.
In May 2014, IeSF was approved for membership by TAFISA. The IeSF will be represented at the 2016 TAFISA World Games for All, to be held in Jakarta.
In 2014, IeSF restricted female players from participating the in Hearthstone tournament, as part of the World Championship division of tournament into male and female sections. IeSF later revised the policy, uniting the section into open-for-all tournaments while maintaining female-only tournaments with smaller prize pools.
In the 2015 World Championship, an esports panel was hosted with guests from international sports society to discuss the future recognition of esports as a recognized, legitimate sporting activity worldwide.
The four federations which are newly represented in the IESF are Colombia’s Federación Colombiana de Deportes Electrónicos, Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Cybersport Federation, Turkey’s Turkish Esports Federation, and Ukraine’s Federation of E-Sport of Ukraine.
The addition of four more countries brings the IESF’s total count of member nations to 60, with six continents represented. Asia and Europe make up the bulk of the numbers with 24 and 22 respectively, with Macau’s arrival in 2016 marking the last time a new member joined until now.
In July 2016, Macau became the 56th member nation of the IESF.
The International eSports Federation has voted to accept the United States eSports Federation as a full member. The decision, taken at the IeSF General Meeting in Kaohsiung in Taiwan, means that USeF is the official recognized national governing body of esports in the US.
Esports is set to expand across the Middle East with Korean non-profit International Esports Federation recently announcing plans to enter the region. IESF has signed an memorandum of understanding with the UAE’s Motivate Media Group, parent company of Gulf Business, to expand regionally. Currently, the Esports category has over 300 million gamers across the Middle East alone.

Official World Championships

So far, the IeSF has held ten World Championships:
YearTitleLocationTitles playedWinnerRunner up
2009IeSF 2009 Challenge Taebaek, South KoreaFIFA Online
2010IeSF Grand Final Daegu, South KoreaFIFA Online, '
2011IeSF World Championship Andong, South KoreaStarCraft II, FIFA Online
2012IeSF World Championship Cheonan, South KoreaAlliance of Valiant Arms, StarCraft II, Tekken Tag Tournament 2
2013IeSF World Championship Bucharest, RomaniaLeague of Legends, StarCraft II, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Alliance of Valiant Arms
2014Esports World Championship 2014 Baku, AzerbaijanDota 2, ', Ultra Street Fighter IV, StarCraft II, Tekken Tag Tournament 2
2015Esports World Championship 2015 Seoul, South KoreaLeague of Legends, StarCraft II, '
2016Esports World Championship 2016 Jakarta, Indonesia', League of Legends,
2017Esports World Championship 2017 Busan, South Korea, League of Legends, Tekken 7
2018Esports World Championship 2018 Kaohsiung, Taiwan, League of Legends, Tekken 7
2019Esports World Championship 2019 Seoul, South KoreaDota 2, Tekken 7, eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020
2020Esports World Championship 2020 Eilat, IsraelDota 2, Tekken 7, eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020

Official Tri-Nation Test Matches

The following online events were held by member associations and under the jurisdiction of the IeSF:
YearDateCountriesTitle playedResult
201312 October 2013,, League of Legends4, 2, 0
20135 October 2013,, League of Legends4, 2,

Official Test Matches

The following Test Matches were held by member associations and under the jurisdiction of the IeSF:
YearDateCountriesTitle playedResult
202016 May 2020, DotA 22 - 0
202025 April 2020, DotA 22 - 0
201914 June 2019, Summoner's War3 - 0
201828 August 2018, Tekken 7, Counter-Strike: GO1 - 0, 1 - 0
201823 June 2018, Tekken 7, Tekken 7, FIFA'180 - 2, 0 - 1, 1 - 1
201716 September 2017, League of Legends2 - 0
20179 September 2017, CounterStrike: GO, League of Legends, Tekken 72 - 0, 2 - 0, 1 -0
201730 July 2017, FIFA '171 – 0
20169 October 2016, HearthStone1 - 1
20166 February 2016, FIFA '165 - 1
20154 December 2015, StarCraft II2 - 0
201514 November 2015, League of Legends2 - 0
201511 July 2015, FIFA '156 - 0
201527 March 2015, FIFA '152 - 0
201425 October 2014, Dota 20 - 2
20144 October 2014, StarCraft II2 - 0
20144 October 2014, DotA 22 - 0
20148 August 2014, DotA 22 - 0
20138 September 2013, DotA 20 - 1
201331 July 2013, DotA 21 - 0
201331 March 2013, StarCraft II2 - 0