After negotiations in the weekend at the Swedish national sports meeting, esports is now officially part of the Swedish sports movement.
The decision came after a long debate in which a number of confederations argued that esports should be allowed to become part of the National Sports Confederation.
The Swedish National Sports Authority had asked for rejection of esports’ membership application, but the federations went against the board’s proposal. After a vote, it was clear that esports was chosen.
This comes two years after Sweden lost The Dota 2 International 2021 tournament due to the Swedish government failing to acknowledge esports events as major sporting events, meaning competitors and staff couldn’t get visas to enter the country. The International was instead moved to Romania.
For the esports association, the new acceptance means, among other things, that they will be able to apply for activity support for their training sessions. From next year, the esports association will be able to receive government support for their operations.
This is extremely big for Sweden, as other nations’ esports federations believe that when Sweden recognises esports as a sport, more nations will follow. Above all, it’s a big question for all the associations that so far have not received support from culture or sports. It means a lot for all the children and young people who see esports as their main sport, says Sammi Kaidi, chairman of the esports association.
The admittance will help bring esports into the mainstream in Sweden which will give access to good conversations and exchanges with other industries to build esports so that it becomes more long-term.