What Happened to the IESF’s Asian Esports Championship in Chengdu?

Key insights

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Event Status

The IESF's Asian Esports Championship in Chengdu did not take place as scheduled.

The International Esports Federation (IESF) Asian Esports Championship (AEC) was originally set for September 6–14, 2024, in Chengdu, China.

Event Canceled. The IESF's Asian Esports Championship in Chengdu, China, did not proceed as a physical event.

Transparency Issues

No public documentation or results exist for the alleged online qualifiers.

This contrasts with the transparency provided for other regional championships, where results are publicly available.

It's like a sports league announcing a game happened, but never sharing the score or who played.

Missing Records. There are no public records of the online qualifiers for the Asian Esports Championship.

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Summary

The International Esports Federation (IESF) Asian Esports Championship (AEC), originally scheduled for September 6–14, 2024, in Chengdu, China, failed to take place as an offline event. While the IESF publicly claimed that all regional qualifiers were completed, the organization did not disclose the cancellation of the physical tournament in Chengdu. Sources indicate that China’s General Administration of Sport declined to approve the event, leading to its effective cancellation as a live competition.

The IESF maintains that the event transitioned to a fully online format to preserve the integrity of the competition, citing the local organizer’s inability to fulfill contractual obligations. However, there is a notable lack of public documentation or results regarding these online qualifiers, contrasting with the transparency provided for other regional championships. Instead of the tournament, the IESF hosted a "World Esports Industry Development Conference" in Chengdu on September 12, which notably lacked participation from major local game publishers such as Tencent and NetEase.

This situation highlights a significant operational breakdown for the IESF, which had previously aligned itself with the "One-China Principle" in April 2024 through a partnership with the local organizer, Huati Esports. Despite the disruption in Chengdu, the IESF continues to prepare for its 2024 World Esports Championship, which is scheduled to feature a $1 million prize pool in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November 2024. The discrepancy between the IESF’s official messaging and the reality of the Chengdu event underscores ongoing challenges in the organization's regional event management and communication strategies.