MUMBAI: With an aim to make India a serious player globally, U Sports founder Ronnie Screwvala and its co-founder and CEO Supratik Sen are discussing with the Ministry of State, Youth Affairs and Sports India to form the official e-sports federation of the country.
Screwvala is likely to be the president of the association. It will be the governing body for all Indian e-sports events and interact with partner nations. The aim is to encourage, organise, educate and train e-sport athletes. He says, “We believe there is tremendous talent in India. By forming an official Federation, we want to provide e-sports athletes the ratified government support they need to compete at global or international levels and to also evolve a structured and fair e-sports competition. Now international markets like the US formally distinguishing e-sports as an official sport and granting visas for professional e-sports players, and universities announcing athletic scholarships to e-sports players, India is not far away from recognising this sport and its players as a career option.”
This body will represent India and promote e-sports for 206 million gamers, 10 million serious gamers and 300 million e-sports fans across the world. The ultimate aim is to create bodies at state levels to get the ambition going at the grassroot level.
Sen added, “This sport is a global phenomenon and India is not far behind. We have the talent, and the passion and with an official body, these athletes will only get encouraged to showcase their talent. This Federation will help widen the player base and allow people to see the bigger picture of the sport.”
E-sports is officially announced as an exhibition sport in the 2018 Asian Games and is listed in the 2022 Asian Games in China.
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