Sources: IESF Board Held Vote to Cancel WEC 2024

Sources: HRH Prince Faisal calls for IESF board vote to cancel Riyadh event. Credit: IESF

The Esports Advocate has learned that on Sept. 10, the International Esports Federation (IESF) held what sources describe as an impromptu board meeting where board members were asked to vote on a proposal where the “IESF” would cancel the World Esports Championship (WEC 2024) that is set to be held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh in November. 

Sources familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified out of a concern for safety tell TEA that there was general confusion during the meeting, and there was no itinerary or agenda made available prior to or during the meeting. The proposal was put forward by IESF President HRH Prince Faisal, who is also the founder of the Saudi Esports Federation and a vice president at the Global Esports Federation.

Sources also tell us that before taking a vote, board members were hesitant to do so out in the open, and asked Prince Faisal if it could be a blind vote under IESF rules. He quickly agreed, according to sources, and the vote got underway. Prior to the vote, Prince Faisal also told board members that if they were willing to cancel the event on behalf of IESF, the GEF could be compelled to cancel its year-end event too (that event is called the Global Esports Games and is listed as taking place in China in December). Sources tell us that, despite those assurances, board members voted against the measure.

Sources tell TEA that board members were generally confused and concerned about Prince Faisal putting forward a proposal of this nature for an event that is just a few months away and did not understand the reasoning behind it. Given that member federations recently competed in regional qualifiers to gain a spot at the WEC 2024 and for a chance to take a cut of its $1M USD prize pool, this proposal was alarming.  

The Esports Advocate reached out to all federation members of the IESF on Wednesday, as well as its board members, and the Global Esports Federation prior to the publication of this story. The handful of federations that did respond said that they had no direct knowledge of a meeting taking place. No board members—including IESF Managing Director Boban Totvoski and IESF President HRH Prince Faisal—responded to our request for comments. The Global Esports Federation did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

On a related note, the IESF made another pitch on Wednesday seeking host cities for the 2025 and 2026 editions of its World Esports Championship. The federation announced that the bidding process had opened for WEC host cities in July. In a LinkedIn post, the IESF reiterated that the bidding process is still open and will officially close on Sept. 25.

Last week TEA reported that the IESF quietly moved its in-person regional qualifier, the Asian Esports Championship (AEC), from Chengdu, China, to an online competition. The AEC was announced in April 2024 as part of a “Foreign Affairs Statement” dedicated solely to fully and publicly embracing the “One-China Principle.” While the IESF said that the qualifier was canceled due to a failure by tournament organizer Huati Esports, sources told us that China’s General Administration of Sport declined approval of the event months ago.