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

IESF AEC qualifier in Chengdu didn't happen, according to sources. Credit: IESF

Sources familiar with the situation who asked not to be publicly identified tell The Esports Advocate that a few months ago, China’s General Administration of Sport declined approval for the International Esports Federation Asian Esports Championship (AEC) in Chengdu, that was originally scheduled to take place from Sept. 6-14. In June, IESF announced that the offline AEC qualifiers would take place in Chengdu from Sept. 13-17.

This part of the story has been confirmed, as the competition did not happen in Chengdu, as of this writing. It is unclear why the General Administration of Sports made this decision, and why the IESF did not make a public announcement that the event had been effectively canceled. In fact, on Thursday the organization announced that all regional qualifiers had been completed, despite nothing happening in Chengdu. 

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.” IESF Secretary General Boban Totovski announced the news at the AEC press conference in Chengdu at that time, and signed a partnership with the Chinese tournament organizer Huati Esports (also referred to as Huati Gaming in some previous announcements). 

Instead of running AEC in Chengdu, IESF hosted the “World Esports Industry Development Conference” on Thursday (Sept. 12). Nalain Naidoo, board member and chair of the partnership commission of IESF; Mark Dreyer, senior director of marketing and communications at the American Chamber of Commerce in China; and David Shin, director of international cooperation and market development at the Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) attended the conference. Local game publishers such as Tencent and NetEase did not attend the conference. 

In addition, according to a schedule of the conference that runs from Sept. 12 -17, viewed by TEA, the Chengdu event is not listed anywhere on the program.  

In an emailed statement to TEA on Friday morning, an IESF spokesperson said the following:

“To clarify, the event transitioned to a fully online format to maintain the integrity and quality of the competition after the local host was unable to fulfill their contractual obligations. This decision ensured a seamless and memorable experience for our athletes and fans while maintaining fair competition.”

While we take the IESF at its word when it says that the event was shifted online, there doesn’t appear to be any public information on the results of the online regional qualifier as there is for other regions. For example, for the African Esports Championship, we know that Egypt ranked #1, Tunisia at #2, South Africa at #3, and Morocco at #4.

The 2024 World Esports Championship will feature a total prize pool of $1M USD and is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Nov. 11 – 16.