Iran denies sending gamers to Israel for international e-sports competition

Iran will not participate in the upcoming international e-sports world championship hosted in the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat, despite an earlier report last week by the Jerusalem Post suggesting otherwise.

A statement issued by Iran’s Sport For All Federation on Saturday rejected the news of Iranian gamers participating in the event held by “the Zionist regime” in February 2021 in the occupied territories is “a complete lie”.

Organised by the South Korea-based International e-Sports Federation (IESF), the 12th championship event will be held in Israel throughout November and December in a limited online format due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the finals a much larger and more prestigious event also scheduled to take place in Eilat in February 2021. The event is expected to include over 10,000 gamers from over 55 countries and will be broadcast live to millions around the world.

The championship is organised by the Israeli Esport Association and Maccabi World Union and partnered with the Eilat municipality and Israel’s Prime Minister’s office.

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The Post reported that “Iran, alongside other nations that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel such as Indonesia, had expressed disappointment, as it seemed they wouldn’t be able to compete.”

The article claimed that Iran agreed to take part, after its teams won their regional qualifying tournament yesterday for eFootball PES Series, one of the three official games played at the event. Iran’s participation in the event represents “a stark departure from its traditional policy regarding international competitions with Israeli teams”, it added.

However, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported that Israel has no athletes or representatives in these competition, and the news reports are “just media mischief aiming at taking advantage of sports to justify the normalization of relations between a number of countries with the Zionist regime”.

E-sports is a rapidly growing industry both in terms of viewership and revenues with global revenues said to exceed $1 billion this year attracting an audience expected to reach 495 million.

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