New Asian eSports chief aims for Olympic future

Addressing journalists a day after his election to the Asian Electronic Sports Federation post on Monday, Fok said Asia was “at the crossroad” of the increasingly popular electronic sports, which are dominated by multiplayer computer and console games.

“Our vision for the federation is to have eSports recognised as an Olympic sport, and that is clear,” said Fok, speaking in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat, which is currently hosting the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

“We have to go about seeing eSports as a traditional sport,” said Fok.

Fok was elected to his post unopposed after Kazakhstan’s veteran sports administrator Natalya Sipovich voluntarily stepped down after a decade in the position.

As a rising star in the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the son of the current president of the Hong Kong Olympic Federation Timothy Fok, the 38-year-old Oxford graduate brings fresh clout to the role.

But Fok also said eSports must “face up” to cynicism over whether gaming can be considered a sport and adopt regulations on doping and fair play in line with International Olympic Committee standards.

Fok faces a challenge to accelerate the sport’s development ahead of the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, when it will be a medal sport for the first time in what is seen as an important step towards Olympic recognition.

ESports made its debut at the Asian Indoor Games — a secondary OCA tournament featuring a number of non-Olympic disciplines — at Macau in 2007.

The eSports tournament at Ashgabat 2017 will take place September 25-27 and will see multiplayer tournaments of popular computer games such as Hearthstone, StarCraft II, Dota 2 and the King of Fighters XIV.