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The International eSports Federation (IeSF) and World Cyber Arena (WCA) are hosting the 2016 global eSports Executive Summit in Shanghai, China.

Co-hosted by the IeSF and the WCA the Global Executive Summit is an annual event that brings together key stakeholders from multiple industries across the globe to have open discussion and share ideas about the current eSports industry. One of the core goals is to align attendees with the same understanding of the direction and manner eSports needs to develop.

The Executive Summit will run over the 30th-31st of July in Shanghai, China during Chinajoy 2016 – the largest digital entertainment expo and conference in China.

Established in 2008, the IeSF has grown from its first few founding nations to now over 40 members, many of whom are officially recognized by their respective governments. Australia has been a member since 2013, with the AESA as its representative.

The WCA was launched in 2014 with headquarters in Yinchuan, China. The WCA held a global tournament in 2015, with qualifiers in North America and Europe which brought players together in Yinchuan to compete for over $1.9 million in prizes.

The summit will see the IeSF and representatives from each national eSports federation, along with many eSports personalities, athletes, institutions, media, corporate representatives and members from international sports society’s come together to discuss the status and direction of eSports.

As a great opportunity for the exchange of ideas and knowledge some of the core items on the agenda include:

• Official recognition globally;
• Universal values;
• Social responsibility in eSports;
• Athlete welfare; and
• A clean eSports environment.

“We hope that the different stakeholders of eSports will be able to share the same vision by the end of the Global eSports Executive Summit, for future eSports development,” said Mr Alex Lim, Secretary General of the IeSF. “We also look forward to the participatio of International Sports Society members, to enlighten the possibilitees and potential of eSports. Hopefully different sessions of the Summit will support the e-Sports recognition of SportAccord and IOC. IeSF Plans to hold the Summit on an annual basis to constantly communicate with various stakeholders and also lead e-Sports under a consensus based direction.”

The Australian eSports Association will be sending a delegation.

UPDATE: 25th July 2016

120 officials from across the eSports and traditional sports industry will participate in the Global eSports Executive Summit.

These official include the presence of key international sports society members such as Charmaine Crooks, the 1984 LA Olympic Silver medalist who was elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) athletes commission and Vlad Marinescu the former SportsAccord General Director.

The five key panels that will be held over the course of the summit are:

eSports, Road to official recognition:

Tim Reichert (FCShalke04), Colin Webster (IeSF), Blad Marinescu (Rsportz), Jay Shin (Smilegate) and Yanfei Li (WCA);

Good Causes, universal value and social responsibility in eSports: 

David Yarnton (Gfinity), Magnus Jonsson (IeSF), Akihito Furusawa (Japan e-Sports Federation), Yevhen Zolotarov (NAVI), Charmaine Crooks (NGU Consultants), Pavel Varabei (Wargaming);

Athlete Welfare:

Spike Laurie (ESL), Alex Lim (IeSF), Charmaine Crooks (NGU Consltants)
Leonardo Ribas (Brazil eSports athlete);

Clean eSports Environment:

Kevin Morris (Daily Dot), Anna Rozwandowicz (ESIC), Tim Reichert (FCShalke04), Sean Conroy (Genius Sports), Colin Webster (IeSF), Patrick Nally (West Nally);

What is the future platform for eSports and how it can change your lives:

Eddy Lim (IeSF), Tom Keefer (US e-Sports Federation), Patrick Nally (West Nally), Brian So (World Mobile Games Inc).
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