The government of Indonesia officially recognized esports as a sport during the 2020 National Conference of Central KONI held this week. As first reported by VPEsports, Indonesia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) officially recognized esports as an “accomplished sport” in the Southeast Asian country and named PB Esports Indonesia as the “only institution that covers esports as an achievement sport in Indonesia under KONI.”
This milestone for esports athletes and the industry means that esports could be included as an official sport in national level competitions such as the National Sports Week (PON, or “Pekan Olahraga Nasional”), though the COVID-19 pandemic has stymied live sporting events throughout the world.
Indonesia now joins the governments of the Philippines and Malaysia as countries in Southeast Asia that have recognized esports as a legitimate sport.
Esports has been included as part of international multi-sports competitions, with games such as League of Legends, StarCraft II, and Clash Royale being played as demonstration sports in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, while the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines featured esports as a medal event for the first time.
