KUALA LUMPUR: E-Sports associations welcomed the RM20 million allocation for local e-Sports industry, hoping that the money will be used on the 2019 SEA Games athletes and develop e-Sports regulations.
Kuala Lumpur Esports Association president Hisham Darus hoped that the government would specify the party expected to receive the allocation.
“When tabling the budget, the Finance Minister did not specifically mention where the allocation will go to. Is it to the Youth and Sports Ministry or like last year - to be managed by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), an agency under the Communication and Multimedia Ministry?
“We welcome the allocation but hope that RM10 million or half of the money will be used on athletes who will compete in the upcoming 2019 Southeast Asian Games (2019 SEA Games) in Manila,” he told the New Straits Times today.
In tabling the 2020 Budget, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has announced an allocation of RM20 million to develop the local e-Sports industry next year.
The Manila games will be the first time that e-Sports will be contested as a medal event in a multi-sport competition sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.
Selangor Esports Association president Afzaruddin Burhanuddin said the allocation should be used to invest on creating e-Sports regulations.
“It is a good announcement. We just hope that the allocation will also go to state-level associations to drive the communities better.
“The allocation should focus on the regulations for the industries from events, e-Sports centre to associations. They should invest on regulations first before going into international events.
“Regulations on organising events, regulation on e-Sports team/individual membership, regulations on building e-sports centre with local council, regulations on athlete level and ranking by states and nationals.
“There are no regulations by government and national governing body at the moment for the states association to follow and implement at the moment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Youth Council said with the allocation, it was a good opportunity to create an optimum healthy ecosystem in e-Sports which majority of the enthusiasts were youth.
“As we can see nowadays, a lot of tournaments and e-Sports athlete participation in 2019 SEA Games receiving good respond from the industries and e-Sports enthusiast.
“We reckon that it is a good initiative been done by the government to invest more into the development of e-Sports rather than investing the budget in general.
“In addition, the introduction and training should be done to recommend other potential job opportunities in e-sports industries as well such as castor, streamers and so on,” he said.