Last week, a tri-party meeting between the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT), the Thai Esports Federation (TESF), and the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) took place at the NOCT headquarters in Bangkok to propose the inclusion and organization of medal competitions for Esports at the 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG 2021) hosted in Pattaya, Thailand.
AIMAG is known as one of the two largest multi-sport events in Asia, second only to the ASIAN Games (ASIAD). The event includes sports operated in indoor arenas, including martial arts disciplines.
Considering that the Esports competitions are fully qualified to become a part of the events at AIMAG 2021, the NOCT has officially decided to make Esports titles medal sports at this edition of the games.
At ASIAD 2018, Esports made its debut as a demonstration sport, and subsequently, esports became a medal sport at the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 30). However, with its official recognition as a medal sport at AIMAG 2021, this event will mark the first time esports has entered the list of officially contested sports at a continental sports event.