Esports is again included in the Southeast Asian Games. But unfortunately, from the list of announced games, Free Fire must be absent from the 2023 SEA Games.
In fact, when you remember the progress of the national team in the SEA Games last year, it is truly extraordinary. Indonesia can bring gold and silver medals at the same time, through this battle royale game made by Garena.
So why can this happen? Is this really Cambodia's wish as the host or is there another cause?
Incidentally, we asked this question to the Chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee, Raja Sapta Oktohari. He revealed that this was the decision of the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF).
"The SEAGF's decision. All the numbers that we have a lot of gold, they didn't have them. Including other numbers, like shooting, like archery," Raja told us.
So apart from that, the King did feel that something was not right about the rules made by the SEAGF. According to him, the regulations made must be changed and keep up with the times. He continued, he said, that you can't just make it.
"You can't do it like this, you can't just make it. After wasting money, we'll send all kinds of people. But by standard, there's no sport," said Raja.
Raja added that the Olympic number is always a priority, only then is the non-Olympic number. It's just that the reality is different, from his explanation, there are even more non-Olympic numbers than Olympic numbers, and according to him it is against the rules.
As previously reported, as the host of the 2023 SEA Games, Cambodia has announced a list of games in the esports branch. But there is a slight difference from the previous SEA Games.
For missing names, such as Arena of Valor, PC version of League of Legends, FIFA 4, and Free Fire. The following is a list of esports games at the 2023 SEA Games.
SEA Games Esports Games 2023
AK (PC) - Team
AK (PC) - Individual
PUBG Mobile - Squads
PUBG Mobile - Solo
Mobile Legends - Men
Mobile Legends - Women
League of Legends: Wild Rift - Male
Valorant - Team
Cross Fire - Team