HANGZHOU – After finishing second in the Asian Games, the Malaysian Arena of Valor (AoV) team is hoping e-sports will make its Olympics debut soon.
E-sports, which offers millions in prize money and has a huge following among youngsters, will not be in the Paris 2024 programme but hopes for inclusion in Los Angeles 2028 or Brisbane 2032.
Malaysian team manager Wong Kang Woon said e-sports should not be left out as the International Olympic Committee and host countries try to attract the interest of the younger generation with the inclusion of new sports in the Olympics.
“The Olympics is a multisports event. Skateboarding, breakdancing and rock climbing are in the Olympics, so why not e-sports?
“We can’t be putting e-sports in a negative perspective. E-sports players are not just sitting comfortably playing games. They also feel the pressure, sweat and increasing heartbeat,” he said.
Wong said the AoV team, who trained 12 to 14 hours a day before arriving in Hangzhou, received sports science support from the National Sports Institute to ensure they were in good shape during the Games.
The Malaysian team had to be satisfied with the silver medal in the AoV game last night after going down 0-2 to favourites China in the final.
Nevertheless, they still deserve praise for being the first-ever Asian Games silver medallist in esports, as electronic sport made its Asiad debut as a medal event.
Wong said his team had been invited by the game publisher to play in the AoV World Pro League, which has a prize pool of US$10 million (about RM47 million).
He said discussions on the team’s participation in the two-week-long league were ongoing and their appearance in the Asian Games final had brought them closer to their possible debut in the competition.
“We haven’t received anything in black and white yet; just a verbal offer. We are planning to send a team. Let us go back to Malaysia and plan to set up the professional team,” he said. – September 27, 2023