KeSPA loses their status as a recognised sporting organisation in South Korea

The Korean e-Sports Association, better known as KeSPA has reportedly failed to meet new standards put in place by the Korean Sport & Olympic committee, which has cost them their status as a recognised sporting organisation.

This comes from a report from This Is Game, translated by Slingshot Esports.

The Korean Olympic Committee merged last year with the Korea Council of Sport for All to create the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee. When the organisations came together in 2016, they established new standards for organisations to be recognised as a new sports organisation,  KeSPA didn’t meet these new standards, and were supposedly placed in a disqualified group for the next year. However, KeSPA have described it as “near impossible” to meet the council’s requirement for nine national city or province branches.

KeSPA isn’t the only organisation to be shut out in the ruling, as only two of the 24 disqualified organisations met the standards for inclusion, however KeSPA is well known internationally for its work with South Korea’s esports ecosystem. While this loss of status probably won’t hurt the work the organisation is doing, it’s still a significant blow. KeSPA have said in a statement that they are still planning to promote esports as an official Olympic sport and asked fans not to worry too much about the ruling.