Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Electronic Sports Federation (MESF) welcomes the recognition of e-sports as one of the core high-performance sports as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, yesterday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, MESF stated that this decision is a significant part of the Ministry of Youth and Sports’ (KBS) E-sports Development Strategic Plan 2020-2025. It marks an essential step in enhancing the development ecosystem for e-sports athletes in Malaysia, aiming for world-class achievements.

MESF also appreciates the Ministry of Education’s emphasis on the One Student, One Sport (1M1S) Policy, which will provide more opportunities for e-sports to become a prominent part of sports education among students.

In response, MESF, in collaboration with Esports Integrated (ESI), has launched MyLeague, a grassroots development initiative. This initiative serves as an official platform to discover local talent across various major gaming titles such as MyRL (eRacing), MyEL (eFootball), MyTL (Tekken 8), MyPL (PUBG), MyFL (Free Fire), MyCL (Counter Strike), MyHL (Honor of Kings), and MyML (Mobile Legends).

This platform is crucial in offering professional pathways for local e-sports athletes to compete nationally and internationally. MESF remains committed to supporting government policies for the growth of a progressive, sustainable, and inclusive national e-sports industry.

Besides e-sports, other sports recognized as core high-performance sports include aquatics (swimming and diving), weightlifting, badminton, cycling (track), field bowling, gymnastics (artistic and gymnastics), hockey, karate, archery, shooting, athletics, sailing, ping pong, sepak takraw, silat, squash, taekwondo, tenpin bowling, and wushu.