මෙම ලිපියේ සිංහල පරිවතනය මෙතනින් කියවන්න.
There has been some rumor and misinformation about who controls the Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA) spread by small groups of people new to the Esports scene in Sri Lanka. Here are the facts!
Summary
- SLESA is the governing body of Esports in Sri Lanka
- SLESA is run based on a constitution accepted by all members and the Sports Ministry
- There are founding members, and a process to accept new members
- Office bearers are voted in every 2 years by members
- SLESA is not owned by Gamer.LK. Gamer.LK is only one member. SLESA is a sports association. Gamer.LK is a private company
- Office-bearers are there to do work, and don’t have more power than members. They are unpaid volunteers working for the benefit of Esports
- Finances of SLESA are visible to all members, and audited
- All members have appointed Gamer.LK as the enforcer of disciplinary action. If an athlete wants to appeal an action, the members will discuss it and vote on it
- An investigation is conducted before disciplinary action is taken against an athlete. This is why action timing varies from same-day bans, to months of investigation depending on the situation
- SLESA members have had access to this information from the start. SLESA will take steps to provide the same transparency with the community directly
SLESA voting members
Here’s a list of voting members of SLESA and their representatives. These are the members who have access to SLESA discussions, attend SLESA meetings, contribute to policy changes and vote on disciplinary appeals. Clans are listed in alphabetical order.
- Maximum Esports (Alpha Esports) (1 vote)
- Shihan ‘Davy’ Morais
- Vihanga ‘Yama’ Yuwanthaka
- Akila ‘Gadget Malli’ Fonseka
- Noob Alliance (1 vote)
- Navod ‘Cyanide’ Bopitiya
- Janith ‘Spartacus’ Rajapakse
- Indunil ‘Warlord’ Withana
- Prageeth ‘Gerald’ Savinda
- Phoenix GaminG (1 vote)
- Abith ‘Leon’ Latiff
- Safwan ‘CB’ Mansoor
- Kasun ‘Kassa’ Withanage
- Javeen ‘Javeen’ Tharka
- Tech Morph (1 vote)
- Isuru ‘Viper’ Herath
- Fauzan Cassim
- Dinuwan ‘Dizzy’ Fernando
- Minuka ‘Hard Buster’ Ranaweera
- Wolfgang Esports (1 vote)
- Kasun ‘Athena’ Wijesekera
- Mewan ‘Alex’ Kaushika
- Lahiru ‘xxx’ Herath
- Xiphos Esports (1 vote)
- Nisal ‘Arch’ Weerakoon
- Dulaj ‘Stronghold’ Gunawardena
- Gayan ‘Madness’ de Silva
- Gamer.LK (1 vote)
- Raveen ‘Rav’ Wijayatilake
- Vikum ‘Scooby’ Jayasekera
- Ramesh ‘R_L’ Liyanage
- Malinda ‘Warrior’ Jayasekera
SLESA office bearers
The office bearers for 2020-2022 were elected as follows
| Office bearers | Name | Voted in by the following clans |
| President | Raveen Wijayatilake | Maximum Esports Noob Alliance Phoenix GaminG Tech Morph Wolfgang Esports Xiphos Esports |
| Secretary | Malinda Jayasekera | Maximum Esports Noob Alliance Phoenix GaminG Tech Morph Wolfgang Esports Xiphos Esports |
| Treasurer | Vikum Jayasekera | Maximum Esports Noob Alliance Phoenix GaminG Tech Morph Wolfgang Esports Xiphos Esports |
| Media Secretary | Safwan Mansoor | Maximum Esports Noob Alliance Phoenix GaminG Tech Morph Wolfgang Esports Xiphos Esports |
| Assistant Media Secretary | Prageeth Savinda | Maximum Esports Noob Alliance Phoenix GaminG Tech Morph Wolfgang Esports Xiphos Esports |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SLESA really do?
The Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA) is the governing body for Esports in Sri Lanka. It is responsible for setting out rules, regulations, upholding competition integrity, disciplinary action and promoting Esports within Sri Lanka and taking Sri Lankan Esports talent to official international tournaments. SLESA represents clans and individual Esports athletes in Sri Lanka. It also acts as the independent body for dispute resolution when clans have issues with other clans.
The Sri Lanka Esports Association are members of the International Esports Federation (governing body for Esports globally), The Asian Esports Federation (the Esports association governing Esports in Asia) and the Global Esports Federation (a collective of global Esports entities).
SLESA has been able to:
- Get Esports recognised as an official sport in Sri Lanka
- Send Sri Lankan representatives to international events like the IESF Esports World Championship, Asian Games and other events by other National Esports Federations.
SLESA has also been recognised as a benchmark for Esports governance in South Asia, and SLESA president Raveen Wijayatilake has been invited to speak at international conferences on the success of Sri Lanka’s Esports governance system.
See the announcement here: https://www.facebook.com/gamerlk/posts/10157522428465540
What rules does SLESA follow?
SLESA has a constitution adopted when forming the association. The constitution defines how members are elected, for what period, and what members roles are and what office bearers are responsible for. This constitution has also been submitted to the Sports Ministry of Sri Lanka in our application to get Esports recognised as an official sport.
How are these people members in SLESA?
The founding members of the Sri Lanka Esports Association consist of some of the oldest clans in the country. New members have an application process to join the association, where voting members review the applicants history in Esports in Sri Lanka and then will vote to accept or reject it. Clans generally are easily accepted into the association as associate members.
Who appoints the office bearers?
According to the constitution, office-bearers are voted upon every 2 years. The last vote was conducted on 11th January 2020. They are appointed by the SLESA members outlined above. To-date, all appointments have been unanimous by all clan leaders based on each individual’s contribution to Sri Lankan Esports.
Is SLESA run by Gamer.LK?
No. Gamer.LK spearheaded and founded the association, and worked to bring all clans in Sri Lanka under one governing body. Gamer.LK then distributed voting power to all clans, and worked with them to create a transparent governing, ranking and disciplinary structure. These structures have been approved by all members and all members are actively taking part in it with full visibility of each and every decision taken.
Gamer.LK, with the support of clan members, provides free services to SLESA in conducting national selections for international events. These selections are also completely transparent and accessible by all clan members.
What’s the difference between SLESA and Gamer.LK?
SLESA is an independent body and is run by its members. Gamer.LK has no ownership of SLESA, just like no single clan has ownership of SLESA. The decisions, finances and regulation of SLESA is transparent and available to all clan members.
Gamer.LK is a private company involved in promoting and growing Esports in Sri Lanka and South Asia. Gamer.LK organises events for both Sri Lankan athletes and international athletes.
Do office-bearers like the President & Secretary have more power than members?
No. Every voting member in SLESA has the same power within SLESA (1 vote per member). Office-bearers are appointed purely to get the work of the association done. Examples of work: association documentation, coordinating with international bodies, coordinating with the Sports Ministry, financial audits etc.
Are office-bearers paid?
No. The people appointed as office-bearers are purely doing it to take Sri Lankan Esports forward. There’s no compensation, and more often than not, the office-bearers spend their own money to make things happen without burdening SLESA finances.
Who handles the finances of SLESA?
The finances are handled by the office-bearers with full transparency to the members. Every financial transaction is informed to members, and the association has currently just completed a financial audit required by the Sports Ministry.
How does SLESA take disciplinary action?
All SLESA members agreed to appoint Gamer.LK as the independent enforcer of Esports disciplinary action in Sri Lanka. This was due to Gamer.LK’s 13 years of Esports experience, independent stance with no bias, and strict policies that adhere to international standards. Further, an appeals process was introduced for any Esports athletes wanting to appeal their disciplinary action, which would come to the SLESA members.
What process does SLESA follow when taking action against offenders?
SLESA, as the governing body, receives multiple complaints during most Esports tournaments in Sri Lanka against various clans. Every single voting clan has had an individual or a team accused of cheating – whether it’s hacking, manipulating draws, account sharing etc. SLESA’s job is to protect athletes and clans against accusations UNLESS there’s solid proof of cheating. Gamer.LK at this point will conduct an investigation if sufficient evidence is provided to start one. This may take days, weeks or even months based on the amount of evidence present. This way, all Esports athletes and clans are protected against false accusations. These methods are on par with international standards adopted by Esports bodies globally and other country-federations.
Does that mean Gamer.LK has final say on disciplinary action?
No. There is a very clear appeals process that will be decided by the voting members of all Sri Lankan clans within SLESA. This guarantees fair and unbiased disciplinary procedures.
How does the ranking system work?
The National Esports Ranking system was one that was proposed by Gamer.LK and adopted by all clans in the country. It is run by all the members, according to a points system discussed and formulated by all members. Each clan provides their point of view of how it should work and each piece of feedback is incorporated into the system. The end result of the ranking system is a combination of hours of discussion by all clan representatives in the country. All clans in Sri Lanka have invested many hours to make this happen in a fair way to all Esports athletes in Sri Lanka.
Who can organise nationally ranked events?
Anyone is able to organise events for the ranking system. In order to be recognised as a ranked event, there are a list of criteria set out by SLESA that need to be followed that sets out minimum standards for a tournament. SLESA members will then vote on whether to accept or deny a tournament into the ranking system.
I have a complaint I want to take to SLESA, how can I do it?
You can e-mail [email protected] with details of your matter. Alternatively, if you’re more comfortable going through a member clan, you can talk to one of the representatives listed above, who will then submit it to SLESA members for feedback.
Why haven’t we been told about this information before?
SLESA closely monitored the misinformation being spread during the last week, and it was clear that SLESA, while being fully transparent to member clans, failed to keep the community informed of how Esports in Sri Lanka is governed by your representatives. SLESA as a collective will announce new steps on how the association will keep the community up to date on governing-level decisions, without relying solely on member clans to inform their members.
For more information on the Sri Lanka Esports Association, visit https://esports.lk.