The 2^nd Esports Academic Seminar will be held adjacently with the 4^th Global Esports Executive Summit (GEES) as a parallel program on August 30^th, 2019. Most recent esports academic research will be shared with the public to support the enhancement and sustainability of esports

Esports Academic Seminar was introduced during GEES 2018 by IESF, announcing its vision of the Global Esports R&D Center to support Esports researches through the Academic Research Center. (Reference: https://www.ie-sf.org/news/iesf-launches-global-esports-rdcentre-for-further-esports-development/).

Upcoming Esports Academic Seminar will once again be held in Busan in 2019. Further detailed information for the Seminar will be announced in the following days.

(Reference: 2018 Research topics)

Czech (Czech Esport Association, CEA) and Hong Kong (Esports Association Hong Kong, ESAHK) have now officially become new National Member Federations on International Esports Federation (IESF).

IESF will be working together with both CEA and ESAHK to support their Esports ecosystem development and engage to further develop the global movement

As of July 2019, fifty-four National Federations are the member of IESF. Twenty-three federations from Asia, twenty federations from Europe, five federations from America, four federations from Africa and two federations from Oceania. Among these member nations, thirty federations were approved by the National Olympic Committee and National Sports Authority in each country.

IESF is delighted to announce that Vlad Marinescu, current Board member of IESF and President of United States eSports Federation, has been unanimously appointed as the Vice President.

Vlad Marinescu said “I am honored to be entrusted by the IESF board with the appointment to the Vice President position. I wholeheartedly believe that a strong collaboration and exchange needs to exist between traditional sport and Esports to ensure sharing of values, practices and experience with the scope of educating the youth for a better tomorrow.”

IESF, thus thanks Magnus Jonsson for the expert manner in which he acted as caretaker of this important position. Please see https://www.ie-sf.org/news/the-way-forward-the-acting-vice-president./

As Vice-President, Vlad Marinescu has the following portfolios:

• World Championships,
• Ex-officio on LOC’s for IESF events, and
• To act in the President’s stead should the President be absent.

With Vlad Marinescu having served as a previous Director General of GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federation), IESF President, Colin Webster is confident that Vlad has the necessary experience and competencies for IESF to reach its ambitions.

International Esports Federation (IESF) is delighted to announce that registration for the Global Esports Executive Summit (GEES) 2019 is now open.

GEES 2019 will be held in Busan for the third consecutive years on Aug 29th – September 1^st at the Paradise Hotel. The main conference for sharing ideas, creating synergies, and most of all, to reach a mutual consensus for holistic esports development will be on August 30^th, 2019.

GEES this year will be focusing on enhancing dialogues between esports and sports stakeholders, and to openly discuss relevant issues. IESF confirmed the six themes to be discussed at the GEES 2019. The themes of this year are as follows:

• Future Direction of Esports
• Esports and Sports
• Sustainability of Esports
• Esports and Match Fixing
• Esports Policy
• Esports and Medical Issues

Registration for GEES 2019 will be conducted via the official. (Reference: http:// gees.rsportz.com) Early bird promotion for accreditation is available until 31 July 2019. IESF looks forward to welcoming the esports and sports community to Busan.