The Governance Challenges in Esports

Examines the integrity and governance risks facing the rapidly expanding esports sector. The session focuses on major integrity threats, including match-fixing and betting manipulation, widespread software cheating and emerging stimulant use, and persistent cyberbullying and harassment affecting athlete welfare and mental health.

CORE THEMES

Esports face unique governance challenges that both mirror and exceed those in traditional sport, including:

• Cheating and software-based performance enhancement

• Match-fixing and betting manipulation

• Cyberbullying, harassment, and athlete mental health risks

• Concentration of power in private game publishers

• Lack of consistent international governance structures

The session explores whether esports can develop credible, independent systems of integrity governance.

KEY TOPICS

1. Match-Fixing & Betting Manipulation

• Lessons from the South Korean StarCraft scandal

• Risks posed by unregulated global betting markets

• Difficulty of enforcement in decentralized digital environments

2. Cheating & Performance Enhancement

• Software cheats and hacks

• Emerging use of stimulants

• Reference to the ESL Katowice doping incident

• Gaps in testing, monitoring, and sanctions

3. Cyberbullying & Harassment

• Historical context: Gamergate

• Persistent online toxicity

• Platform responsibility

• Safeguards for player welfare and mental health

4. Governance Efforts & Institutional Tensions

• Track record of:

  • IESF

  • WESA

  • ESIC / IGET

• Ongoing tension between:

  • Independent regulators

  • Game publishers who control competition, rules, and data

5. Olympic Involvement & Global Recognition

• IOC’s Olympic Esports Games

• What formal recognition means for:

  • Integrity standards

  • Licensing frameworks

  • International oversight and harmonization

STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE FOR GSII

This session positions GSII as:

• A bridge between traditional sport integrity frameworks and digital competition

• A neutral convener of publishers, regulators, athletes, and academics

• A thought leader on future-facing integrity risks

• A contributor to policy development in a rapidly expanding global industry