Finland's Government Now Classifies Esports as a Traditional Sport

[ItsMitch]

Source: https://news.unikrn.com/article/finland-governement-recognizes-esports-sports

Our friendly finks have been in the news again for Esports. (plz don't use e-Sports or i'll be very upset and write a lengthy paragraph why you're using the incorrect language) 

 

Quote

 

The Finnish office of European Affairs, Culture and Sport has announced that the Federation of Finnish Electronic Sports will be classified as a charitable organization by the government, giving it classification as a traditional sport, as well as funding youth programs for Finland's youth.

Finland's new focus on esports as traditional sports seems to stem from giving the youth of their country a new past time, in addition to traditional sports.

 

There has been some debate as to the importance of esports being classified as official sports by the general public, but it is important for governments to do so for a number of reasons. If classified as sports, governments have processes in place to help players traveling to their country for events obtain visas, help teams obtain government funding if they are based in that country, and tax benefits for athletes.

 

Finland traditionally has not been the strongest in esports. In League of Legends, the most notable teams hailing from Finland include Arctic Storm and nDurance Gaming, neither of which performed particularly well at the Nordic Championship, which was part of the qualification for EU Masters. However, with official government backing for esports, we could see further investment in esports teams in the region — the tides are changing rapidly, and a new generation of pros could rise from the country's nascent scene.

 

As for other notable Finnish esports stars, Team Liquid's Lasse Aukusti "Matumbaman" Urpalainen is probably the most successful. He was a member of Team Liquid's International-winning roster and remains so now.

 

Good news for people following esports and wanting actual international acception. A few months ago at the Olympics in South Korea, Pyeongchang a StarCraft 2 event happened so this is still a good move for esports and actual international acceptance of it but the iOC are still evaluating the options on gaming in the olympics, they don't want particularly violent games so you can kiss your BR and shooters alike not to be on the list.

 

Overall, GOOD NEWS, GOOD PROGRESS. 

 

[ItsMitch]

4 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

eh? may I pre-empt the explanation? o_o

i may shout at you but sure 

esports HAS ALWAYS BEEN esports or Esports, IT HAS NEVER EVER BEEN e-Sports OR THE FUCKING WORSE VARIANT OF E-Sports THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT GOOD PEOPLE AND ARE VERY BAD PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER USE A DASH IN A NAME UNLESS IT'S REQUIRED, IT'S LIKE SAYING MY DAY IS GOING-WELL SIR, IT'S SUCH A MINDFUCK AND IT'S USELESS AND IT TRIGGERS ME TO THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON, OUR LORD AND BRUTAL SAVAGE REKT PAUL CHALONER ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE (EVEN THO HE'S NOT DEAD YET) ABOUT IT, IT'S A HORRIFIC TIME AND IT NEEDS TO END. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS LONG AND REALLY LOUD STATEMENT ON THE CORRECT USAGE OF esports / Esports. NEVER, EVER e-Sports or E-Sports.

 

Thanks!

 

/s

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

About time someone did.

[Lurick]

@SC2Mitch

So E-Sports, what is it exactly again?

 

[ItsMitch]

2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

So E-Sports, what is it exactly again?

 

That's it Mr. I'm telling Redeye, you in for it now

[Drak3]

Wow. That's fucking stupid. The Finnish government is fucking stupid. So par for the course of the EU.

[captain_to_fire]

45 minutes ago, SC2Mitch said:

Overall, GOOD NEWS, GOOD PROGRESS

No. 

[The Benjamins]

2 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Wow. That's fucking stupid. The Finnish government is fucking stupid. So par for the course of the EU.

Why do you think its stupid?

[ItsMitch]

2 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Wow. That's fucking stupid. The Finnish government is fucking stupid. So par for the course of the EU.

Care to elabourate instead of insulting? 

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, The Benjamins said:

Why do you think its stupid?

e-Sports aren't traditional sports. No cultural background, no physical activity.

 

3 minutes ago, SC2Mitch said:

Care to elabourate instead of insulting? 

It'd just go over the proponents' head, so no.

[EG!]

10 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

e-Sports aren't traditional sports. No cultural background, no physical activity.

 

It'd just go over the proponents' head, so no.

That's why it's called esports and not sports, there is often more skill in competitively playing games than playing a traditional sport.

See it like chess, you need great skill to compete on the highest level it's not sports but has most aspects of it.

I find lol esports really entertaining whereas I find csgo and overwatch really boring.

[Drak3]

3 minutes ago, EG! said:

That's why it's called esports and not sports, there is often more skill in competitively playing games than playing a traditional sport.

A) Read the thread

B) e-Sports do not require more skill.

[The Benjamins]

9 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

e-Sports aren't traditional sports. No cultural background, no physical activity.

 

It'd just go over the proponents' head, so no.

Ok, but the point of the classification is to make it like sports in a legal sense. for things like athletic visa and employment laws. I see this more as a way to make it more of a legitimate business model in Finland. I don't see this as a official classification to define esports as a sport but to allow people and organisations to operate esports players and teams like a traditional sport.

[ItsMitch]

I guess you missed the fact that Starcraft 2 actually was played at the Olympics in partnership with the IOC in South Korea a few months ago, I guess the all of the IOC is considered stupid for allowing this? I also guess that you missed the 2017 article by Reuters. I guess the IOC is very stupid then. Silly guys for allowing an electronic sport into the olympics where they train a lot harder than traditional athletes since games require a lot more harder mechanics than just training. SC2 is a prime example for this. 

Quote

 

Competitive e-sports could be part of the Olympic experience as long as it adhered to Olympic values, the International Olympic Committee said on Saturday.

The rapidly growing world of e-sports and its popularity among young people has ignited the interest of the IOC as it looks to refresh its own ageing audience and make the Games relevant to a new generation.

“The Summit agreed that 'eSports' are showing strong growth, especially within the youth demographic across different countries, and can provide a platform for engagement with the Olympic Movement,” the IOC said in a statement after the meeting with Olympic stakeholders in Lausanne.

Those stakeholders included international federations, national Olympic committees and athletes’ representatives among others.

“Competitive ”eSports“ could be considered as a sporting activity, and the players involved prepare and train with an intensity which may be comparable to athletes in traditional sports,” it said.

 

http://uk.businessinsider.com/e-sports-gets-closer-to-being-part-of-the-olympics-games-2017-10?r=US&IR=T

1 minute ago, Drak3 said:

B) e-Sports do not require more skill.

I'm guessing that you're not a professional player then lol. 

[JaegerB]

1 minute ago, SC2Mitch said:

where they train a lot harder than traditional athletes

Reading through this thread I was somewhat in agreement with you but this... no.

[mynameisjuan]

8 minutes ago, EG! said:

there is often more skill in competitively playing games than playing a traditional sport

Thats a bold statement you got there.

[EG!]

2 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

A) Read the thread

B) e-Sports do not require more skill.

A) Yes what is your point?

B) How many football players train 8 hours+ a day and then for fun do the same, I don't believe you could say that, the reaction speed of professional players is very high, they adapt strategies faster than most common sports like football which is slow paced and has way less tactics compared to some games. Some sports might be harder, some a lot easier.

[ItsMitch]

3 minutes ago, JaegerB said:

Reading through this thread I was somewhat in agreement with you but this... no.

OK that's fine to disagree, just my input on the matter, it's fine to have other opinions  just in my eyes, it seems a lot harder to play consistently at a extremely high level and not to get burned out. 

[Sakkura]

19 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

e-Sports aren't traditional sports. No cultural background, no physical activity.

Sports started somewhere too, so that argument is nonsensical. As for physical activity, there are both sports with negligible physical activity, and esports with considerably physical activity, so that cannot set them apart.

[mynameisjuan]

2 minutes ago, EG! said:

B) How many football players train 8 hours+ a day and then for fun do the same, I don't believe you could say that, the reaction speed of professional players is very high, they adapt strategies faster than most common sports like football which is slow paced and has way less tactics compared to some games. Some sports might be harder, some a lot easier.

Hmmmm....8+ hours of physical work or 8+ hours of sitting on your ass......wonder which one is harder and energy draining. I mean come on dude....

[ItsMitch]

Just now, mynameisjuan said:

Hmmmm....8+ hours of physical work or 8+ hours of sitting on your ass......wonder which one is harder and energy draining. I mean come on dude....

Isn't chess trying to become an olympic sport in the 2020 games? isn't that the exact same? 

[EG!]

Just now, mynameisjuan said:

Hmmmm....8+ hours of physical work or 8+ hours of sitting on your ass......wonder which one is harder and energy draining. I mean come on dude....

Ah you're that kind of person, you can't compare physical labor to mental labor, that happens in jobs too. I work as a programmer some amount of hours as the blue collars in the factory here yet who's job is harder, I'm mentally tired at the end of the day and they are physically tired but is one harder then the other?

[Drak3]

3 minutes ago, EG! said:

Yes what is your point?

The point is that a bunch of idiots are claiming that someyhing, that shouldn't be considered a sport in any capacity, is the same as something with cultural ties and actually requires physical activity.

 

1 minute ago, SC2Mitch said:

Isn't chess trying to become an olympic sport in the 2020 games? isn't that the exact same? 

No. It's a different set of idiots. Though Chess is still closer to being a sport than sitting on one's lazy ass and gaming excessively.

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, EG! said:

you can't compare physical labor to mental labor

The games that qualify as e-Sports require little to no mental labor. Most games in general don't require a whole lot of thinking.

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

World Cup of E-Sports coming up, what a great way to promote E-Sports.... E-Sports