Esports, or electronic sports, have evolved over time thanks to the arrival of new games with competitive features, the positive reception by players and acceptance by a wider audience. This has led to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognising it as an Olympic sport.
In the case of Venezuela, despite having a considerable delay in terms of Electronic Sports, esports have had an increasing presence following the pandemic and the rise of a national competitive scene in different esports disciplines such as League of Legends, Valorant, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, FIFA, Rocket League, various fighting games, and others thanks to the leagues and tournaments carried out by their respective communities such as Smash Venezuela and Angel/Demon Dash, producers such as LGAplay and KO Gaming, University institutions investing in the niche and large-scale events such as the Venezuela Game Show.
From an Olympic perspective, Venezuela has only had an international presence with representation in Dota 2 competitions for the 2023 Pan American Games held in Chile and in Tekken 7 during the IESF Romania 2023.
On Friday, July 12, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mervin Maldonado, announced on their social networks The National Sports Institute (IND) has granted recognition as authorities to 20 National Sports Federations. It also noted that from now on, electronic sports and phygital sports will be considered national sports.
What does this mean? Well, from now on, athletes, teams, organizations, events and other entities that are part of the e-sports ecosystem will be governed and protected by the Organic Law of Sport, Physical Activity and Physical Education in Venezuela.
What will happen to the Law for the Prohibition of War Video Games in Venezuela following the recognition of esports?
Since 2009, Venezuela has had the Law for the Prohibition of Video Games and War Toys, which aims to “prohibit the manufacture, importation, distribution, purchase, sale, rental [de juegos] that contain information or symbolize images that promote or incite violence or the use of weapons,” according to Resolution number 39,320 of the Official Gazette.
This law was promoted following the launch of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, a third-person shooter developed by Pandemic Studios in 2008 in which its story is set in a fictional war scenario in Venezuela.
Following this, the parliament (National Assembly) passed a law banning all types of war video games and toys on December 3, 2009.
15 years have passed since the approval of this law and many things have changed. Important cultural changes (both in the country and in the rest of the world) have reduced the stigmatization towards video games in general, transcending to an artistic, technological, pedagogical and, in recent years, sporting approach.
As we already know, esports are disciplines that require the use of war-related games such as Valorant, Counter-Strike 2 and Call of Duty (named because they are the most played in Venezuela), so this might create a kind of legal inconsistency.
The National Assembly is already working to resolve the dilemma
May, during the swearing-in of the board of directors of the new Venezuelan Figital Sports Federation (FVDF)the ProGamers.life team that attended, had the opportunity to interview President Douglas Jover and was asked if they would support a change in law for the Prohibition of Video Games and War Toys in Venezuela as a federation related to video games.
In his response, Jover argued that “we have already made progress on this. Being immersed in this world, I can say that there were four deputies of the National Assembly on the electoral roll who support both traditional sports and video games. They attended the vote on May 4 and told us that they have prepared the steps to follow within the National Assembly of Venezuela to change or restructure this law that was passed many years ago.”
The ProGamers.life team has contacted the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Venezuela, and the National Institute of Sport to provide more information.
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2024-07-14 16:33:42
