Two hundred clicks: The Ministry of Sports has developed regulations for esports athletes

The Ministry of Sports has completed the preparation of standards to confirm the highest qualifications of esports athletes. The document is currently being proposed for discussion. Representatives of the sports and gaming industry evaluate the proposed changes in legislation related to esports in different ways. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Do push-ups and play

The standards for confirming the highest qualifications of esports athletes have been prepared by the Russian Ministry of Sports. The new provisions are listed in an official document dated June 24, which may become effective as early as January next year.

Depending on the training, the following categories will be distinguished: general and special training of the initial stage and higher sports skills. Experts will check general and special physical training, even if athletes are just starting their career in the computer sports discipline. Girls and boys must run 30 meters for a time, do push-ups 6 or 12 times, perform bends on a gymnastic bench, and also pass the shuttle running standard.

To confirm the highest qualification and be able to become a master of sports in Russia, an esports athlete must pass the standards for running, push-ups, bending, lifting the torso, "click" the left mouse button a certain number of times and pass tests to assess the visual-motor reaction to light signals.

For example, male players who pass the standards need to do push-ups 43 times, run 60 meters in 7.9 seconds, and press the left mouse button at least 220 times in 30 seconds. For women, running 60 meters in 9.2 seconds, at least 17 push—ups, bending forward 16 cm on a gym bench, in addition to a test to assess the reaction to light signals and 210 clicks of the left mouse button.

The federal standard also establishes the provision of sports equipment for players: a suit, sneakers, T-shirt and shorts. In addition, payment for travel and accommodation for the duration of the competition, access to the gym, as well as the availability of a separate personal computer with a video card with 12 GB of memory are regulated.

What do esports players think about the innovation?

The players note the locality of the accepted standards and the fact that they are practically not found in the realities of major tournaments. Esports player Yaroslav Kuznetsov from the Virtus Pro team told Izvestia that standards are not needed at international tournaments. He noted that esports is a commercial story, and no team that plays at a premium tournament is required to meet the standards.

— No one will, for example, ask for any standards at the Dota World Championship, which our guys won, or at the Counter-Strike World Championship, or at any other tournament or World Cup. This is some kind of internal story for student, school, and maybe our cups and championships in Russia, which are held by the Computer Sports Federation," said Kuznetsov.

Mikhail Stolyarov, a streamer and world champion in Counter—Strike, emphasizes that esports is more about the head and not about physical activity.

— And among all these points, performing a test to evaluate a simple visual-motor reaction to light signals is probably the only correct and appropriate thing for esports in general. Otherwise, of course, there is a point, but of the majority of esports players or those who want to become them, few people will do a body lift from a supine position in one minute," stated Stolyarov.

According to him, it is necessary to look not at physical fitness, but at the result — if a person wins the World Cup, it makes no difference how much he runs or presses.

— Esports is more about the mind. It turns out that they create barriers for people with disabilities. If a person is a wheelchair user, then there is no way he can become an esports player in Russia. There are a lot of questions about these standards and very few answers," Stolyarov said.

Expert opinions

Experts do not object to the introduced standard, but they are asking for it to be improved: the world of professional gaming turned out to be much wider than it was prescribed in official papers. Pavel Golubev, director of the Association for the Development of Esports, said that the long-awaited document does not take into account all genres present in this sports discipline.

— We have been waiting for the document for a long time — the sport was recognized five and a half years ago — but for me personally, the document did not turn out very well, because the specifics were not taken into account, — Golubev shared.

According to him, the federal standard defines some specifics on the training of esports athletes, however, it will be carried out in a single format, that is, a young man or girl studying will train "the same way as everyone else."

Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Sports with a request to clarify how the regulations being developed may affect the industry in the foreseeable future, and whether the regulations will change, depending on the response to the document from players and representatives of esports.