An announcement on World Esports Association (WESA) website has revealed that the organisation are adopting various comprehensive regulations in order to help establish standards in the esports scene.
"At WESA, we are committed to creating industry-wide standards in esports that benefit member teams, their players and the esports industry at large," commented Ken Hershman, the Executive Chairman and Commissioner of WESA. "These new standards and regulations will further our goal of better professionalising esports and ensure that all of our organizations are operating on the same level playing field."
One of the regulations is the Multi-Team Ownership Prohibition, which means that no teams can be "completely or partially owned or controlled by a person or entity that owns or controls another esports team or organisation participating at WESA sanctioned events," therefore preventing a conflict of interests. For teams that currently don't comply with this rule, WESA has given them 18 months to comply, and in this period teams should run independently.
Another new feature is the WESA Personal Code of Conduct, sharing the "values and principles" of the association while also making clear the rules for conduct within the organisation and with those they work with. "The conduct of persons and entities bound by this Code reflect the fact that they support the principles and objectives of WESA and must refrain from anything that could be harmful to these aims and objectives," WESA added. "This includes preventing any methods or practices that might jeopardise the integrity of matches or competitions."
There's also the Sanctions Regulations, giving a "clear set of rules and methods for levelling sanctions, the permitted scope of any sanctions, as well as a process for appeal." These sanctions can vary depending on the offence, as well as on the profits made through the offence, the culpability of the individual, how severe the violation of security was, the number of previous offences, and subsequent behaviour after the offence.
Will clear regulations and guidelines ensure the integrity of esports moving forward?