Exclusion in global esports events has been a re-occuring discussion amongst esports stakeholders in Africa.
Many have wondered why the region keeps getting overlooked, when such tournaments are called global.
One of the organization to standout is FIBA esports, who have given Africa representation in its upcoming event in November.
FIBA is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide.
FIBA made a big splash in the fast-moving world of esports by staging the FIBA Esports Open 2020 in June. The first-ever international esports event for national teams took place over three days with countries from FIBA’s regions competing in geographic conferences from Oceania, Southeast Asia, the Middle-East, Europe and South America.
The FIBA Esports Open returns in November and this time the African continent will be represented by national teams from Ivory Coast and Gabon.
Countries will present gamers who will compete in NBA2k21 on Playstation 4.
More countries were invited, such as Nigeria, Kenya and more but due to challenges with the local basketball federations, the deadlines were not met.
African teams start their games November 14 – 15 between 12:00 PM and 10:00 PM CET. Live stream of the games can be viewed on FIBA’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch channels.
It is a good start for the continent and hopefully more teams in Africa will take part in subsequent editions.
