Kenya to send esports athletes to Commonwealth Games

Kenya will send a total of 14 esports athletes to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the eSports Kenya Federation said after securing funding from Scope Markets.

Kenya has four automatic slots – two for each gender – in eFootball series and qualifying places in DOTA 2 (five gamers and one reserve player) and Rocket League (three gamers and one reserve player).

The qualifying phase will see Kenyan gamers battle it out with other players from Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia and Malawi for the African spots in DOTA 2 and Rocket League.

The eSports federation will select Kenya’s representatives in these virtual games during the national qualifiers organized by Index G eSports and scheduled for Saturday.

The eSports Kenya Federation CEO Bavon Ojwang’ thanked Scope Markets for coming on board as sponsors and said he hopes the national event will produce quality players who can compete at international level.

“Scope Markets responded really quickly to our call for partnership and came through to help us in this particular journey. My plan is not just to show up in Birmingham and indeed I’m looking at the medal brackets,” Ojwang said.

The inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships will take place from Aug. 6-7 in Birmingham - during the Commonwealth Games which run from July 28-Aug. 8.

The Championships will be held in partnership with the Global Esports Federation (GEF) and will have separate branding and medals.

The inclusion in the Commonwealth Games follows a trend of including esports in global multi-sports events.