The future of Indian esports participation: DOTA 2 captain and ESFI at loggerheads regarding roster selection
The podium finish of the Indian DOTA 2 team at the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championship this year marked a strong esports presence on the world stage for the subcontinent in 2022. Furthermore, a number of athletes have qualified to represent India across various esports at upcoming international competitions, but all does not seem well.
An ugly spat has now come to light between India's DOTA 2 team captain, Moin Ejaz, and the Esports Federation of India (ESFI), involving the DOTA 2 roster meant to participate in the international tournaments leading up to the 19th Asian Games in a year's time. The altercation caught many off-guard as the team recently won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Esports Championship 2022.
The controversy came to light with Moin posting on his personal Facebook profile that they might not be participating in the upcoming 14th WEC as "Team Whoops (Team India) is having issues with ESFI regarding the team roster." He went on to explain that the organization expects the same roster for the Commonwealth Esports Championship 2022 to participate in all upcoming tournaments.
Moin stated that that ESFI had mentioned that "only one team will represent India in all the events leading up to the Asian Games" and that he did not think that it was fair to anyone playing DOTA 2 in India. He would prefer if ESFI hosted "fair and open qualifiers for all the upcoming events, so that everyone has an equal chance of representing India which will also help the DOTA 2 scene in India to grow."
Later that day, ESFI officially responded to the matter as well as Moin's social media post. In a lengthy statement, they explained that there were guidelines that did not allow for changes to participating team members and
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