{"id":58324,"date":"2013-09-12T16:09:56","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T14:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=58324"},"modified":"2013-09-12T16:29:58","modified_gmt":"2013-09-12T14:29:58","slug":"mssa-responds-to-harsh-criticism-on-sa-national-esports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/business\/58324-mssa-responds-to-harsh-criticism-on-sa-national-esports","title":{"rendered":"MSSA responds to harsh criticism on SA eSports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the MSSA-sanctioned Dota 2 test match between South African and Mexico<\/a> on Sunday, 8 September 2013, questions were raised regarding the quality of the opposition from Mexico.<\/p>\n

Mexico’s team was defeated convincingly, but after some investigation by Lazygamer, it emerged that Mexico\u2019s Dota 2 community did not hold the players that participated in high regard.<\/p>\n

The match was organised by Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA), which is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee. SASCOC is the controlling body for all high performance sport in South Africa and was formed as a Section 21 Company (non-profit) by representatives of all the sports bodies at a general meeting held on 27 November 2004. As a result, SASCOC is also responsible for awarding South African national team Protea colours.<\/p>\n

For SA gaming, the MSSA is the equivalent South African Rugby Union (SARU) or South African Football Association (SAFA).<\/p>\n

Colin Webster, President of MSSA, told MyGaming that the match was organised through a liaison at eSports Mexico, the Mexican equivalent of the MSSA. Both eSports Mexico and MSSA are members of the International eSports Federation (IeSF), which was founded to act as a global organisation to ensure that eSports is accredited and recognised like other sports.<\/p>\n

Webster said that as far as he is concerned, the MSSA followed the correct procedures to organise the match, and questions around the quality of the Mexican team should be answered by eSport Mexico.<\/p>\n

The South African players involved in the match have reportedly been quiet, which spurred Lazygamer to investigate further<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An MSSA contract for players was dug up and Lazygamer identified a few notable clauses and lambasted the MSSA. The contractual clauses in question are reproduced below for the sake of accuracy:<\/p>\n

5. I acknowledge that if I am interviewed while I am member of a national team, I shall:<\/p>\n