.jpg "Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman is pictured at Parliament in Kuala Lumpur July 11, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman aims to standardise electronic sports (eSports) cafe licensing under the eSports Blueprint set to launch in early November.
Speaking to the Dewan Rakyat today, the youth and sports minister said that there is confusion among licensing authorities due to different standards used.
“I take note that currently there is no standardisation at the federal level and at the state and local authority level. That’s why during quarterly meetings with youth and sports state exco, this matter is always discussed.
“There are states that have taken the initiative to change their laws to make it easier for eSports cafe operators to obtain their licence.
‘When the eSports blueprint is tabled in the first week of November, this matter will be discussed more clearly,” Syed Saddiq said in his reply to an additional question by Kluang MP (PH) Wong Shu Qi.
In his reply to Paya Besar MP (BN) Mohd Shahar Abdullah, he explained that the problem in obtaining licences was that local authorities could not tell an eSports cafe from a normal cyber cafe.
He acknowledged that many eSports operators have complained to him that it was very difficult to set up their training centres due to the licensing issue.
At the same time, Syed Saddiq also voiced his hope that his ministry will receive the budget allocation for eSports under Budget 2020 earlier in the year instead of in the fourth quarter of the year.
“In the last budget there was a special fund of RM10 million for eSports but we only received the funding this week. The ministry needs the fund to train our athletes earlier on and not at the end of the year. I hope we will receive our funding from Budget 2020 earlier,” he said.
