The second annual Esports World Cup (EWC) is ongoing, bringing a fresh dose of controversy and division to esports and each participating game’s respective community. The EWC is entirely funded by Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund (PIF) and is an alleged case of sportswashing, i.e. the use of sports competitions to soften the public perception.
A Community Divided
TheLeague of Legendsportion of the EWC is set to begin on July 16. Prominent streamer Christian “IWDominate” Riverapublicly announcedthat he will not be co-streaming the event, despite being offered an “ungodly amount of money” to do so.
“I will not be costreaming EWC. I was offered an ungodly amount of money (more than x3 what I make in a month on stream) for 5 days but I didn’t feel good about taking the offer,” wrote Rivera. “I understand that I’m in a financially privileged position and not everyone can decline the ridiculous offers going around but for me, I’d rather not cover the event and then restart streams when LPL comes back in 6 days. See you all on the 19th.”
However, League of Legends' most popular streamer, Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont, has announced that he will be streaming the event, sparking division in his community. A community dedicated to the streamer,Pedro’s Peepos, is currently dominated by discussions about the streamer’s decision to co-stream the event.
Lamont has stated that his stream is an apolitical space, but some fans are unsatisfied with this justification, saying that ignoring the political and ethical implications of an event hosted for political reasonsis a political stance in and of itself.
Saudi Arabia continues to heavily invest money in esports, funding both the Esports World Cup and various teams competing under the Team Falcons banner across multiple esport titles.
