French government pass legalization to regulate esport players contracts

Esports is coming closer to becoming a widely accepted sport all over the world. What started in Asia more than 15 years ago has now arrived to Europe in the form of players contracts being legally protected by law.

The new law that was revealed in a report by a Spanish magazine regulates professional esports player contracts within their country. At a glance, the law limits all player contracts to a five year maximum period and a 12 month minimum period with an exception to substitutions and suspensions. In addition, players under 12 are barred from competing in monetized tournaments.

While the Asian side of the world does have a governmental agency regulating professional esports, namely KeSPA in South Korea since 2000, this is one of the first such laws passed in the Western side of the world.

The new rules are part of France’s new plans regarding esports. Last year, France revealed their plans for a national “Esports Federation” dubbed “Fédération France-Esport” meant to regulate such aspects of esports as the definition of professional gamer and much more. France also houses the Electronic Sports World Convention, or ESWC, which hosts tournaments in many games, such as CS:GO with last year’s eSports World Convention 2016. The United States, on the other hand, has no established governmental protections or regulations set for esports players, except for the ability for esports athletes to hold athletic visas for international competitions.