TI10: The International for Dota 2 may not happen in Sweden now as it's not elite enough

Welcome to Sweden! ... asterisk.

We do get tripped up by our complex bureaucracy sometimes, and this topic is rather long in the tooth by now. We need to acknowledge that e-sport athletes are athletes and stop faffing around. I'm quite certain the old people at the top have zero understanding of the incredible effort it takes to compete at this level. Maybe one day.

Just to clarify the

Valve had meetings, and spoke to the Swedish Minister of the Interior to get it reclassified which was "immediately denied". Valve also appealed directly to the Swedish government who claimed they couldn't help with it.

So the "Swedish Sports Federation" Riksidrottsförbundet (or RF as they are known in Sweden) have zero to do with the Government so the Government and the Minister of the Interior have zero say in what they do or don't do (unless they break the law of course).

Aka RF is a non political people/social movement and 100% private.

edit: and It's against the corona lockdown rules to gather so many people in a single arena unless it's a "sporting event". Which of course is quite logical if you think about it since the thought behind allowing more people to be at the same place in a outdoors activity such as a sport event does not really match that of a Dota2 tournament.

edit2: Not really sure how Valve intended that classifying it as a sports event would solve anything though. The current restrictions for sports events are: Max 50 people for indoor events with designated seats, max 100 people for outdoor events without designated seats and max 500 for outdoor events with designated seats.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 22 June 2021 at 5:46 pm UTC

Just to clarify the

Valve had meetings, and spoke to the Swedish Minister of the Interior to get it reclassified which was "immediately denied". Valve also appealed directly to the Swedish government who claimed they couldn't help with it.

So the "Swedish Sports Federation" Riksidrottsförbundet (or RF as they are known in Sweden) have zero to do with the Government so the Government and the Minister of the Interior have zero say in what they do or don't do (unless they break the law of course).

Aka RF is a non political people/social movement and 100% private.

edit: and It's against the corona lockdown rules to gather so many people in a single arena unless it's a "sporting event". Which of course is quite logical if you think about it since the thought behind allowing more people to be at the same place in a outdoors activity such as a sport event does not really match that of a Dota2 tournament.

edit2: Not really sure how Valve intended that classifying it as a sports event would solve anything though. The current restrictions for sports events are: Max 50 people for indoor events with designated seats, max 100 people for outdoor events without designated seats and max 500 for outdoor events with designated seats.

And of course, the correct thing to do here is not to try and - as Valve attempted - classify e-sport as an "idrott" - which is what Riksidrottsförbundet have influence over, but rather to get a proper classification for non-physical sports and so prepare rules that allow for such events as well.

It's not just e-sports that have been denied allowances either. Both bridge and chess tournaments have equally had sporting visas denied so far, because of the simple reason that Sweden only has special rules in place for "idrott", not "sport". (The words in Swedish have a slightly different meaning; "idrott" being more a physical activity that could be for training - like football, yoga, swimming, or jogging. And "sport" being more something you could compete in - like chess, hockey, spelling contests, or speed climbing)

Just to clarify the

Valve had meetings, and spoke to the Swedish Minister of the Interior to get it reclassified which was "immediately denied". Valve also appealed directly to the Swedish government who claimed they couldn't help with it.

So the "Swedish Sports Federation" Riksidrottsförbundet (or RF as they are known in Sweden) have zero to do with the Government so the Government and the Minister of the Interior have zero say in what they do or don't do (unless they break the law of course).

Aka RF is a non political people/social movement and 100% private.

edit: and It's against the corona lockdown rules to gather so many people in a single arena unless it's a "sporting event". Which of course is quite logical if you think about it since the thought behind allowing more people to be at the same place in a outdoors activity such as a sport event does not really match that of a Dota2 tournament.

edit2: Not really sure how Valve intended that classifying it as a sports event would solve anything though. The current restrictions for sports events are: Max 50 people for indoor events with designated seats, max 100 people for outdoor events without designated seats and max 500 for outdoor events with designated seats.

And of course, the correct thing to do here is not to try and - as Valve attempted - classify e-sport as an "idrott" - which is what Riksidrottsförbundet have influence over, but rather to get a proper classification for non-physical sports and so prepare rules that allow for such events as well.

It's not just e-sports that have been denied allowances either. Both bridge and chess tournaments have equally had sporting visas denied so far, because of the simple reason that Sweden only has special rules in place for "idrott", not "sport". (The words in Swedish have a slightly different meaning; "idrott" being more a physical activity that could be for training - like football, yoga, swimming, or jogging. And "sport" being more something you could compete in - like chess, hockey, spelling contests, or speed climbing)

Well to be honest Valve didn't try to get e-sports classified as a sport in Sweden, that have been an ongoing battle by the e-sport federations in Sweden for years to be able to be a member of RF which RF for whatever reason have denied so far.

What Valve tried to do here is to get a Minister to get them special privileges to circumvent the lockdown protocols, perhaps not knowing that in Sweden a Minister is not allowed to influence how an administrative authority decides in a particular case. Perhaps that is allowed in the US where Valve have experience but over here this is outlawed as form to minimize the risk of corruption.

And this is why the Minister of the Interior immediately denied the request.

edit: Looked it up and not only is it allowed in the US it's also apparently seen as the norm. So this is a case where a US company not understanding the rules in a different country.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 22 June 2021 at 11:27 pm UTC

Just to clarify the

Valve had meetings, and spoke to the Swedish Minister of the Interior to get it reclassified which was "immediately denied". Valve also appealed directly to the Swedish government who claimed they couldn't help with it.

So the "Swedish Sports Federation" Riksidrottsförbundet (or RF as they are known in Sweden) have zero to do with the Government so the Government and the Minister of the Interior have zero say in what they do or don't do (unless they break the law of course).

Aka RF is a non political people/social movement and 100% private.

edit: and It's against the corona lockdown rules to gather so many people in a single arena unless it's a "sporting event". Which of course is quite logical if you think about it since the thought behind allowing more people to be at the same place in a outdoors activity such as a sport event does not really match that of a Dota2 tournament.

edit2: Not really sure how Valve intended that classifying it as a sports event would solve anything though. The current restrictions for sports events are: Max 50 people for indoor events with designated seats, max 100 people for outdoor events without designated seats and max 500 for outdoor events with designated seats.

And of course, the correct thing to do here is not to try and - as Valve attempted - classify e-sport as an "idrott" - which is what Riksidrottsförbundet have influence over, but rather to get a proper classification for non-physical sports and so prepare rules that allow for such events as well.

It's not just e-sports that have been denied allowances either. Both bridge and chess tournaments have equally had sporting visas denied so far, because of the simple reason that Sweden only has special rules in place for "idrott", not "sport". (The words in Swedish have a slightly different meaning; "idrott" being more a physical activity that could be for training - like football, yoga, swimming, or jogging. And "sport" being more something you could compete in - like chess, hockey, spelling contests, or speed climbing)

Well to be honest Valve didn't try to get e-sports classified as a sport in Sweden, that have been an ongoing battle by the e-sport federations in Sweden for years to be able to be a member of RF which RF for whatever reason have denied so far.

What Valve tried to do here is to get a Minister to get them special privileges to circumvent the lockdown protocols, perhaps not knowing that in Sweden a Minister is not allowed to influence how an administrative authority decides in a particular case. Perhaps that is allowed in the US where Valve have experience but over here this is outlawed as form to minimize the risk of corruption.

And this is why the Minister of the Interior immediately denied the request.

edit: Looked it up and not only is it allowed in the US it's also apparently seen as the norm. So this is a case where a US company not understanding the rules in a different country.

There's a lot of stuff seen as the norm in the US which most other places is considered corruption, bribery etc. and against the law. That's how the US can advertise itself as a not-so-corrupt place trying to watchdog other people's corruption . . . they make it all legal and accepted, and presto! Not corruption.

How about Katowice? Poland loves them some eSports.