Johor to build e-sports arena in every district

E-sports will make its debut at Sukma Johor this July with five medals at stake. — Filepic.

JOHOR BARU: There are plans to set up an e-sports arena in each district in Johor next year to develop the sport.

State youth, sports, culture and heritage committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said this would ensure that e-sports enthusiasts had a proper training venue to go to.

He said The Pantheon e-sports centre at Toppen Shopping Centre, the biggest e-sports arena in the country, would be the model for the development of e-sports centres in the districts.

“We will do the planning this year and with the Johor State Sports Council (MSNJ), we will ensure that there are no problems in building these e-sports centres.

“Previously, most of them (youths) were at family entertainment centres to play e-sports, so I want to ensure that after this, they will have more suitable venues, ” he said after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between e-sports company ESJ Core Sdn Bhd, JDT Hyperdrink and The Pantheon at Toppen.

Mohd Khuzzan is confident Johor can bag three gold medals from e-sports at Sukma 2020.

Under the MOU, The Pantheon will serve as the training centre for e-sports players preparing for the Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2020 in Johor, JDT Hyperdrink will sponsor isotonic drinks for the players and ESJ Core will manage the Sukma e-sports players.

Mohd Khuzzan said Johor was targeting three gold medals from e-sports at Sukma, which will be held in July.

“Five medals will be at stake — three in the Pro Evolution Soccer category and one each in Mobile Legends and Dota, ” he added.

E-sports, which will be contested in Sukma for the first time, stepped into the sporting mainstream when it made its debut at the SEA Games in the Philippines at the end of last year. — Bernama