A rival esports body has reportedly taken the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) to the Delhi High Court, questioning whether ESFI actually has the legal right to pick and send Indian esports players to the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
According to an Exchange4Media report, the petition was filed by the E Sports Games Federation (ESGF), which wants the court to make clear, once and for all, exactly what law or official order gives ESFI the power to build the longlist and shortlist of players and then nominate the final squad for Team India.
The confusion stems from how esports is officially treated in India. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has recognised “E-Sports” as a multi-sports discipline, meaning the government accepts it as a legitimate sport. However, recognising the sport is not the same as recognising a specific organisation to run it.
The government has not given any single body, including ESFI, the formal title of “National Sports Federation” (NSF) for esports. That title usually comes with clear legal authority over things like player selection, national rankings and representing the country internationally. Without it, no organisation currently has an undisputed, legally defined right to act as the one national authority for Indian esports.
Even so, the government has continued to work with ESFI in practice. Most recently, MYAS approved the 15-member Indian esports squad that ESFI had selected to compete at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. It is this gap, between informal government cooperation and the absence of a formal legal title, that ESGF is now asking the court to examine.
ESGF wants MYAS and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to explain, in writing, the exact law, notification or official order that gave ESFI the authority to shortlist and nominate players for international events. Its argument is straightforward: now that esports is an officially recognised sport, selecting athletes for it should follow the same rules as any other sport in India, specifically the National Sports Development Code of India and the National Sports Governance Act.
According to ESGF, ESFI has effectively been acting as a “gatekeeper” for Indian esports without meeting the requirements that these two frameworks lay out for any organisation that wants that kind of authority. The petition also goes a step further, asking the court to stop ESFI from describing or advertising itself as the sole, official body in charge of Team India selections unless a specific law actually grants it that status.
The Delhi High Court has issued formal notices to three parties: the Union of India, the IOA, and ESFI. Each of them now has four weeks to file a counter-affidavit — essentially, a written response setting out their side of the story. The case is scheduled to return to court for its next hearing on October 1, 2026. Until then, the case remains open, and none of the claims made by either side have been legally decided.
This isn’t the only place where the question of who gets to select “Team India” in esports could come up. NODWIN Gaming has been given national partner status by the Esports Foundation for the Esports Nations Cup (ENC), another international esports tournament.
The organisation is similarly handling the process of selecting India’s squad for that event. However, unlike the Asian Games, which is tied to the Olympic Committee, the Esports Nations Cup is a completely independent esports competition held by the Esports Foundation.
