During the Global Esports Games, held in Istanbul last month, the GEF held its eighth Board meeting and third Annual General Assembly, in a hybrid format.

Among the agreements reached to help were ten-year strategic framework partnerships with the Turkish Esports Federation and the Brazilian Confederation of Games and Esports, designed to grow esports in Turkey and Brazil.

The GEF also welcomed a delegation from the European Olympic Committees including the respective Presidents of the Polish and Romanian Olympic Committees Andrzej Krasnicki and Mihai Covaliu.

The organisations held wide-ranging discussions about preparations for the first European Games Esports Championships, scheduled to be held in Poland this year.

Observer delegations from Panam Sports and the Riyadh 2023 Global Esports Games Organising Committees were also in attendance.

During its meeting in Istanbul, the GEF Board confirmed that submissions of interest from potential host cities for the 2027 and 2028 Global Esports Games will begin early this year, with a final host set to be decided for both editions in September.

Meanwhile the Annual General Assembly acted as the setting for the launch of the Global Esports Academy, which was created to help young people to get involved with esports.

"The meetings held during the Istanbul 2022 Global Esports Games will help pave the way for the future of esports, both for the GEF community and the wider esports industry," said Chris Chan, President of the GEF.

"The appointments, as well as the agreements, and frameworks we established are exciting steps forward."