South Korea's KeSPA won't move forward with ENC 2026 amid players selection dispute - Updated

South Korea's KeSPA won't move forward with ENC 2026 amid players selection dispute - Updated | Sheep Esports

"They cannot use the national flag, the ‘Team Korea’ brand, or the title of ‘National Representative’"

UPDATE: The Esports Foundation has confirmed to have rejected KeSPA’s participation at the Esports Nations Cup. They have shared a statement with Sheep Esports that we added at the bottom of this article.

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The Korea eSports Association (KeSPA) is rumored to decline South Korea’s participation in the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to South Korean outlet Sports Seoul.

Initially announced alongside around a hundred other nations during the reveal of National Team Partners in March, and more recently through national teams’ coaches, South Korea could ultimately refuse to attend the event through its governing esports body.

According to Sports Seoul, in an article published this Monday, April 27th, the supposed deal breaker between KeSPA — which was appointed as South Korea’s National Team Partner & Manager — and the event organizer, the Esports Foundation (EF), centers on the independence of the national team selection process. Although KeSPA had been named the official partner responsible for managing the South Korean team, EF reportedly attempted to influence roster composition for certain specific titles.

Alleged interference

The Esports Foundation allegedly requested the inclusion of certain players, a move KeSPA representatives deemed incompatible with the rigorous selection procedures in place in country. Having already overseen similar processes, notably during the last two editions of the Asian Games, KeSPA has stated it has no intention of changing its approach, nor of directly complying with the organizer’s requests.

A South Korean esports industry expert, quoted anonymously in the Sports Seoul report, criticized the alleged interference. The quote, translated from Korean with Deepl, cites: “Interfering in national team composition is a step too far. Every country has its own system, and this is a disrespectful act.”

The same source questioned the broader vision behind the event, adding that “while the scale of the event is highly publicized, when you consider the essence of what an international competition should be, one has to wonder if South Korea should even participate.”

Asked by Sports Seoul about South Korea’s potential withdrawal and the interference allegations, EF stated: “We will provide an update after confirming with our headquarters whether South Korea has officially expressed its intent to withdraw or if specific national team members were designated.”

A stop from KSOC

In a follow-up article from Sports Seoul, published the same day, the Esports Foundation doubled down, stating that it would “directly communicate with Korean players, coaches, and stakeholders” over the coming week and that their “commitment” to South Korea’s participation in the ENC “remains unchanged.” This suggests the ENC organizer may attempt to bypass KeSPA with discussions between the two parties seemingly at a standstill.

“The ENC’s approach did not align with the values or the rigorous national team selection system we have built,” a representative of the South Korean association reportedly explained, highlighting the significant gap between the two sides. “It is regrettable that we can no longer continue this collaboration,” they concluded.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), also contacted by Sports Seoul, seemingly supports what said by the KeSPA representative.

According to the KSOC, “only athletes selected through official member organizations are recognized as national representatives,” a seemigly warning to EF against continuing on its current path. The KSOC representative further emphasized that “it is impossible for a team that bypasses the Association to compete as a national team. If they participate as individuals or private teams, they cannot use the national flag, the ‘Team Korea’ brand, or the title of ‘National Representative’.”

Update: ENC responds

Shortly after our article was published, the Esports Foundation shared with Sheep Esports a statement regarding the situation. The full statement said as follows:

The Esports Nations Cup exists to bring the world's best players together under the colours of their country or territory, and to give fans the experience of national pride and the honour of representation in competitive esports. That purpose — the players, the fans, the nations and territories they represent — sits at the heart of every decision we take as organiser.
A few days ago, the Esports Foundation informed KeSPA that we would not be moving forward together as our national partner for the Esports Nations Cup 2026. We recognise this is a demanding year for KeSPA given the Asian Games participation and the operational focus that brings and we wish them every success in the busy year ahead.
Our responsibility is to deliver the best possible ENC for players, coaches and fans, and to ensure the Korean esports community is represented in a way that reflects its standing in world esports. In ENC, coach selections sit with national team managers and player selections are with the coaches; in some games or cases selections are made based on merit-based principles. International and domestic results and performance are at the core of ENC nominations to the national teams.
The commitment to Korean players' participation in ENC26 is unchanged. Over the coming week, we will engage directly with stakeholders across the Korean esports ecosystem, and with coaches and players, to align on the path forward so that the ENC26 Korean National Esports Team can compete at the level Korean fans and athletes deserve.

In short, ENC’s statement indicates that the Esports Foundation is moving foward without KeSPA as its official partner while still aiming to include South Korea players in the tournament. However, considering the previous statement by KSOC representative it would mean the participating players and coaches wouldn’t be able to compete under the South Korean flag.

Other possible absentees from ENC

Despite previously being listed on the Esports Nations Cup website, including its coaching staff such as Kang “Hirai” Dong-hoon for League of Legends and its national manager, South Korea has now been removed from the organizer’s platform — but it’s not the only missing country.

China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have also disappeared from the website, despite having been included during earlier announcements of National Team Partners and National Team Managers, as confirmed by other sources and press releases. The removal of Taiwan, listed as Chinese Taipei for the competition, and Hong Kong, presented as “Hong Kong, China,” raise additional questions, potentially of a political nature.

Contacted by Darragh Harbinson, journalist for Insider Gaming, on April 24th, the Esports Foundation addressed the absence of coaching announcements for China:

“China is an integral part of the global esports ecosystem. Representation and participation, including players and coaches, is being finalized through ongoing coordination with relevant stakeholders and game partners, taking into account regulatory, operational and ecosystem-specific considerations. Updates to this process will be shared through official channels in due course.”

As the situation evolves, Sheep Esports will update this article or publish a more detailed one.

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