China to miss League of Legends at 2026 Asian Games

As announced by the Olympic Council of Asia on WeChat, and relayed on Weibo by accounts covering the competitive League of Legends scene, China will be absent from the Asian Games. The news surfaced this Friday, May 29, through the Chinese social network, as the organizing committee for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, unveiled the list of participants for the LoL qualifier, with China’s absence standing out as the biggest surprise.

Winners of the first-ever League of Legends event at the Asian Games in 2018, China failed to repeat the achievement in 2023 in Hangzhou during the delayed 2022 edition, which had been postponed by one year due to COVID-19, finishing in a disappointing third place. Defeated by South Korea in the semifinals, the Asian powerhouse had to settle for a victory over Vietnam in the third-place match and a bronze medal.

For now, no official statement appears to have been released by the Chinese Olympic Committee, but several explanations are emerging within the active Weibo community. Rumors had already been circulating for weeks, as the participant list was taking unusually long to be revealed and there had been no communication, nor even rumors, regarding the roster itself.

Ultimately, the theory of rising tensions between China and Japan seems to be the dominant explanation on the Chinese social network, alongside possible budget restrictions. This would reportedly push the country to only field teams or players in titles where it believes it can realistically compete for gold. Besides League of Legends, China is also absent from Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, while it will still compete in Honor of Kings, PUBG, Naraka: Bladepoint and Identity V.

Beyond confirming China’s absence, the OCA also announced that South Korea and Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei within the Olympic framework, have already secured direct invitations to the final event in Japan. Meanwhile, 14 other nations will have to go through the qualifiers in hopes of competing for a medal. Furthermore, the list of participating teams confirmed Japan’s absence. Until now, this had only been inferred from the announcement of the games in which the host nation would compete — among which LoL was notably absent — a decision that had disappointed the national scene.

While the qualifiers will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from June 12 to 14, the dates for the final tournament have not yet been confirmed. The Asian Games themselves will run from Saturday, September 19 to Sunday, October 4, although the exact schedule for each esports discipline remains unknown.