Asian Games Gold Changes Views on Video Games

Iran's eFootball gold medalist said: Our toughest match was against Japan, since that country hosted the competition and developed the eFootball video game, and its players held the tournament accounts.

Arjan Ambassador of Culture and Literature Group, Maedeh Sadat Maroyan Hosseini: Video games are no longer just a tool for entertainment. For years, these games have become an income-generating and effective industry in the field of transferring cultural values ​​and concepts. This view is gradually formed in Iran and many players follow video games not only as entertainment but as a serious profession. Video games, in addition to the economic capacity that has been able to surpass even the film and cinema industry in recent years, and also have a significant cultural power. Because the interactive nature of these games allows them to convey concepts, values ​​and cultural narratives to the audience in a different way. However, it seems that the potential of the video game industry has not yet been considered as it should be in some levels of the country's cultural policy. In a situation where significant budgets are allocated to the production of films, animations and series every year, with appropriate planning and targeted investment in the game industry, it is possible to produce a variety of works that introduce Iranian values, concepts and identity both to the children and teenagers of the country and to the audiences at the international level.

However, it's not just about budget; Rather, the way you look at video games is important. If these games are considered merely as a means of entertainment, a large part of their economic, cultural and identity capacities is ignored. In recent years, the function of video games has gone beyond entertainment and a means of culture transmission, and some of them enter professional competitions in the form of electronic sports or "e sport". Today, national, continental and world competitions are held for these fields. Therefore, eSports cannot be seen as just playing for fun; This field, like many sports, requires continuous practice, skill, experience and support.

In the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan, electronic sports were also present as official competitions of this period. In the field of virtual football or eFootball, two representatives of Iran, Abolfazl Aghaineseb and Hassan Pajani, managed to win the gold medal in this field for our country; An honor that made the status of electronic sports in Iran more than in the past. The importance of this success lies in the fact that the competitions of this period were held in the official framework of the Asian Games, and the achievements of the athletes were included in the medals table. In this regard, we spoke with Abolfazl Aghaineseb, the gold medalist of the eFootball field in the 2026 Asian Games, to learn more about his entry into professional competitions, his years of training and effort, his experience in Nagoya competitions, the challenges of Iranian athletes and the future prospects of electronic sports in the country.

* When did you start playing eFootball and how did you enter the path of professional competitions?

I started playing eFootball when ps changed to eFootball. From 2022, ps changed to eFootball and until today, when we participated in the 2026 Asian Games, we follow this discipline under the title of eFootball. I have been following this field professionally for about eight years and I entered competitions from 2017 and early 2018. Since I entered professional competitions, my path has become more serious. In 2019, I participated in a national competition and was able to defeat one of the country's officials. From there, I realized that I have talent in this field and I can improve. For this reason, I increased my efforts and finally entered professional competitions.

* How many years did you train to reach the level where you can compete in the Asian Games? How is your training schedule and how much time do you spend training daily?

At the beginning of the journey, my game level was lower and I was not yet considered a professional player. I gradually increased my training, participated in more competitions and tried to gain experience. It took me about seven to eight years to reach this level. In all these seven to eight years, I trained regularly and participated in various competitions. I tried to participate in all the competitions that were held in different parts of the country; Especially in the national team camps that were held in the field of electronic sports. My training schedule on normal days was between four and six hours. When I was getting close to the competitions, sometimes my training hours reached 10 to 12 hours a day.

* What is the difference between an ordinary gamer and a professional player? Do you need training program, coach, competitor analysis and mental preparation for this field like other sports?

When we go to Gamenet and sit down to play, we are normal gamers; But when the game becomes a sport, profession and training, we no longer look at it as a game. Our goal is no longer to have fun, but to train to improve, strengthen our strengths and eliminate our weaknesses.

When a gamer becomes a professional, he no longer looks at this activity as just a game. In the field of electronic games, someone who wants to become a professional has a different path than someone who just plays for fun. When you enter the professional path, you have a training program, you have a coach and you must be able to analyze your opponents. In addition, the player must have high mental preparation. In electronic sports, mental preparation has a high impact; Because one wrong decision in the race can destroy all your years of hard work.

* You represented Iran in the eFootball mobile section and Hassan Pajani represented Iran in the PC section. What are the differences between the mobile game and the console or computer version? Is the level of competition, training method and required skills different?

Before this, I used to compete in the PC and console divisions and followed the professional competitions of these two divisions; But it had been some time since I started my activity in the mobile sector and I was practicing professionally in this sector. In the selection periods of the Nagoya tournament, I was able to enter the national team camp from both the console section and the mobile section. Since I had the experience of participating in mobile competitions in Thailand, I decided to continue the campaign in the mobile division. Thank God, I finally got selected in the mobile category.

The difference between the console version and the mobile version is that in the console, there is more freedom of action, the range of movements is wider and more buttons can be used. For this reason, working with console is somewhat easier than mobile. In the mobile version, the screen is smaller and the touch capabilities are more limited. The number of available keys is also limited and you have to use key combinations. However, this version has its own difficulties and is much harder compared to the console version. I increased my training hours and due to the amount of training I had, I was able to reach that level. Skills such as reaction speed, thinking power, mental ability and high mental preparation are all influential in the player's performance.

* What were the most important challenges you faced on the way to this gold medal in electronic sports? How has the internet outage and restrictions caused by sanctions affected your training and competitions?

The most important challenge I faced from the beginning was that our field was largely unknown among families and people. Many times we heard such words as "this work is useless, don't follow it", "this is Atari game", "this work will not make you bread; Go after your life and get it right." One of the most difficult issues was that we were following a path; But everyone wants to take you off that path and force you to take another path. These conditions were really difficult.

Another challenge we had was the internet issue. Our internet is poor compared to the needs of the game we play and our opponents have better internet. Sometimes we play with a delay of half a second to two seconds. This delay makes it very difficult for us to compete. In the higher stages, our internet conditions are not at all comparable with the internet of other countries, and unfortunately, sometimes we are removed from the competitions because of this internet problem.

This issue had affected our practices and performance in competitions; Because we could not hold some friendly matches. However, the association held competitions with a number of Persian Gulf countries that are closer to us, in which the internet conditions were somewhat better. These tournaments were effective for us and helped us prepare for the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games.

* Tell us a little about Nagoya Asian Games. Which countries did you compete with on the way to the final and how was the level of your opponents? Which race was the hardest for you?

The Nagoya tournament was first held in groups, and after that, the elimination stage would begin. We had six groups, one of which had four teams. From each group, one team advanced to the next stage. Fortunately or unfortunately, we were placed in the group of four. In my opinion, our group was one of the hardest groups; Because we were grouped with countries like South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia was one of the countries that had a chance to win a medal and was considered a strong team. South Korea was also one of the very good countries in this field. Also, since eFootball is a field that was created by Japan and we competed in the same field in the Asian Games, East Asian countries were strong opponents.

In addition to the Asian Games, these countries are also strong opponents at the global level. Therefore, the competition level was very high and we faced experienced opponents. However, thank God we were able to advance from the group as the first team and get 15 points out of 18 possible points. After that, we entered the elimination stage. In two games, we defeated Saudi Arabia with a result of 4:1. Then we beat Japan with a total score of 6-4 and finally, we defeated Malaysia with a total score of 4-2. In general, we faced Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals, Japan in the semi-finals and Malaysia in the final, respectively. Our toughest match was against Japan. The reason was that Japan was the host of the tournament and the country that created the game. The Japanese players had tournament accounts three to four months in advance and were ready to compete.

* In your opinion, how well known are electronic sports in Iran?

Electronic sports are currently developing in Iran. From the beginning, I considered this activity a serious job and profession; But because the conditions and views were different at the beginning of the path and when we started our activity, besides that, I continued my education and work and pursued my professional activity in electronic sports.

If I want to say from the past, this sport was unknown and not many people knew about it. If its name was mentioned somewhere, people would not know that it is a sport. They didn't know that he might be in the Asian Games and we could win a medal there.

However, ever since the discipline was added to the Asian Games, especially after we won a medal, the views on it have changed. They no longer see it as just a game or a waste of time; However, there is still a lot of room for improvement and it is necessary to change people's view of this field even more. Another thing that exists is that for about 15 to 20 years, Luqman Shavarani, the director of the Electronic Sports Association, has been trying and working hard so that Iranian electronic sports can reach such a position.

Our medal should not be seen differently from the medals of disciplines such as wrestling, taekwondo and weightlifting. The hard-working athletes of the national team are trying to win medals and make the country proud. We follow the same path and work hard to achieve this goal. Therefore, the medal of electronic sports is no different from the medal of other fields. This medal has been added to the table of medals of Iran's convoy and we were able to win the third gold medal of Iran's convoy.

* After winning this medal, what specific support was given or promised to you and your team? Were the sponsorships just for the reward of the championship or is there a plan to continue your career?

After we won this medal, as in other disciplines, we were promised support. Among other things, we were supposed to be exempted from military service, which is being pursued and implemented. Also, according to the order of the honorable minister, the reward of the national committee has been deposited for us. I thank the relevant officials; Especially from Mehdi Alinjad, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee. In this way, the Electronic Sports Association and the relevant delegations in Tehran and Yazd provinces supported us. After that, the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports were also with us on this path.

I hope that after winning this medal, the support will increase and we will be able to use the capacity of sponsors or teams that support us to send to better and higher level competitions. At the moment, I am not under contract with any other collection, except for cooperation with the association, and if a company or team is willing to cooperate, I am willing to cooperate to continue this professional path. I also hope that the field of electronic windsurfing will be added to the Olympic Games so that we can be proud and win a medal in the Olympics. My goal is to win world gold.

* Do you think that after winning this gold medal, more attention will be paid to electronic sports and the problems of its players? Why are international successes sometimes more important than the field itself? Also, what should happen if this gold medal helps the sustainable development of this field?

My view of the future of this field is very positive. I think that after winning this medal and this special event for Iran's e-sports, more support will be given to this field and a different look will be formed on it. I also hope that problems such as the internet issue will be resolved. Of course, it is also true that usually international successes are more important than the details of a field; Because it is a big success and people usually don't pay much attention to its details. Many people are not aware of the problems, hardships and difficulties of the path, and most of them see success themselves. For this reason, the final success is more visible.

After this championship, it is expected that as the authorities and the society pay attention to other sports fields, our field will be given importance and from now on we will also be considered among the fields that are professional and powerful. Maybe before, some people didn't realize this or didn't have enough information about it. Of course, this issue is understandable; Because this year is the first year that our medal has become official. We had won places before, but our medals were tentative.

In addition to this success, we also had honors in some official competitions; including three world championship titles and two runner-up titles in various competitions. Also, my good friend and teammate, Hassan Pajani, has been proud in the Asian and World Championships.

What can help the sustainable development of this field is the support of different collections and teams and special attention to electronic sports. We have many talents in this field and I think Iranian players can perform very well in Asia and the world. To reach this position, these talents must be supported.

In the end, I would like to thank my family for being with me and supporting me all this way. I also appreciate the Iranian Electronic Sports Association, the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports and Youth, and the Sports and Youth Board of Yazd Province for being with us on this path.

The medal we won was not a medal won only by Hassan Pajani and me. Many Iranian players helped us. They attended trainings, played friendly games with us and trained with us. These accompaniments made us able to reach the required level of preparation and prepare to participate in the competitions. I thank all these dear people and present this medal to all of them.