Earlier this week, British eSports announced a partnership with the Saudi eSports Federation. The UK's national body for competitive video gaming said this collaboration aimed to set "new standards of excellence, education and innovation throughout the world of esports". This would include a variety of endeavours between the two parties, including internships, training programs and research projects.
However, British eSports has now acknowledged this news had sparked "concern" - no doubt fuelled by Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record, which includes the criminalisation of homosexuality, fewer rights for women and the use of the death penalty. Saudi's Prince Mohammed bin Salman has also been blamed for the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by US intelligence agencies.
As a result, British eSports has released a statement addressing issues raised by the esports community.