- Prince Faisal said the fast pace of technological advances was changing not only how people lived but their view of sport.
RIYADH: 抖阴短视频鈥檚 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup winner Mosaad Al-Dossary was the kind of role model young players should be looking to emulate, according to the Kingdom鈥檚 esports gaming chief.
President of the 抖阴短视频n Federation for Electronics and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS), Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, told Arab News he was 鈥減roud鈥� of Al-Dossary for his esports achievements and for showing 鈥渉is class as a human being.鈥�
Speaking on the sidelines of the Misk Global Forum, in Riyadh, the prince said the fast pace of technological advances was changing not only how people lived but their view of sport.
Equating esports to traditional sports, he stressed it was important that young people moderated their time playing video competitions.
鈥淢oderation in everything,鈥� he quoted his father as telling him.
鈥淓verything has its positives, within reason. I don鈥檛 expect our professional (esports) players to be playing for 18 hours a day. What we advocate is having good mental health, social health as well as good physical health.鈥�
Prince Faisal said it was important that youth chose their heroes carefully, and Al-Dossary was an example of the perfect role model.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of him for all of his many accomplishments in gaming, but I鈥檓 prouder of who he is as a person.鈥�
He noted that during Al-Dossary鈥檚 winning participation in the Manchester FUT Champions Cup, in the UK, one of the tournament鈥檚 young competitors had fallen ill and was taken to hospital. Al-Dossary had ducked out of victory celebrations to go and visit his sick opponent, taking with him the green scarf awarded to world cup qualifiers which he left on the young man鈥檚 bedside table as a gift.
鈥淚鈥檓 prouder of him for doing that, brightening up his opponent鈥檚 day, than I am of him winning the world cup,鈥� the prince said.
鈥淗e showed his class as a human being, not as an esports player. And that鈥檚 what we expect of all of our athletes and all of our young kids across all industries and sports.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the caliber of person that we have in Saudi, in our communities and that鈥檚 what I want to showcase to the world.鈥�
Prince Faisal admitted that online harassment could be a problem, but said it was a global issue that could only be solved through education.
鈥淭here are errors, and esports and gaming is a new era, and it鈥檚 a new era of accessibility. Along with that comes a learning curve and an education curve,鈥漢e added.