The Commission mirrors the best practices of all sporting codes that are already members of the International Olympic Committee, it is claimed.

It is designed to help protect and care for all athletes within eSports, giving them a voice where they previously had not, officials said. 

The IeSF has hand-picked the founders of the Commission to get it off the ground,

In future, however, candidates shall be elected at IeSF World Championships.

The Athletes' Commission shall too be represented on IeSF’s Management Board, allowing competitors a direct say in how eSports are governed.

South African Jason Batzofin,the mind Spsrts South Africa's player representative, is one of the founder members of the Commission.

Batzofin has earned his Protea Colours in both 2015 and 2016 and has performed with distinction on Mind Sports South Africa’s (MSSA) Management Board.

Other members of the Commission include South Korea's Young Ho Lee, Brazil's Leonardo Ribas and Sweden's Madelaine Leander.

Rounding off the Commission is Koen Hubert from the Netherlands.

To assist the fledgling group, IeSF has retained the services of Canada's five-time Olympian Charmaine Crooks.

This news was announced after the IeSF held a Global e-Sports Executive Summit in Shanghai in a bid to share ideas and ensure that the discipline continues to develop.

A total of five panel discussions took place during the Summit, which opened with a debate titled “e-sports, road to official sports”.

Among the panellists were the IeSF’s Colin Webster and Rsportz President Vlad Marinescu, the former director general of SportAccord, the umbrella organisation for Olympic and non-Olympic sports.