Despite Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) having raised its concerns about only the server in Nigeria to be used for the 2025 edition of IESF’s African Regional Qualifiers – AEC25, IESF  stuck to its initial decision. The AEC25 will be used to determine which teams go through to IESF’s prestigious World Esports Championships – WEC25 – to be held be held later this year.

MSSA had advocated the use of four servers so that all teams would be equally disadvantaged during the 12 game championship. However, the suggestion seemingly was not considered. Thus certain countries will have much worse ‘ping’ than others. The north and west African states are particularly hard hit with some countries looking at having ‘ping’ up to 300 ms.

A summary of the expected ping is as follows/l

The ping will certainly affect the final outcome of IESF’s African Regional Qualifiers.

The top five countries in IESF’s AEC24 held on August 19th – 21st, 2024 in Complexe Sportif Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco were (in order) 1. Egypt, 2. Morocco, 3. Mauritius, 4. Madagascar, and 5. South Africa.

Even though South Africa seems to have an advantage compared to many other African states, the sheer skill of Egypt, and Morocco cannot be discounted, and those two countries are still favourites in this event. On the other hand, Mauritius and Madagascar certainly have their work cut out for themselves with the high ping with which they will have to deal.

Even still, all athletes are hopeful and determined to give their best.

The full South African Protea Esports Team for PUBGM is:

NameClubNickProvince

The event shall be streamed on: youtube.com/live/yoVHm3_8jAk?si=sYo0jXck7e6GXYVB

Additional reading:

• 2025 Calendar of Events
• AEC24 – Champions of all of Africa – Protea Female Counter Strike 2 Esports Team wins AEC24
• AEC24 – Forged in battle – a Counter Strike story…
• Affiliation: Private Clubs
• Affiliation – Procedure to be followed by school clubs affiliating for the 2025 season.
• Awards – 2024 Management Board Awards
• Blog – MSSA’s blog page is ranked 9th in South Africa!
• Board – Calling all volunteers.
• BRICS – Breaking the glass ceiling at 2025 BRICS Esports Championships – 31 May 2025
• BRICS – Final day of BRICS Esports Championships – 1 June 2025
• BRICS – Luay finishes in fifth place in his group.
• BRICS – MSSA National Team Trials for 2025 BRICS Esports Championships for TEKKEN 8 – 13 April 2025
• BRICS – Protea Luay Khan faces toughest matches in his life.
• BRICS – ReSF to host BRICS Esports Championship 2025 in Tekken – 28 May 2025 to 3 June 2025.
• BRICS – Sydney ‘KYōi’ Wood wins both hearts and minds.
• BRICS – UNIFIR3 to stream 2025 BRICS Esports Championships on 31 May – 1 June 2025.
• BRICS – With cat-like tread…MSSA’s Protea Esports Team for Tekken 8 advances on the 2025 BRICS Esports Championships in Moscow.
• Colours 2024 – Almost  half the awards are awarded to female gamers.
• Colours 2024 – Athletes who have earned Senior Provincial Colours in 2024
• Events – 6th WESTERN CAPE Online Championships – 22 February 2025
• Events – 24th WESTERN CAPE Championships – 31 May 2025
• Events – Last chance to qualify for BRICS Esports Championships – 14th Provincial Online Championships to be held on 5 April 2025.
• Events – Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships – 25 January 2025.
• Events – Reminder: 5th S A Schools Online National Championships – 28 June 2025
• Events – Types of esports events run by MSSA.
• Fees: MSSA advises of its affiliation and registration fees for the 2024/2025 season.
• Hosting – Hosting official Regional Championships.
• IESF – AEC – AFRICAN REGIONAL PLAYOFFS START TODAY FOR MSSA
• IWSF – AEC – After an initial loss, SA beats Madagascar.
• IESF – AEC – Female Protea Team for the Counter Strike 2 esports title to do battle against Namibia – AEC25
• IESF – AEC – Namibia crumbles!
• IESF – AEC – Rowell Pillay replaces Neisha Khan as captain of the female Protea MLBB esports team.
• IESF – AEC – South Africa conquers all in MLBB…
• IESF – AEC – South Africa granted victory with Namibia being disqualified!
• IESF – AEC – South Africa takes to the field  in PUBGM on 28 July 2025 at 17H00.
• IESF – AEC – South Africa to battle both Namibia and Congo on 22 July 2025.
• IESF – AEC – South Africa vs Madagascar – 26 July 2025 at 14H00.
• IESF – AEC – South Africa vs Namibia – 25 July 2025 at 21H00.
• IESF – AEC – The goddess Nike smiles on – again!
• IESF – AEC – The Titans meet – South Africa vs Madagascar – 23 July 2023
• IESF – AEC – Victoria cum audacia! – South Africa wins!
• IESF – AEC – Victory over Madagascar – now on to Namibia!
• IESF – AEC – Victory without losses!
• IESF – AEC –  WAYLANDER stream of IESF’s Southern African Regional Championships
• IESF –  136 Nations Registered for IESF 2025 World Esports Championships.
• IESF – IESF announces proposed game titles for 17th World Esports Championships to be held in 2025.
• IESF – IESF Official Statement on WEC24 Prize Pool Allocation
• IESF – MSSA CONFIRMS ITS ENTRY TO WEC25
• IESF – Official Game Titles for 2025 IESF WEC25
• IESF – SA Proteas to take on four African countries in MLBB – 12 April 2025
• IESF – SA Team Trials
• International events – After defeating Madagascar, SA’s Female Proteas to take on Mauritius and Ghana..
• International events – FHE eFootball World Tournament 2025 – Sign Up Now!
• International events – ReSF to host BRICS Esports Championship 2025 in Tekken
• International events – SOUTH AFRICA vs IVORY COAST in PUBGM title
• International events – TEST MATCH – SOUTH AFRICA vs MAURITIUS in MLBB title
• International events – Rose is no wilting bloom – the result of SA vs Mauritius.
• International events – SA Female Protea to take on Mauritius and Madagascar in MLBB – 1 May 2025
• International events – SA Female Team emerges triumphant!
• International events – SA Proteas march on to fight Mauritius in MLBB on 13 April 2025 at 15H00
• International events – SA Proteas to take on Congo in MLBB on 13 April 2025 at 13H30
• International events – SA trounces Botswana in MLBB
• Legal – Privacy. Who is looking after the children?
• National Team Trials: Ensuring every athlete achieves their dreams.
• National Team Trials – MSSA events that count for National Team Trials for 17th IESF World Championships (WEC25)
• Results – Northern Cape Online Esports Provincial Championships held on 25 January 2025.
• Team Trials: To qualify for National Team Trials to represent South Africa.
• Titles – Esports titles selected for all MSSA’s Premier Provincial and National Championships – 2025.
• Titles –  Esports titles selected for all MSSA’s 2025 High School and Primary School Championships and leagues.
• Titles – Esports titles selected for all MSSA’s 2025 Student Championships.
• Transfers: Transfer season – 1 November 2024 to 28 February 2025
• WADA – WADA’s 2025 Prohibited List and revised TDSSA

Other news:

• Chess – From Georgia with Love – 2018 FIDE Chess Olympiad
• Chess – World Chess Olympiad in Batumi 2018 -n a book by Dr. Lyndon Boauh
• Western Cape – Table tennis rulebook now available in isiXhosa

Other African News:

• Benin – Assemblée Générale Constitutive : la Fédération Béninoise des Sports Électroniques (FBSE) mis sous les fonts baptismaux
• Botswana – Botswana has an esports Federation