Azerbaijan Esports Federation questions ENC selection after exclusion as National Team Partner

Wasif Ahmed Published March 29, 2026

The Azerbaijan Esports Federation (AZESF), an esports body recognized by the government of the country, has questioned the selection process for the Esports Nations Cup (ENC) after it wasn’t selected as a National Team Partner (NTP).

This comes despite the federation having worked with publishers like EA, Tencent Games, and MOONTON for different tournaments. The federation currently has an official partnership deal with MOONTON Games for MLBB as well.

The Esports World Cup Foundation, the organizing body of the Esports Nations Cup, hasn’t selected any NTP from Azerbaijan. With that being said, it has appointed a team manager for the country: Rasad Fazil, Founder and CEO of Esports Events Azerbaijan.

The AZESF claimed that it, along with the ministry, hadn’t received any communication on the selection.

“At present, no formal communication has been received at the institutional level regarding the individual selected to represent Azerbaijan. This includes the Ministry itself, despite formal outreach through governmental channels,” the federation wrote on LinkedIn.

The National Team Partners and Managers were announced on March 25 after a selection process which saw more than 630 applications from 152 countries, per the EWCF.

The National Team Partners will be responsible for team formation and community building across the different games that are part of the inaugural ENC in Saudi Arabia this November.

In a post on LinkedIn, Ralf Reichart, CEO of the EWCF, said that the partners were selected based on the value that they could add to the ecosystem. Regions without an NTP will still have routes to the ENC through regional and Foundation-supported routes.

Hans Jagnow, the director for clubs, national teams and players at the EWCF, said that the selection process lasted 10 weeks and included more than 200+ hours of interviews.

The AZESF, however, has claimed that it wasn’t given an opportunity to lay its case forward.

“We also note that, despite our official mandate, the Federation was not provided the opportunity to present its case through direct engagement during the process.”

ENC selection process and criteria explained

Image credit: Esports World Cup Foundation

A clear set of guidelines on what an NTP needs to meet aren’t revealed. This is for good reason, though. Countries around the world have very different esports ecosystems, some more developed than others.

Therefore, applying one set of guidelines to every country would be unfair to many.

The EWCF, however, has selected many national federations as NTPs in different countries, including Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, and more.

Some countries, like India with Nodwin Gaming, have gotten a private body as the NTP.

Others, like the UAE with Team Nigma, have an esports organization as its National Team Partner.

“Our National Team Partners needed to live up to one central criteria: they have the trust of the players, and they have the potential to unite the fans and stakeholders. We didn’t want to impose a generic model onto esports – but find out where each market was and what is best for the players, for the fans and for the esports ecosystem in that particular nation,” Jagnow added in his LinkedIn post.

Ogtay Gasimzada, the president of the AZESF, however, said that it’s difficult to justify a country being represented on such a stage without the alignment of “authorities” or the “officially recognized federation.”

For countries without an NTP and manager, coaches or prominent players across different ENC titles can sign up a roster until April 30, 2026. Selected teams will be able to represent these countries at the Nations Cup.

Also read: EWC 2026 Club Championship reveals $30m prize pool split and new rules

Featured image credit: Esports World Cup Foundation