Ninety CSGO pro players have gathered to form the Counter Strike Professional Players Association (CSPPA) on Friday.
Mads Øland and Michael Døi will be running day-to-day operations for the CSPPA. They will also have help from long-time esports pro Scott “SirScoots” Smith. Øland and Døi helped form the Danish Elite Athletes Association, a union for Danish athletes. CSPPA’s main objective, according to Døi, is to help players with legal advice, help them with contract signings, and overall being the voice of the players in the CSGO community.
As any other players’ association, we will work to secure the best possible working conditions for players in CS:GO, while of course taking into account the special nature of the industry. In any sport, it makes sense that players can influence their employment conditions. There is certainly a huge difference in how CS:GO contracts are structured, and there will definitely be players that could benefit from guidance when signing them. Our goal is to represent the players in the best possible way and help the entire scene grow in a positive direction. We see a lot of possibilities for doing that.
– Michael Døi
Døi states that anyone who is under contract or is seeking contract as a pro Counter Strike player can join the CSPPA. As a result, people expect membership to grow as players learn more about the organization.
Meet the Counter Strike Professional Players Association Board
The Association would elect seven players across the world to be on the CSPPA’s board. These seven were chosen to make all decisions on behalf of the rest of their peers to ensure the best possible conditions for players. The players chosen are:
- Tarik Celik of Cloud9 (North America)
- Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski of Team Liquid (North America)
- Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert formerly of Cloud9 (North America)
- Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth of Astralis (Denmark)
- Epitacio “TACO” de Melo of Team Liquid (Brazil)
- Chris “chrisJ” de Jong of Mousesports (Netherlands)
- Nathan “NBK” Schmitt formerly of G2 Esports (France)
Døi also says that the Association will either elect a new board or confirm this current one by the end of this year.
Players’ Association’s of the Past
This will not be the first time the Counter Strike community has tried to create some sort of player’s union. Thirteen years ago, seven pro esports teams came together to create the G7 Federation. The aim of G7 was very similar to the CSPPA’s goals, but with teams representing others, rather than individual players.
The G7 wishes were to:
- Improve and represent eSports in all its aspects, as well as provide a platform of stability for teams
- Provide a communication channel for the community to improve eSports, through the unification of teams
- Standardize player transfers amongst teams/represent stability for players signed to teams
Fnatic, Made in Brasil, Mousesports, Ninjas in Pyjamas, SK Gaming, 4 Kings and Team 3D made up the seven teams of the G7. However, the organization was not able to live up to standards. In fact, after a contract dispute between Fnatic and SK Gaming, the organization dissolved in 2010. However, esports has grown over the past years. The CSPPA looks more structured and strong, comparing to the G7 teams. We can only hope that the CSPPA flourishes and helps players whenever they may need help.
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