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More than three months after the German Federal Election, a new government has not yet been formed. After long negotiations, Angela Merkel’s CDU and Martin Schulz’s SPD are closing on a coalition, and one of the subjects on which they agreed was the recognition of esports as sports.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Recognition as a sport will pave the way to apply for not-for-profit status[/perfectpullquote]

The negotiations between the two party leaderships are expected to end today and if they are successful and approved by SPD’s members, the new government will support local clubs and esports’ effort to become an Olympic sport.

Related: Angela Merkel’s Party Offers Support for Esports

“We want to give esports a higher publicity,” said CSU politician Dorothee Bär. “Competitive gaming is supposed to be recognized in union and associations law, and esports to receive an Olympic perspective.”

It is not the first time there has been a multi-party agreement to recognize esports as sports in Germany. Three political parties, the CSU, the Greens, and the FPD, signed an agreement in the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein, in Northern Germany, to recognize esports in the region. It is, however, the first time this has happened on a federal level.

This is big news for esports clubs in Germany, as recognition as a sport will pave the way to apply for not-for-profit status, something that will mean reduced corporate and commercial taxes, among other benefits like receiving tax-advantaged donations. Amateur esports organization Leipzig eSports gained not-for-profit recognition in December, but not under the sports category of the tax authorities, and instead as a youth organization.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It is not the first time there has been a multi-party agreement to recognize esports as sports in Germany.[/perfectpullquote]

Recognizing esports is on top of the list of topics of Germany’s new esports federation, the Esport Bund Deutschland (ESBD) since it was founded last November. Its president, Hans Jagnow, had underlined the necessity of esports being legally considered as sports in a recent interview with The Esports Observer. He said that the discussion around the subject might be tiresome, but on the political level, it is crucial for the further development of the scene in Germany.

Prior to ESBD’s launch, one of its founding members, the German Games Industry Association (BIU), was rallying the cause, lobbying to recognize esports as sports. Last week, BIU merged with GAME, another major German gaming lobby, with the two rebranding as “game.”

Traditionally, even the big soccer clubs in Germany are run partially as not-for-profit associations. In the near future, the same might apply for some esports organizations, and the recognition could simplify the procedure of issuing German visas for esports players as well. After all, many major esports tournaments, like IEM Hamburg, ESL One Cologne, or the European League of Legends Championship Series, take place in Germany.

If officialized, this development can prove crucial for the German esports scene, which is already one of the strongest in Europe, according to a recent Newzoo Whitepaper, created for The Esports BAR.