The Road to Asian Games 2022 (RDAG), jointly created by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the AESF, the governing body for esports in Asia, will help National Olympic Committees (NOCs) prepare for the sport's debut at the Games next year and continue its development at future Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya 2026, Doha 2030 and Riyadh 2034.

It was also confirmed that the 44 Asian NOCs will receive financial support to adapt to esports.

As part of the RDAG, NOCs must enter their esports federations by December 31, with national team selection determined before March 2022 and the entry by name deadline of May 31.

The AESF, based in Hong Kong, has 20 Member Associations that have been recognised by their respective NOCs.

A further nine are not recognised by their NOC and six countries have pending membership with the AESF.

Countries are encouraged to become member associations of the AESF as part of the RDAG programme, while the AESF said it will host regional esports competitions - in Central Asia, West Asia, East Asia, West Asia and Southeast Asia - to aid the development of the sport across the continent.

"We the OCA are looking forward to closely working with our friends at the Asian Electronic Sports Federation and the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee to ensure a successful execution of the esports event at the 2022 Asian Games," OCA director general Husain Al-Musallam said.

Hangzhou 2022 is due to take place from September 10 to 25.