IOC to Officially Propose Creation of Olympic Esports Games
Published: Jun 17, 2024 - Last Updated: Jun 18, 2024
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will officially propose the creation of an “Olympic Esports Games” to the 142nd IOC Session held at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. News of the upcoming proposal was revealed late last week by release.
During the session, IOC members will vote on this proposal, deciding whether the esports Olympics should be ushered officially into existence. Reportedly, the IOC is already in advanced negotiations with a potential host.
The news comes just weeks after the announcement that the IOC would begin official collaboration with the Esports Integrity Commision (ESIC).
The Olympics, and other major athletic organizations have long been flirting with the idea of official endorsement of esports events. After initial talks in 2018, the IOC hosted the Olympic Virtual Series in 2021. In 2022, the Global Esports Federation and Commonwealth Games hosted a pilot event, the Commonwealth Esports Games. In 2023 the IOC then launched the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore. Now, it seems a fully fledged esports Olympics is on the horizon.
These moves are largely spearheaded by interest groups such as the Global Esports Federation (GEF) and International Esports Federation (IEF). In 2022, the GEF held the 2023 Global Esports Games in Riyadh. The IEF is currently chaired by HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, who also holds an honorary board member role on the GEF.
Both these organizations hold links to the Esports Leadership Group, chaired by IOC vice president Ser Miang Ng.
Talking about the upcoming potential inclusion of esports, ICO president Thomas Bach stated the following:
“With the creation of Olympic Esports Games, the IOC is taking a major step forward and is keeping up with the pace of the digital revolution. We are very excited how enthusiastically the esports community represented in our Esports Commission has engaged with this initiative. This is further proof of the attractivity of the Olympic brand and the values it stands for.”
“With respect to esports, our values are and remain the red line that we will never cross.”
At an IOC EB meeting on June 14, it was outlined that any new esports organization must happen under a completely new dedicated structure within the IOC, clearly separated from the organizational and financial model for the Olympic Games. However, any electronic versions of existing events would be done in collaboration with their IOC partners.
The International Olympic Committee is the organization behind The Olympic Games. The company describes itself as the guardian of the Olympic Games and the leader of the Olympic Movement. The organization prides itself as the catalyst for collaboration between Olympic nations, stakeholders, athletes, and others besides.
