The biggest sporting event in the world, the summer Olympics, is starting in a week’s time, but it is already laying the foundation for the esports society to have its own version.
Already the eSports World Cup will start in July in Saudi Arabia, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has revealed that they have gone into a partnership with the National Olympic Committee of the Asian country for a proposal to organize a first-ever Olympic Games for eSports.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) made this public in a press release released on Friday, July 12, just days before the commencement of the Paris games this year.
However, it’s not the first time the IOC has gotten involved with esports as they did with the 2023 Olympics eSports Series, but the Olympic games for Esports will be the first official Olympic eSports Games.
According to the statement, there will be a 12-year partnership signed between the IOC and the Saudi Olympic office. However, there was no announcement regarding the hosting of the proposed Games will happen outside of Saudi Arabia in the future. IOC president Thomas Bach revealed this, amongst others, in a press release.
“We are very fortunate to be able to work with the Saudi NOC on the Olympic eSports Games because it has great if not unique expertise in the field of esports with all its stakeholders,” Bach said.
An IOC Session before the launch of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on July 24 will see the proposal tendered, and if the proposal is positively accepted, the dates and a host city will be named. Furthermore, the titles that will be played at the Games, including the nations to be included, will be discussed.
Countries that have been involved in an e-version of their sport before will now be given preference. Meanwhile, the Olympics eSports Series held in Singapore last year.
