The first eSports Olympic Games, initially scheduled for this year in Saudi Arabia, will be held in 2027, with Riad as headquarters, announced on Tuesday (11) the IOC (International Olympic Committee).
The qualification process for this new competition, which Coi granted last July to Saudi Arabia until 20237, “will start this year” with the first rounds of qualification, said the Lausanne -based body in a statement.
For years interested in integrating video games with the Olympic universe, CoI decided in 2024, shortly before Paris games, launching a completely separated event from classic games, with independent place and date.
The entity has signed a 12 -year sponsorship agreement with the Saudi Olympic Committee, which will organize eSport games by 2037, although the frequency of the event has not yet been decided.
But the adaptation of electronic sports to the Olympic principles – as the formation of national teams or negotiations with video game producers – is a more complex task than expected. Therefore, in recent times, the rumors of a postponement of the first edition of these games, initially scheduled for 2025, have multiplied.
Following a meeting held on Sunday in Riyadh between the head of the Olympic movement Thomas Bach, heir prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the Saudi Sport Minister, the IOC and the Gulf country agreed a “script” for this new competition, explained the himself himself Bach.
On the other hand, the Olympic entity has signed a collaboration agreement with ESPORTS World Cup Foundation (EWCF), which “will bring your knowledge in the field of game selection, tournament structure and strengthening of the ecosystem of electronic sports”, which It will allow it to “establish the classification principles” for these new games, according to the IOC.
