On 23rd local time, at the 142nd plenary session of the International Olympic Committee held in Paris, France, a proposal that attracted much attention was unanimously adopted:Hold the first Olympic e-sports games in Saudi Arabia in 2025..
△ On 23rd, Bach attended the 142nd plenary session of the International Olympic Committee held in Paris.
The International Olympic Committee has previously announced that it will cooperate with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee to host the first e-sports Olympic Games, and said that the proposal will be considered at the plenary session of the International Olympic Committee held on the eve of the opening of the Paris Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee said in its official website that "history was made today". At the press conference of the plenary session, Bach said that the world is changing and people are experiencing a digital revolution. This cooperation is a milestone. Both the IOC and the e-sports community need to learn a lot and find common ground. He also stressed that this cooperation is based on the Olympic Charter and Olympic values.
The International Olympic Committee has been in contact with e-sports since 2018, and held the Olympic E-sports Week in Singapore in 2023. At the 141st plenary session held in Mumbai in 2023, the International Olympic Committee announced that it would study the establishment of an e-sports Olympic Games. Over the past year, the work of the E-sports Committee of the International Olympic Committee has made great progress.
According to reports, the cooperation period between the IOC and the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee is 12 years.After the proposal is passed, the two sides will immediately start to select the host city and venue of the event, and confirm the details such as the competition time, events and promotion procedures of the players..
According to the International Olympic Committee,Priority will be given to cooperation with international individual sports organizations that have launched e-sports competitions, and priority will also be given to inviting Olympic committees of countries (regions) that have accepted e-sports events.. In addition, due to the special nature of the e-sports Olympic Games, the IOC must adopt different methods in the financing and preparation of the event, and the IOC willEstablish a new specialized agency, which is clearly separated from the traditional Olympic Games preparation and financial model..