The International Olympic Committee and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee are ceasing cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is ending its cooperation with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) on the Olympic Esports Games. The planned event was announced in 2024 and scheduled for 2025 before its postponement.
IOC's statement on Olympic Esports Games
The IOC issued a brief post on the official Olympics website to deliver the news.
The initiative of the Olympic Esports Games has created a great deal of excitement amongst all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement and in the esports community, who are all looking forward to the first edition.
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Recently, the two parties and the Esports World Cup Foundation sat down again and reviewed this initiative. They mutually agreed that they will end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games. At the same time, both parties are committed to pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths.
The SOPC will most likely continue to work with the Esports World Cup Foundation. The EWCF recently unveiled the Esports Nations Cup, in which competitors will represent their countries instead of teams or clubs. This event is scheduled for 2026.
Meanwhile, the IOC will "develop a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games, taking the feedback from the 'Pause and Reflect' process into account, and pursue a new partnership model." This is quite a vague statement, and there is currently no confirmation on which partnerships the committee is chasing.
They did state that the new approach is "a chance to better fit the Olympic Esports Games to the long-term ambitions of the Olympic Movement and to spread the opportunities presented by the Olympic Esports Games more widely, with the objective of having the inaugural Games as soon as possible."
Some more reassurance was provided to eager competitors and spectators. "The overwhelming feedback received from the Olympic Movement stakeholders and the esports community shows that there is a great desire and considerable support for the initiative," the IOC wrote. So, the Games aren't completely discontinued, and if everything goes well, it may happen sooner than later.
IOC, EWCF, and SOPC
The Games and its partnership with the EWCF and the Saudi committee was ambitious to say the least. It was announced in 2024, and the event was set to be held in 2025 before it faced delays, sending it to 2027.
Moreover, the Games were set to be held in Saudi Arabia for 12 straight years.
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