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In a move that, looking back, doesn’t seem all that surprising, the International Olympic Committee severed its agreement with Saudi Arabia to cancel a 12-year deal to host and operate the Olympic Esports Games.
“Both parties are committed to pursuing their own esports ambitions on separate paths,” read a statement dated Oct. 30 from the IOC, which is now seven months into the presidency of Kirsty Coventry. “The IOC, for its part, will develop a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games … and pursue a new partnership model. This approach will be 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.”
This summer was supposed to mark the debut of the Olympic Esports Games in Saudi Arabia. The IOC gave its blessing in June 2024 for the event to happen every two years in between the Summer and Winter Games. At the time, IOC President Thomas Bach announced the Olympic movement was “keeping up with the pace of the digital revolution.”
As SDM reported in February, the IOC had to slow that pace amid concerns “over a rushed timeline and key details still shrouded in uncertainty,” according to Inside the Games. Then ABC News revealed that the inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Games was officially bumped to 2027 and would be hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city — site of the 2024 Esports World Cup.
That two-year delay turned out to be only the first in a series of indicators that suggested making this version of the Olympic Esports Games a reality could be more challenging than winning a League of Legends championship.
“By the time August came around, it was clear that the deal between the IOC and Saudi Arabia was done,” reported The Esports Advocate (TEA). “On Aug. 23, the Esports World Cup Foundation announced the Esports Nations Cup (ENC), a new tournament promising nations vs. nations competition, taking place every two years [in Riyadh]. The competitions are being co-developed along with Electronic Arts, Krafton, Tencent, and Ubisoft, according to the announcement.”
TEA also noted that sources told of “friction” between Coventry (who was sworn in this past June) and some of the Saudi Arabians steering the Olympic Esports Games surrounding issues with the IOC charter.
“The IOC charter generally requires that games organizers work with a relevant stakeholder/federations, but as esports only has the International Esports Federation (IESF) and the Global Esports Federation (GEF), the Saudis were not keen on having them be a part of the process, because both organizations are struggling financially, and had no control over intellectual property from stakeholders,” according to TEA.
Inside the Games also indicated “the project collapsed amid internal disputes over governance, female leadership, and participation rules, adding that “further friction arose over IOC requirements that any governing body include women in leadership positions and comply with Olympic principles of non-discrimination and international sanctions. These stipulations clashed with Riyadh’s approach to its esports projects, widening an already growing divide.”
While it’s “game over” for the idea of an Olympics-style esports event in Saudi Arabia, the IOC has other options for “pressing play” again on the concept — including a possible venture with Singapore, according to ESPN: “[Singapore] hosted a weeklong video gaming exhibition in 2023 for Olympic stakeholders. Ser Miang Ng, a veteran IOC member from Singapore, was a key liaison with Saudi Olympic officials leading to the 12-year agreement.”
That said, given the inevitable debate over such factors as governance, game selection and ethical standards — all of which appear to have played a role in the doomed Saudi esports deal — mounting any kind of Olympic Esports Games likely won’t be an easy (or quick) task.
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