LAUSANNE: Saudi Arabia will host the inaugural Olympics Esports Games in 2025, the International Olympic Committee announced on Friday.

The IOC said the partnership with the Saudi National Olympic Committee would be 12 years.

The decision will be ratified at the IOC Session to be held on the eve of the Olympic Games in Paris, after which work will begin on selecting a host city for the inaugural edition.

“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,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement. “The Olympic Esports Games will greatly benefit from this experience.”

The IOC has been looking into Esports for several years and has formed a dedicated commission to find opportunities. In 2021, it developed the Olympic virtual series, a pilot venture in esports.

“We are a youthful nation, with over 23 million gamers,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, the Saudi Minister of Sport, said. “Our kingdom has become a global hub for professional esports ... This is a natural next step for our young athletes, our country and the global esports community.”

Last year, Saudi Arabia launched an annual Esports World Cup with its first edition currently being held in Riyadh from July 3-Aug. 25.

Saudi Arabia has invested large amounts of money into sports including soccer, Formula One, boxing and golf, with critics accusing the country of engaging in “sportswashing” over its human rights record.

The kingdom has denied accusations of human rights abuses.

The IOC has been trying for years to connect with a younger generation of potential Olympics fans, with its traditional Olympics audience base gradually ageing.

The IOC said a new dedicated structure would have to be created within the organisation that will be separate from the organisational and financial model for the Olympic Games.

The IOC, in its perpetual quest to reconcile Olympic tradition with attempts to attract a younger audience, held an initial “Olympic e-sport week” in Singapore in June 2023, consisting of “ten mixed-gender category events”.

Last October, the IOC set up an “e-sport commission” chaired by Frenchman David Lappartient, the president of the international cycling union (UCI), to consider a dedicated competition.

However, IOC president Thomas Bach has said in the past he does not see e-sports as part of the traditional Olympics.

“With respect to esports, our values are and remain the red line that we will never cross,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2024