US EditionIOC and Saudi Arabia cancel their 12-year deal to host video gaming Esports Olympics in Riyadh
The partnership ended due to conflicting values on game content and integration challenges, with both sides agreeing to pursue independent esports goals.
- The IOC and Saudi Arabia have mutually agreed to end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games, which were originally slated to be held in Riyadh for 12 years from 2025.
- The first two editions of the Esports World Cup, separate from the Olympic Esports Games, were held in Riyadh in 2024 and 2025, organized by Saudi Arabia.
- The IOC cited challenges in integrating esports into the Olympic movement, such as negotiations with game publishers, establishing national teams, and anti-doping programs, as reasons for ending the partnership.
38 Articles
38 Articles
The first video game competition under the auspices of the IOC was scheduled to take place in 2027 in Riyadh, but the project, though strategic, was cancelled.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given up organizing the first Olympic Games in Saudi Arabia, scheduled for 2027. The partnership concluded in 2024 with the Saudi Olympic Committee "has ended by mutual agreement", says the IOC, without specifying the reason. However, the Lausanne-based organisation maintains its ambition to create these Games alongside its traditional Olympic events. IOC issues a statement on the Olympic Esports Gam…
Saudi Arabia will not organise the first Olympic Games in the sport, the International Olympic Committee said in a press release, an amazing turnaround that forces the body to review its plans.
In fact, in 2027, in Saudi Arabia, e-games under the flag of the IOC should have been held for the first time. This will be nothing: the sports federation and the Gulf state will dissolve their partnership.
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