MUMBAI – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will pursue the creation of an Esports Games, president Thomas Bach said in his opening speech at the IOC session on Saturday.
Bach said he had directed the IOC Esports Commission to study the creation of an Olympic Esports Games and pointed to the overwhelming popularity of e-sports globally, citing an estimated 3 billion participants around the world.
“What is even more relevant to us – a majority of them are under the age of 34,” he said in Mumbai.
The International Esports Federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The IOC first dabbled in e-sports in 2018 with the Esports Forum and launched the inaugural Olympic Esports Week in June in Singapore.
The Esports Week welcomed more than 130 competitors who played in 10 mixed-gender category events.
“In Singapore, we saw proof that our holistic approach is working. We successfully brought together the Olympic and the e-sports communities,” said Bach.
“This was a promising start. But it is just that – a start.
“It is like in any sport, after even a promising start the real race still lies ahead.”
Bach refused to rule out standing again as IOC chief as several members on Sunday called for a change of rules that would let him extend his time in office.
The German was first elected to an eight-year term in 2013 and re-elected for a further four-year spell in 2021.
But allowing the 69-year-old former Olympic fencing champion to remain in the post beyond 2025 would require a change to the Olympic Charter.
Nevertheless, there were several calls for Bach to continue during Sunday’s opening day of the 141st IOC session.
Luis Mejia Oviedo, the president of the Dominican Republic Olympic Committee, hailed Bach’s speech during the opening ceremony.
Oviedo, lauding Bach’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said the IOC needs to “rely on the leadership which you have shown”.
Paraguay’s Camilo Perez Lopez Moreira urged Bach to run for a further four years, saying the IOC needed his “peaceful leadership”.
Djibouti’s Aicha Garad Ali added she was speaking “on behalf of Africa” in calling for a Charter amendment.
International Gymnastics Federation president Morinari Watanabe told Bach “I love you” as he professed admiration for his leadership.
The Japanese, however, repeatedly insisted the IOC “must be a role model” for international federations when it came to “good governance”.
He also warned about the dangers of “corruption” and a “negative image” in what appeared to be a reference to Sepp Blatter having to resign as president of football’s global governing body after being re-elected to a fifth term in the middle of the 2015 Fifagate scandal.
IOC vice-president John Coates of Australia said no alteration to the existing rules could take place in Mumbai because any proposal to amend the Charter must be submitted 30 days before a session, and first requires consideration by the IOC’s executive board.
Bach responded by saying he was “loyal to the Olympic Charter” but did not rule out agreeing to an amendment that would allow him to run again.
“Thank you very much for your kind words of support, because I think these words of support are not only directed to me, they are directed to all of us,” he said.
Bach added the expressions of support for his leadership went “straight to my heart”, saying: “I always appreciate this support, friendship and the love expressed by Mr Watanabe.”
He added: “Having said this, you also know I am very loyal to the Olympic Charter.
“Being a core author of this Olympic Charter drives me to be more loyal to this Olympic Charter.
“You have heard the explanation of the chair of our legal commission (Coates) in this direction.”
REUTERS, AFP
