Saudi Arabia to host 2025 Esports Olympics
- Saudi Arabia will host first ever Esports Olympics in 2025.
- Aims to combine tradition with modern trends.
- Saudi Arabia’s push to become a major sporting hub gets a boost.
Saudi Arabia has been selected as the host for the first-ever Esports Olympics in 2025, as per the announcement made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last Friday.
“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that it has partnered with the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Saudi Arabia to host the inaugural Olympic Esports Games 2025 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the organization stated.
“The proposal will be made to the IOC Session, which will be held on the eve of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
“The duration of the partnership between the IOC and the Saudi NOC will be 12 years, with Olympic Esports Games held regularly.”
Additionally, Riyadh is set to host the Esports World Cup this coming July and August, featuring 2,500 competitors vying for a prize pool of $60 million.
In an effort to blend Olympic heritage with modern trends to engage younger demographics, the IOC conducted its first “Olympic e-sport week” in Singapore in June 2023, which included “ten mixed-gender category events”.
The IOC established an “e-sport commission” in the previous October, led by David Lappartient, the president of the international cycling union (UCI), to explore the possibility of a specialized competition.
Despite this, IOC president Thomas Bach has previously expressed his view that e-sports do not fit within the traditional Olympic framework.
“With respect to esports, our values are and remain the red line that we will never cross,” he remarked.
Yet, he conveyed his enthusiasm for the establishment of the Esports Games in Saudi Arabia.
“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,” Bach commented.
“The Olympic Esports Games will greatly benefit from this experience.
“By partnering with the Saudi NOC (National Olympic Committee) we have also ensured that the Olympic values are respected.
“In particular, with regard to the game titles on the programme, the promotion of gender equality and engagement with the young audience, which is embracing esports.”
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, the Saudi Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, expressed his pride in Saudi Arabia’s involvement in this historic sporting event.
“Saudi Arabia is hugely excited by the prospect of partnering with the IOC and helping to welcome a completely new era for international sport,” he stated.
“We believe that to take part in the Olympic Games is one of the greatest honours any athlete can achieve.
“And we are proud to support the writing of a new chapter in Olympic history that has the potential to inspire new dreams and new ambitions for literally millions of athletes around the world.”
Saudi Arabia’s efforts to emerge as a sports hub are part of a broader strategy to reshape its traditional image. This transformation is key to the success of the Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to diversify the economy beyond oil.
Recently, the country hosted its inaugural ATP Tour event with the Next Gen Finals and has also been the venue for high-profile tennis exhibitions, Formula 1 and MotoGP events, the Dakar rally, and significant boxing matches, including the heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.
Additionally, the nation has attracted numerous elite footballers to its domestic league and appointed tennis star Rafael Nadal as the ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation. These developments underscore Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in the global sports arena.
