The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted unanimously on Tuesday, at its 142nd session in Paris, to award the inaugural E-sports Olympic Games to Saudi Arabia.
Emerging as a global sports powerhouse, Saudi Arabia officially secured the hosting rights for the first e-sports Olympics from 2025 to 2037, with no opposing votes and no abstentions.
First announced on 12 July, this partnership guarantees that the Saudi national Olympic committee will host this new competition for twelve years.
“There will be physical sports games and e-sports games,” said David Lappartient, president of the IOC’s E-sports Commission, set up in October 2023.
French-born Lappartient said his commission had recommended that the event be held “every two years” - essentially, every non-Olympic, odd-numbered year. However, he noted that this detail remained to be examined. “We’ll see how our Saudi friends can materialise this,” he added.
By securing the e-sports Olympics, the oil-rich monarchy further bolsters its weight in sports geopolitics. It continuously hosts competitions and is expected to be officially named the host country for the 2034 Football World Cup later this year – it is the sole contender.
In a more surprising and controversial move, the country is also set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in its futuristic Neom complex, which is still under construction.
This is part of an immense initiative, driven by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that is intended to boost business and tourism activities and lessen the nation’s dependency on oil revenue.
