Addressing executives, directors, and other international federation leadership at the IF Forum in Lausanne, France, this week, International Olympic Committee First Vice-President Nicole Hoevertsz said that members should be “future ready” as artificial intelligence (AI) and competitive gaming (esports) become part of its traditional esports ecosystems in 2025 and beyond.
“This IF Forum is a timely moment for the entire IF community to chart the course of the future of sport,” said Hoevertsz on behalf of the IOC President Thomas Bach, who could not be there because he is “currently visiting a number of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in Africa,” according to a release. The theme of this year’s IF Forum is “Ensuring your IF is match fit and future-ready,” the IOC says.
Of course, Hoevertsz did not mention what motivated the IOC to fully embrace esports as an important part of the IOC’s future recently, but a major deal (likely valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, though it was not disclosed publicly) between the international sports body and the Saudi government that will last more than a decade announced this summer probably had a lot to do with it…
On esports, Hoevertsz said that she was excited to inspire the next generation to embrace olympic values, but held the red line on what kinds of games should be allowed next year as the Saudi government hosts its very first Esports Olympics Games.
“If we want to continue to inspire the next generation with our Olympic values – then we have to go to where the young people are. Whatever our views are on esports and gaming, the numbers speak for themselves,” she said in part, citing figures of an unknown origin we will not publish here.
“We cannot ignore these staggering numbers,” she continued. “They make it crystal clear: if we want to continue to be relevant in the lives of young people, if we want to continue to inspire the next generation with our Olympic values – then we have to go to where the young people are. Therefore, to be ‘future-ready’ also means: we have to go to esports.”
Hoevertsz went on to say that games already being used by member federations would be a first choice for the IOC’s esports plans, and that “…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.”
She added that “the principles that we have set out at the beginning of our journey in esports remain unchanged. For the IF community, this means: those of you who already are engaged in an e-version of your sport that is considered for inclusion in the Olympic Esports Games will continue to be the first go-to partners for the IOC.”
Of course, the Saudi government will ultimately decide what games are included, and fans are hoping some of those choices will be mainstream instead of the selections that made its into last year’s Esports Olympic Week (TEA detailed some of the challenges and conflicts that were created by international federations with the week-long competition in our previous reporting).
Hoevertsz’s full speech at the IF Forum can be found here in this PDF.