IOC Esports Summit Details Unveiled

(ATR) The Olympic Museum will host a summit between esports stakeholders and the Olympic Movement on July 21.

The forum will be jointly-hosted by the IOC and the Global Association of International Sport Federations (GAISF). The IOC said in a statement that the goal of the forum will be to "build joint understanding and set a platform for future engagement," between gaming companies and the Olympic Movement.

Momentum for the inclusion of esports in the Olympic Games has grown since an Olympic Summit in October produced a statement on the sport. The summit declared that esports should be considered a sport on par with others, and athletes "prepare and train with" comparable intensity.

However, the IOC said that esports could only gain entrance to the Games if disciplines complied with Olympic values.

IOC President Thomas Bach has said in the past this means violent video games would not be allowed to be contested in the Olympics.

Esports will make its debut as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. The sport will be a full-fledged medal sport in the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China.

The International e-Sports Federation has said it plans to apply to be included on the Paris 2024 Olympic program as a demonstration sport. However, the IOC has not included demonstration sports in its program since the 1992 Olympics.

"We understand that sport never stands still and the phenomenal growth of esports and gaming is part of its continuing evolution," Patrick Baumann, GAISF President, said in a statement regarding the upcoming summit.

"The Esports Forum provides an important and extremely valuable opportunity for us to gain a deeper understanding of esports, their impact and likely future development, so that we can jointly consider the ways in which we may collaborate to the mutual benefit of all of sport in the years ahead."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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