RPT-Olympics-IOC and Saudi Arabia end 12-year Esports deal early

The International Olympic Committee and Saudi Arabia have ended their 12-year Esports partnership after only a year, parting ways to develop separate projects, the IOC said on Thursday.

Two years before the first Olympic Esports Games were to be held in Riyadh, the IOC said discussions with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee had ending the partnership 14 months after announcing a 12-year deal during the 2024 Paris Olympics. "Recently, the two parties and the Esports World Cup Foundation sat down again and reviewed this initiative," the IOC said in a statement.

"They mutually agreed that they will end their cooperation on the Olympic Esports Games. At the same time, both parties are committed to pursuing their own Esports ambitions on separate paths." The IOC has been looking into Esports for several years, forming a dedicated commission to find opportunities to tap into a younger generation involved with gaming.

With its traditional audience base ageing, the governing body is trying to connect with younger potential Olympics fans. It had hoped that linking up with Saudi Arabia on Esports would provide the necessary boost given the country's own sporting ambitions. Saudi Arabia has invested billions of dollars in sports events, including soccer, Formula One, boxing and golf, with critics accusing the country of engaging in "sportswashing" over its human rights record.

The kingdom, which will host the 2034 soccer World Cup and has ambitions to land the summer Olympics, has denied accusations of human rights abuses. "The IOC, for its part, will develop a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games ... and pursue a new partnership model," the IOC said.

"This approach will be a chance to better fit the Olympic Esports Games to the long-term ambitions of the Olympic Movement and to spread the opportunities presented by the Olympic Esports Games more widely, with the objective of having the inaugural Games as soon as possible."