IOC Chief Coventry Drops Olympic ESports Games, Hasn’t Talked to White House But

The Olympic ESports Games in Saudi Arabia have been canceled, as new IOC President Kirsty Coventry continues to place a giant early stamp on the motion.

The video game-focused model of the Olympics, which had been scheduled to debut in 2027 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a 12-year internet hosting contract, had been initially deliberate underneath Thomas Bach as a strategy to develop the Olympic motion to a brand new era. The ESports trade is rising globally, with American faculties providing scholarships. Competitive ESports was estimated as a $2.4 billion trade in 2024.

Coventry has now publicly commented on the cancellation at size in a video press convention forward of the Winter Olympic Games.

“It was never an issue of comfort or non-comfort [with Saudi Arabia], it was really about regrouping,” she stated.

“Right at the start of the ‘Pause and Reflect’ course of in June, we might already see that there have been simply a number of views coming from the whole Movement [on this issue]. I believe it matches actually properly into the ‘Pause and Reflect’ and analyzing our ‘Fit for the Future’ and are we match for the longer term and what wants to alter and what do we have to realign, and it actually gave us type of this chance inside the Movement to be very clear on what we wish shifting ahead.

“And I do need to clarify as well that both parties agreed, so we had really good conversations, we still have a great relationship, and it just has been a time for us really to look at what it is that we want, how we want to proceed, what that looks like, and the Movement wanted clarity on all of that.”

Coventry says that the IOC and Saudi Arabia agreed on the cancellation.

“Some federations are really very proactive, very in the gaming community, but others not as much. So it’s really giving everyone an opportunity to be very clear on what entering into that space would mean, individually, but also collectively. That was the reasoning behind it.”

She additionally addressed persistent rumors about the potential of authorities interreference within the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and protracted rumors that the Games may transfer.

She stated that the IOC has not had any formal communication but with the White House, although she stated she is trying ahead to seeing a U.S. delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance on the opening ceremonies.

“As the IOC, we are always aware of all the conversations that are happening and all the geopolitics and all the political conversations that are happening, but I also want to make it clear that is not our remit, right?” Coventry stated.

“We’re a sport organization. It is not within our remit to comment on sovereignty and political conversations, it’s our goal to ensure that we have all of our National Olympic Committees represented at all of our Games. We will continue to do that in the best way that we can and give support in any of those areas the best way that we can.”

In the U.S., the administration, led by President Donald Trump, has paused or restricted the issuance of immigrant visas for nationals from 75 international locations, although that doesn’t apply to vacationer visas. Several different international locations are banned from acquiring vacationer, scholar, and change customer visas.

Exceptions have been made for people touring for the 2026 World Cup, with that occasion being considered as a testing floor forward of the Olympic Games.

Coventry is a seven-time Olympic medalist in swimming from Zimbabwe. After serving for years in sports activities administration, together with as the pinnacle of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Recreation for Zimbabwe, she was elected as the brand new IOC President on March 20, 2025.