By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
The Olympic ESports Games in Saudi Arabia have been canceled, as new IOC President Kirsty Coventry continues to put a big early stamp on the movement.
The video game-focused version of the Olympics, which were scheduled to debut in 2027 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a 12-year hosting contract, were originally planned under Thomas Bach as a way to expand the Olympic movement to a new generation. The ESports industry is growing globally, with American colleges offering scholarships. Competitive ESports was estimated as a $2.4 billion industry in 2024.
Coventry has now publicly commented on the cancellation at length in a video press conference ahead of the Winter Olympic Games.
“It was never an issue of comfort or non-comfort [with Saudi Arabia], it was really about regrouping,” she said.
“Right at the beginning of the ‘Pause and Reflect’ process in June, we could already see that there were just multiple views coming from the entire Movement [on this issue]. I think it fits really nicely into the ‘Pause and Reflect’ and analyzing our ‘Fit for the Future’ and are we fit for the future and what needs to change and what do we need to realign, and it really gave us sort of this opportunity within the Movement to be very clear on what we want moving forward.
“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 also addressed persistent rumors about the possibility of government interreference in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and persistent rumors that the Games might move.
She said that the IOC has not had any formal communication yet with the White House, though she said she is looking forward to seeing a U.S. delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance at 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 said.
“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 countries, though that doesn’t apply to tourist visas. Several other countries are banned from obtaining tourist, student, and exchange visitor visas.
Exceptions have been made for individuals traveling for the 2026 World Cup, with that event being viewed as a testing ground ahead of the Olympic Games.
Coventry is a seven-time Olympic medalist in swimming from Zimbabwe. After serving for years in sports administration, including as the head of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Recreation for Zimbabwe, she was elected as the new IOC President on March 20, 2025.
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