IOC suspends Esports Commission, ends contract with Saudi Arabia

5 May 2026

Shockwaves are rippling through the international esports world as we write this. According to Japanese online news platform Kyodo News, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has just announced the suspension of the Esports Commission, the IOC’s official esports arm. Further involvement of international esports at future Olympic Games seemed closer than ever after the official unveiling of the Esports Commission during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, but is now suddenly as far from a reality as it ever was.
The surprise move comes a few months after the cancellation of the collaboration between the International Olympic Committee and Saudi Arabia. The two parties had signed a 12-year partnership in 2024, but it was cancelled just about a year later. As a result, the planned inaugural Olympic Esports Games, which were set to take place in Saudi Arabia in 2027, were cancelled as well.

What happened?

While the news of the suspension of the IOC Esports Commission has not been officially confirmed yet, it is not hard to believe that it is a question of time. Since the start of her mandate as new President of the International Olympics Committee back in June 2025, Kirsty Coventry has on various occasions given the impression that the integration of international esports into the official Olympic Games scheduling is far from one of her priorities.

That impression is supported by a letter Coventry sent to all members of the IOC and the Esports Commission in January of this year. In it, the new President expresses her wish to create a more integrated approach that is firmly aligned with the overall strategy of the Olympic Movement. While not stated explicitly at the time, industry insiders interpreted this as a polite way of saying that esports, among other things, are no longer considered a priority by the IOC.

2027 Olympic Esports Games

As we wrote before, one of the big plans of the IOC Esports Commission, apart from integrating international esports into the traditional Olympic Games, was the organization of the official Olympic Esports Games. These were initially planned for 2025, but later on postponed to some time in 2027. With the recent suspension of the Esports Commission by the IOC, and the end of the 12-year deal between Saudi Arabia and the IOC, that postponement has now been turned into a cancellation. At the moment of writing though, no official confirmation regarding the 2027 Esports Olympic Games has been made.

Ideological divide

While official reasons for ending the collaboration so soon have not been provided yet, various commentators have noted that the ideological divide between the IOC and Saudi Arabia was simply too big. Initially, the money talked and everything seemed alright, but problems started arising when the IOC demanded strict adherence to the Olympic Charter, which includes the inclusion of women in leadership roles, strict non-discrimination clauses and the universal right of all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to compete. According to various sources, these and many more conditions clashed with Saudi Arabia’s own specific ideas and governance model for the event.