International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said the organisation is still working on esports, even though responsibility for the subject has moved out of a dedicated commission and into her executive office.
| Status item | Position as of May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Esports work | Continuing |
| Responsible office | IOC President’s executive office |
| New proposal | Not announced |
| Next Executive Board update | After June 2026 |
| Saudi Olympic Esports Games partnership | Ended in October 2025 |
Coventry addressed the issue on May 7 during a press conference following an IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne. A reporter asked whether reports that the IOC Esports Commission had been dissolved were accurate and what that meant for the Olympic esports project.
Coventry thanked the commission’s members for their work and said esports is now being handled directly by her office as part of the IOC’s “Fit for the Future” strategy.
“Esports is sitting under my executive office. I have been working with an expert in the field, so it is very much alive.”
She added that timing remains the central question. The IOC does not expect to be ready to present a new esports proposal or progress report to the Executive Board until after June.
Why It Matters
The institutional status matters because the IOC’s esports work continues without a dedicated commission or an active Saudi event partnership. Responsibility now sits with the president’s executive office, so future progress depends on that office producing a formal proposal rather than on the former commission’s programme.
Coventry’s statement keeps the work open, but it does not establish a new event date, host, competition format or replacement for the cancelled Olympic Esports Games.
What Changed
The new development is the change in responsibility: esports is now handled by Coventry’s executive office rather than a dedicated IOC Esports Commission. Coventry also said a new proposal or progress report would not be ready for the Executive Board until after June.
The baseline is the IOC’s earlier commission-led work and its 2025 partnership with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which was ended in October 2025. Neither the older partnership nor Coventry’s latest statement establishes a new event plan.
What to Watch
- The next IOC Executive Board communication after June, including whether it contains a proposal, timeline or only a status update.
- Any named working group, expert mandate, host discussion or formal replacement for the ended Saudi partnership.
- A published competition format or event date; without one, “very much alive” remains an institutional statement rather than a new programme.
