E-Sports: The Olympics Beckon
By Emre Bilginoglu, Attorney-at-Law, Istanbul, Turkey
Two months ago, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Dr Thomas Bach, stated in an interview that he was not opposed to the inclusion of e-sports in the Olympic Games (see GSLTR post of 4 September 2017 on “E-Sports for the Olympics?”).
However, Dr. Bach singled out games that incite violence, explosions and killing, clearly leaving them out of the leading international sporting events.
During a Summit attended by the leading members of the Olympic Movement and held in Lausanne on 28 October 2017, the IOC acknowledged that competitive E-Sports can be considered as a sporting activity.
Howver, the IOC indicated that E-Sports would need a global Governing Federation for the IOC to work with, if they are to be a part of the Olympic Games.
Thus, the present lack of a globally recognized International E-Sports Federation is a problem for E-Sports for gaining their Olympic recognition.
The E-Sports community may see club associations on a country level or on an international level before a globally recognized Federation.
Last month, seven elite Turkish Leage of Legends clubs formed the Turkish E-Sports Clubs Association, presided over by Sina Afra, the current chairman of the latest champions 1907 Fenerbahce. The Association aims to act uniformly for the rights of the clubs and to increase the popularity of the new age E-Sports.
Another step on the way to the Olympics!
Emre Bilginoglu may be contacted by e-mail at ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ’.
