Will Olympic Agenda 2020+5 Pave The Way For Inclusion Of Virtual Sports?
On 15 February 2021, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Swiss-based authority responsible for organising the modern Summer and Winter Olympic Games, issued its "Olympic Agenda 2020+5", a strategic roadmap to 2025, which sets out 15 recommendations aimed at safeguarding the Olympic values and reinforcing the role of sports in society.[1] This set of recommendations follows the Olympic Agenda 2020, which paved the way for the future of the Olympics.[2]
Within the 15 key points highlighted by the IOC's Executive Board, Recommendation 9 of Olympic Agenda 2020+5 calls upon the IOC and the Olympic Movement to:
"encourage the development of virtual sports and further engage with video gaming communities".[3]
In doing so, the Executive Board underpins the growing popularity of virtual sports for the purpose of promoting "the Olympic Movement, Olympic values, sports participation and [to] grow direct relations with youth".[4] This article examines what virtual sports are and how close we might be to seeing them included in the Olympics, looking specifically at:
- The difference between gaming, esports and virtual sports
- Gaming vs esports
- Virtual sports (physical and non-physical)
- The IOC’s evolving view on esports
- Will the IOC’s recommendations pave the way to Olympic inclusion?
- Publishers, sponsors and existing organisers
- Immigration and related legal issues
- Comment
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- Tags: Esports | Gaming | International Olympic Committee (IOC) | Olympic Agenda 2020+5 Olympic Agenda 2020 | Olympics | Virtual Sports
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Written by
Paolo Macchi
Paolo is a senior associate in the corporate team at Withers LLP (Milan)
Anthony Indaimo
Anthony is a partner in the corporate team at Withers LLP.
He focuses on cross-border corporate, commercial and corporate finance transactions involving the acquisition and disposal of businesses and shares for both private and public companies, joint ventures and capital raising with a particular emphasis on the sports, technology and brands sectors, especially those involving the US, UK, Italy and Asia Pacific.
