New IOC president weighs in on esports: "We need to ensure our values remain intact"

Kirsty Coventry, the newly elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), briefly talked about esports this Tuesday, March 21, days before she won the IOC election.

"Esports is growing rapidly, but we need to define our role and ensure our values remain intact," Coventry said in a conference with International Sports Press Members (AIPS) members, as first reported by Insidethegames.

"It is not about replacing traditional sport, it is about understanding how to connect with new generations."

Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe, stated during her campaign for the IOC office that the Olympic Esports Games could be essential to reaching new publics and diversifying the IOC's sources of revenues. She'll officially become the first woman and first African to preside the IOC in June 23rd, when she succeeds Thomas Bach.

While Coventry has positioned herself as pro-esports, she understands that the lack of unified sports governance and the obvious differences between the esports scene and traditional sports impose challenges to the cooperation between esports and the Olympic ecosystem.

The bridge between esports and the Olympic Games can diminish should the Olympic Esports Games become popular. The first edition was initially scheduled for this year, however, it has been postponed to 2027. All the first editions will take place in Saudi Arabia, as part of the ever-growing intention of the country to expand their footprint in esports.