Gangneung - International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Monday (29/1) that the first edition of the Esports Olympics would be launched as early as 2025.
At the 141st IOC session in October last year, the IOC announced plans to launch Esports Olympics.
Bach said the plan is not 100 percent ready, but his studies show rapid progress.
"I think we can count on the first edition, which offers the Esports Olympics in 2025, or at the latest 2026," said Bach.
The IOC's first involvement with the esports community was in organizing the Esports Forum in 2018 in Lausanne. In 2021, the IOC developed the Olympic Virtual Series, and then launched Olympic Esports Week in Singapore last year.
Bach said that on the one hand, there are virtual sports, which means esports with physical activity, while on the other hand, there are some of the most popular e-games that are in line with Olympic values.
"With this, I think we can develop a program that is very interesting but also value-based," he added.
Earlier in the day, Bach said that artificial intelligence (AI) would play an important role in the future of sport and the Olympics.
"AI will play a huge and very important role not only for sports and the Olympics, but for all of our lives," he said.
According to him, with the help of AI, sports can be made democratic by providing the best training methods, medical care and mental health care that can be used by all athletes around the world.
"With AI, we can then make it available to everyone," said Bach, who predicted that AI would increase solidarity with athletes and better spread the values of the Olympic Games and the Olympic event.
With the help of AI, the IOC has a great opportunity to improve its judging and refereeing systems, he said.
CAN 2023: Ivory Coast, joy after despair
A supporter celebrates Ivory Coast's victory over Senegal on penalties during the 2023 CAN 8th finals at the Charles Konan Banny stadium in Yamoussoukro
Ivory Coast went from despair and embarrassment to joyful relief at the Africa Cup of Nations. And she dares to believe it again.
The host nation was on the brink of elimination after a shocking 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in their final group match. After a 1-0 defeat to old rivals Nigeria, the team depended on the results of the other groups to make their way through to the round of 16 .
Most observers didn't believe it. Disappointed Ivorian fans vandalized commuter buses outside the Alassane Ouattara stadium , and the Ivorian Football Federation fired French coach Jean-Louis Gasset "for insufficient results" .
The federation promoted Gasset's assistant, Emerse Fae , to interim coach, although it seemed unlikely that the former Ivory Coast midfielder would take the reins for the Coupe d'Ivoire matches. Africa.
Morocco then beat Zambia 1-0, leaving Ivory Coast fourth in the six groups, allowing them to snatch the last available place in the knockout stage.
The Ivorian federation reacted by trying to convince its French counterpart to "loan" the coach of the French women's team, Hervé Renard , for the rest of the tournament. But the discussions failed.
Faé, who must have been aware of the federation's desire to replace him, quietly prepared the team for Monday's match against defending champions Senegal - the only team to have won all three of their group matches and arguably the most difficult that Ivory Coast could have faced in the round of 16.
“If I said there was no pressure, I would be lying ,” Fae said.
Although trailing in the fourth minute by Senegalese Habib Diallo , Fae's men continued to fight until Franck Kessié scored a late penalty and sent the match into overtime. Kessié also scored the winning penalty in the penalty shootout. The Elephants won 5-4 on penalties, sparking celebrations in Yamoussoukro and the rest of the country.
“We wanted to show that what happened last week (against Equatorial Guinea) was an accident ,” Faé said. “I asked my players to give everything, not to give up, and we did it.”
Street parties broke out in Abidjan, the country's largest city, where motorists still honked their horns and people danced and partied in the streets well after midnight.
But Faé also called for calm, aware that Ivory Coast has experienced rollercoaster emotions since the start of the tournament.
“We won one match. Out of four, we lost two. So we are tied. This allows us to get our heads out of the water a little ,” said Faé. "We really went through the back door, but we want to stay, so we will work, quietly if possible. We know that Morocco is the favorite, or Nigeria is even better. We will concentrate on the quarter-finals and we'll see what happens after that."
The victory over one of the tournament favorites has given fans confidence that the Elephants can win what would be their third title after 1992 and 2015.
“When you play at home and you have the support of the public, it's perfect, it's wonderful, it gives you more strength to have the 12th man with you ,” Faé said. “We will therefore give everything to continue to sweat for the jersey, to fight together. This way, we will be sure to have the supporters behind us . ”
Ivory Coast will play Saturday in Bouaké against Mali or Burkina Faso .