Paris continues with the reformulation of the Olympic program, but e-sports remain out – 01/02/2024 – Sports

Since being confirmed as the host of the 2024 Olympic Games, Paris has worked to allow urban sports to be played in its natural spaces.

The concept can be well illustrated by the temporary transformation of Place de la Concorde, an iconic public space connected to the famous Champs-Elysées street, into an open arena.

The location was chosen to host radical sports, including breaking, which will make its debut at an Olympics at the request of those organizing the mega event in the French city. Skateboarding, BMX cycling and 3 x 3 basketball competitions will also be held at the arena.

The breaking competitions are scheduled for the 9th and 10th of August. In them, 16 men and 16 women will face each other in dance battles, one against one, with songs chosen randomly by a DJ. Evaluation criteria include physicality, artistry and interpretation.

The introduction of these sports into the Olympic program is part of a movement by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) with the aim of expanding the audience for the Games, especially among young people. For the same reason, some traditional sports, which have little appeal among younger people, are leaving the scene, such as baseball, softball and karate.

Similar, but played by men and women respectively, baseball and softball are expected to return at the Los Angeles Olympics, as they are popular in the United States.

Paris’s bet on breaking was based on the successful experience of the Tokyo Games, in which surfing, skateboarding and climbing had successful debuts. In total, Paris will have 45 sports.

Like the Japanese, the French explore the IOC’s Agenda 2020+5, approved in 2021, with a series of the committee’s intentions for a period of five years, including the promotion of new Olympic sports.

The document also provides an incentive for national federations to develop e-Sports, as virtual sports are known. The entity’s idea is to take advantage of the growing popularity of games to also attract young people.

During the presentation of the agenda, in March 2021, the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, highlighted that encouragement should be given to virtual sports and not to electronic games that do not require any physical activity, without any support for games that encourage violent behavior or discriminatory.

The topic caused controversy in different parts of the world. In Brazil, former Sports Minister Ana Moser of the current Lula government stated at various times during her brief tenure in the ministry that she does not agree with the equality of traditional and virtual sports.

Paulo Wanderley, president of the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee), shares the former volleyball player’s opinion, although he understands the IOC’s move.

“As I’ve understood for 60 years, it’s not sport,” he told Sheet in a recent interview. “But whatever the IOC decides, I will do. There will be [eSports] at the Olympics? So let’s put together a team.”

The French, however, see games in a different way. At the beginning of last year, the French government announced the creation of a special visa for e-Sports athletes, facilitating their entry into the country.

The project was publicly supported by President Emmanuel Macron, a gaming enthusiast. The politician’s desire was to create a connection between e-Sports and the Paris Olympics.

Macron has also been present at events that honored some of the main Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), the League of Legends (LoL) Worlds and The International of Dota 2 in the country. Although these sports are not aligned with the IOC’s desire for the Olympics, the French president sees them as an opportunity to develop the industry in the country.

The expansion of gaming in France was boosted in 2016, when France Sports was created, an unofficial federation with the aim of dealing with the topic with more professionalism.

In January last year, Désiré Koussawo, the entity’s president, announced a plan to create a “national esports ecosystem” to help the industry grow ahead of the Paris Games.

For this year, the plan foresees the holding of an “Olympic Week of e-Sports” in parallel to the Olympics. The initiative has the support of the IOC.

Although it did not include electronic games in this edition of the Games, the committee has already stated its intention to do so in the near future or to create the e-Sports Olympic Games.

According to the IOC, there are three billion people playing sports and digital games around the world. The committee says that 500 million users are specifically interested in digital sports.

“What is even more relevant for us: the majority of them are under 34 years old”, highlighted Thomas Bac.