Big news as The Olympic Council of Asia and Alisports, the sports arm of online retail giant Alibaba, has announced a strategic partnership to bring eSports into the official sports programme of the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Which means that it will contribute to the medal tally of any Asian country finishing in the top 3 during the event in 2022.
The International eSport Federation (IESF) amd International eGames Committee (IEGC) had submitted a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year to obtain information on how to gain inclusion for eSports in the Olympic programme. And with it’s introduced at this year’s Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) in Turkmenistan, this is a big step for eSports to be recognized at a mainstream level.
With that in mind, Alisport will work closely with the OCA to develop the marketing of e-sports to hopefully reach the public’s attention and who knows, this might lead to eSports being recognized as an official sport in the Olymics in the near future.
You can read the original article at the Olympic Council of Asia site here.