The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF)
announced the holding of a forum on eSports, which will be held on July 21, 2018 in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. The forum will once again discuss the possibility that has been under discussion for several years: to include some video games in the program of the Olympic Games. Most likely, it will be non-violent games (without shooting and killing), although Counter-Strike and other shooters still have a chance. The program of the Olympic Games of 2024 will begin to take shape in 2019, then the final decision will be made.
It is reported that the forum will bring together leaders, players, sponsors and game organizers "in order to build relationships between the leaders of the Olympic movement and the industry of e-sports."
At the moment, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is
considering the possibility of including e-sports in the program of the Olympic Games. Some IOC members believe that this is necessary “so that the Olympic Games remain relevant for new generations.” Various sports are constantly added or excluded from the program of the Olympiad, so the chances of e-sports are not slim, especially since in 2018 e-sports will be included in the program of sports competitions of the Asian Olympic Games in 2022. Winners will receive full Olympic medals.
Specific games, too, have not yet chosen, but in August 2017, the President of the International Sports Committee Thomas Bach
shared his thoughts on this issue. In a commentary for the
South China Morning Post, he said that he potentially preferred competitive computer games that are based on different sports — this is virtual football, hockey, etc., but not games that require killing an opponent. The "brutal" killing of the enemy game may contradict the Olympic values: excellence, friendship and respect. Friendship as the highest Platonic value implies friendship between peoples and cultures. Sport is the tool that helps to find mutual understanding between people, even helps to resolve international conflicts. By the way, this is connected with the ancient tradition of the Olympic Truce, dating back to the Olympic Games of antiquity. Killing is not a place at the Olympics, not even virtual killing.
IOC Athletic Director Keith McConnell says that the July 21 forum will be "an excellent opportunity for both the Olympic movement and representatives of the world of eSports and games to start a discussion, listen and learn from each other, as well as understand the potential for cooperation."
The IOC and other participants in the Olympic movement discussed eSports at the
Olympic Summit last fall. They determined that eSports can be viewed as a sporting activity, and that its growth and popularity among the younger generation are attractive to the Olympic Games. Summit participants commissioned the IOC and GAISF to start a dialogue between the gaming industry and Olympic officials. The current forum is part of this dialogue.
Cybersport is recognized as an official sport in many countries,
including Russia .
Specialists in universities are trained in this specialty. In May, the
first diploma work on cybersport in the history of higher education of the Russian Federation was reported: the future bachelor Ilya Movchan presented a thesis work on FIFA, and it deals with the influence of the game as a competitive discipline on the psychomotor abilities of junior high school age (i.e., 9- 11 classes). Work with applications takes about 45 pages.
In June 2018, graduate of RSUFKSMiT Jan Melnik defended his
first thesis on cybersport. The master's work is called “The Impact of the Competitive Mode of Computer Games on the Functional Activity of the Brain (for example, the discipline“ Fighting Arena ”)”. He defended her as “excellent” and received a red diploma as a result of his studies.
Themes of other final works are also quite interesting, for example:
- Analysis of technical and tactical actions of professional cybersportsmen in the discipline "combat arena"
- Game dance simulator in the structure of training of cybersportsmen in the discipline "battle arena"
- Peculiarities of the influence of Just Dance sports dance classes on the psychophysical state of schoolchildren
- The impact of classes in sports simulators on the psychomotor abilities of young men of higher school age (grades 9-11)
- Organizational and methodological aspects of training sports judges in computer sports on the example of the discipline "fighting arena"
- Management of the pre-start condition of the athlete on the example of the computer sport discipline "competitive puzzle"
- The rating system of technical-tactical actions in the discipline of computer sports "combat arena" in the support position on the example of Heroes of the Storm
It seems that eSports claims to be not only an Olympic sport, but also a serious area of scientific activity.