The news is now official: Japan will not organize the Winter Games for, at the earliest, around fifteen years. Long favorite for the 2030 edition, the city of Sapporo missed its chance, weighed down by the corruption scandal linked to the Tokyo 2020 Games. Its authorities, tempted for a moment by a later edition, finally gave up maintaining by blowing on the embers a candidacy with too uncertain contours.
No Winter Games, therefore. But Japan could inherit a consolation prize from the IOC. Not the least. According to several “ sources close to the matter », cited by the national media, Lausanne would have requested Tokyo to host the first edition of the electronic sports Olympic Games in 2026.
The event was announced by Thomas Bach last October, during the IOC session in Mumbai. The German leader mentioned it as a certainty, but without letting a possible host country filter through. According to Kyodo News, Japan would hold the rope. Discussions would have started with the IOC, at its request. They should intensify in the coming months, with a possible announcement during 2024.
At this stage, nothing is official yet. But the information relayed by the Japanese media seems trustworthy. Above all, they appear very logical.
By choosing Japan as the host country for the first eSports Olympic Games, the IOC would not deviate from a path dug since last year with the organization in Singapore of the first edition of the Olympic Sports Week electronic. The body would thus choose to remain on the Asian continent, where the popularity of virtual disciplines remains unrivaled in the world. It would also make it possible to envisage a synergy with the next edition of the Asian Games, scheduled for 2026 in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi and its capital, the city of Nagoya. An edition where the official program will make room for electronic sports.
At the same time, the award to Japan of the first edition of the eSport Olympic Games, an event with strong media potential, sounds for Japan like a form of compensation for the IOC's decision to close the door to the Games. winter until the 2042 edition. eSport rather than winter sports. For the Japanese, the exchange would not necessarily be a losing one.
