LAUSANNE, Switzerland—The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has slowed its support for recognizing electronic gaming as a sport.
After an Olympic leaders’ meeting on Saturday, the IOC said “discussion about the inclusion of eSports/e-games as a medal event on the Olympic program is premature.”
Enthusiasm has seemed to dim since the IOC hosted a July conference with eSports organizers and players.
Sports bodies are now advised to “continue to engage with this [gaming] community, whilst at the same time acknowledging that uncertainties remain.”
The IOC ruled out cooperation with violent games, and suggests virtual and augmented reality could become more popular with young people.
“Commercially driven” gaming was also compared unfavorably with “values-based” sports.
The IOC said governing bodies will continue meeting gaming industry officials “to explore jointly collaborative projects.”
England’s boxing federation has urged the troubled International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) president to question his position to help avoid expulsion from the Tokyo Olympics.
In a letter to AIBA President Gafur Rakhimov, England Boxing tells the alleged heroin trafficker “it is time for you personally to think about the actions you can take to help resolve” amateur boxing’s issues.
The IOC last week opened an inquiry into AIBA’s governance, finances and ethics, and banned contact with Tokyo Games organizers.
IOC concerns include Lausanne-based AIBA’s challenges to operate bank accounts in Switzerland while Rakhimov remains on a US Treasury Department sanctions list. He denies wrongdoing.
England Boxing says AIBA has “deep-rooted issues that exist” despite changes under Rakhimov’s interim leadership before he was formally elected last month.
The US Treasury Department says Rakhimov is a heroin trafficker linked to organized crime.
Olympic race walk silver medalist Lupita Gonzalez, meanwhile, has tested positive for an anabolic steroid.
The International Alliance of Athletics Federations Athletics Integrity Unit says Gonzalez tested positive for trenbolone and has been provisionally suspended.
The 29-year-old Mexican faces a ban of up to four years.
Gonzalez took silver in the 20-kilometer walk at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, losing to Liu Hong of China by two seconds, and at the 2017 world championships in London.
She won the gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
Olympic skier Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Canada, on the other hand, been released from the hospital after breaking his leg during training at the season-opening World Cup men’s downhill at Lake Louise.
The 34-year-old skier crashed on November 21 and underwent surgery in Calgary.
He says in a statement that doctors are optimistic his top condition combined with the outcome of the surgery will put him “on track for a timely recovery.”
Osborne-Paradis has been on his country’s Alpine speed team since 2004. He has skied in four Olympics and won a bronze medal in the super-G at the 2017 world championships. He has 11 World Cup medals.