IOC President Thomas Bach said that the Olympic Games "wants to attract a younger audience" but would embrace esports "only on the grounds that they did not feature violence," according to Sidney Leng of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Bach said that the Games had "welcomed several new sports that are popular with millennials," but on esports, "despite their stellar rise, it would have to proceed with caution." Bach: "We want to promote non-discrimination, non-violence and peace among people. This doesn’t match with video games, which are about violence, explosions and killing. And there we have to draw a clear line." Bach said that esports that mirror those played in real life -- like football or basketball -- "could be considered for the Olympics." He added, "So if ever somebody is competing at playing football virtually or playing other sports virtually, this is of high interest. We hope that, then, these players are really delivering sports performance. If (fans) at the end would even play the sports in the real world, we would even be more happy." The multi-billion dollar video gaming industry "already succeeded in gaining inclusion" at the 2022 Asian Games. China also recognized esports as a "legitimate form of competition." Paris, which is soon to be formally announced as the host city of the 2024 Olympic Games, "has not ruled out the possibility" of including esports as a medal event. However, Bach said that it was "still too early to say." He added that one of his "major concerns was the lack of industry regulators" to ensure video game players follow standardized rules. Bach was in Hangzhou on Friday to meet representatives of Alibaba Group, which has a "worldwide sponsorship deal with the IOC" through '28. Asked to confirm rumors that Alibaba beat Amazon to win the sponsorship deal, Bach said: "After the marriage, it would not be fair to admit to having dated other people" (SCMP, 8/28).
A TALE OF TWO CITIES: YONHAP reported Korean Culture & Information Service (KOCIS) officials said that the message "It's not Pyongyang but PyeongChang" has been "appearing in promotional materials" for the 2018 PeyongChang Winter Olympics. The KOCIS officials had been "worried that the similarity of the two names, coupled with the much higher level of the North Korean capital's international recognition, could cause visitors to mistake the South Korean ski town for Pyongyang" (YONHAP, 8/28).
