The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) confirmed on Monday 28 September that esports will retain full medal status at the Asian Games, denying reports that the discipline would be dropped from the programme after the ongoing Aichi-Nagoya Games. The clarification comes alongside plans for a separate Asian Esports and Mind Sports Games, set to launch in Kuwait in 2027.
OCA Director General Husain Al-Musallam said esports would continue within the Asian Games and pledged the organisation’s ongoing support for the discipline’s development across the continent. He added that the OCA has not made or issued any announcement regarding esports’ removal from the Games.
A Parallel Event, Not a Replacement
The OCA signed a host city contract with Kuwait on 19 September 2026, confirming hosting rights for the inaugural Asian Esports and Mind Sports Games. According to the OCA, the new competition is designed to give Asian athletes an additional platform to showcase their skills, running in parallel with the Asian Games rather than superseding it.
The organisation stopped short of detailing how esports disciplines will be structured at the 2030 Doha Asian Games, saying only that operational plans for future editions will follow at a later date.
From Demonstration Sport to Medal Event
- 2018 Jakarta-Palembang: esports appears as a demonstration sport
- 2022 Hangzhou: esports becomes an official medal event
- 2026 Aichi-Nagoya: 11 esports titles are scheduled, including League of Legends, Pokémon UNITE, Honor of Kings and a Fighting Game Team Event
- 2027 Kuwait: inaugural Asian Esports and Mind Sports Games scheduled
The current Aichi-Nagoya Games have already provided a live showcase of that medal-event status, with esports athletes competing across the Japanese-hosted programme and titles such as Puyo Puyo Champions reaching its quarterfinal stage under the Games’ medal structure.
An Unresolved Paper Trail
The clarification sits uneasily alongside Item 6 of the OCA Executive Board’s 90th meeting decision, dated 26 November 2024, which explicitly approved a proposal to remove esports from the Asian Games after Aichi-Nagoya and shift it entirely to a separate Asian Esports and Mind Games. That document remains accessible on the OCA’s official website, and no amendment or revocation was published alongside the latest statement.
The gap between the written 2024 decision and the OCA’s 2026 denial leaves stakeholders with two conflicting official records rather than a clean resolution – a governance wrinkle that echoes broader debates over why esports doesn’t need the Olympic movement to validate its competitive standing.
What’s Next?
The inaugural Asian Esports and Mind Sports Games is scheduled for Kuwait in 2027, running as a standalone event alongside the existing Asian Games cycle. The OCA has yet to disclose discipline structures or event lineups for the 2030 Doha Asian Games, with further operational details expected in due course.
The post Conflicting OCA records cloud esports’ Asian Games future appeared first on Esports Insider.
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