Esports is joining the 2022 Asian Games. (OCA)The Olympic Council of Asia and Alisports of China have announced (via CNET) a strategic partnership to bring esports to the 2022 Asian Games.

The event will be hosted in Hangzhou, China, and esports will be featured as an official medal sport. The announcement does not specify what games will be featured.

“The Olympic Council of Asia has constantly been committed to the heritage, development and improvement of Asian sports, and we are extremely pleased about the strategic partnership with Alisports,” said OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah.



“We look forward to further collaboration with Alisports in regards to digital sports concepts along with sporting events. We are sure that the extensive organising capabilities of Alisports, and their experience in e-sports, will assist the OCA in developing all sports.”

The Olympic Council of Asia’s upcoming 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) will be hosted this September, and also has an Electronic Sports category. This will feature FIFA 2017, unspecified MOBA games, and Real Time Attack (?) games. No additional information on how teams will be represented was revealed.

Alisports is a unit of China’s Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company. It is the largest retailer in the world, and is also one of the world’s largest internet companies.



