Ray Mia, the acting chief executive of  United Kingdom eSports Association (UKeSA), the official governing body for the UK's electronic sports community, said that it was their long-term plan to be included as part of the Olympics.

 

He said: "Am I going to say to you that by 2012 in London it [gaming] will be an Olympic sport?

 

"That's an impossibility because it has to go through a whole level of qualification.

 

"Having said that, has eSport been elevated to an International Olympic Federation [sic] recognised sport?

 

"It has already happened in Asia with the official Asian Indoor Games, which is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) endorsed tournament, and eSports is on the roster.

"We want to create a European Indoor Games, and have eSports on there recognised by the IOC.

 

"That's an objective of ours and something I realistically think we can achieve."

UKeSA oversee computer games that are played competitively in leagues or one-off matches.

 

These match-ups can be player-versus-player, or head-to-head team-based games, on PC or consoles, via a network or over the internet.

 

Mia claimed that gaming was as physically demanding as many other sports that are already part of the Games.

 

He said: "eSports is not only on its way but in terms of competitive gameplay between individuals and teams it seems to be at the cutting edge.

 

"There are more people playing actively online globally than there are playing five-a-side football, I'd suggest, and I think that's a pretty good example of where eSports is going."