The advance of artificial intelligence –AI– has definitively reached the world of sport. The celebration of the first Olympic Movement AI Engagement Forum in Lausanne, organised by the International Olympic Committee –IOC–, marked a turning point for international federations, which are now beginning to define their role in this new technological era.
Held on 12 and 13 November, the event brought together representatives from International Federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), Worldwide Olympic Partners, and Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs). Its goal was to establish a common framework for the responsible use of AI in sport. As Sarah Walker, Chair of the IOC’s AI Working Group, noted, technological progress should serve sport “without replacing its human essence”, highlighting that the true challenge is not technical but ethical and institutional.
From IOC innovation to federations’ implementation
The introduction of AI within the Olympic Movement has begun at the IOC’s structural level, but its development will depend on each sports federation’s ability to adapt the technology to the needs and realities of their own discipline. The IOC has defined a global agenda, yet it is the federations that must regulate its use, set ethical boundaries, and ensure equal access for athletes and nations.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, AI-powered tools were used to protect athletes from cyber abuse, enhance the accuracy of judging, and provide real-time performance analysis. The next step is to bring these applications into the daily operations of federations and national competitions.
World Athletics, FIFA and FIBA lead early initiatives
Some federations have already started implementing their own projects. World Athletics uses AI-driven algorithms in its photo-finish systems and motion analysis, improving measurement precision. FIFA, meanwhile, introduced its semi-automated offside technology at Qatar 2022, based on body-tracking sensors and AI — a system now extended to youth and women’s tournaments.
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is testing early fatigue detection and injury prevention models, while sports such as swimming, cycling, and gymnastics use predictive systems to optimise training loads and recovery times.
Ethical and operational challenges ahead
AI also raises new concerns around privacy, transparency, and competitive fairness. Federations must set clear standards for the use of biometric data, the scope of automated analysis, and the balance between human and machine decision-making. The IOC continues to promote training programmes to help organisations implement AI in an ethical and responsible way, reminding that technology should remain a tool for support, not a replacement for human judgment.
The Lausanne Forum also strengthened cooperation between Olympic institutions and global technology partners such as Deloitte, Alibaba Cloud, Samsung, Allianz, and Omega, which shared their experiences developing AI-based systems for analytics, operations, and sustainability.
