In 2029, Saudi Arabia will host the Asian Winter Games.
The games will take place in the upcoming mega-city of NEOM – in which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has invested $500 billion.
“The desert and mountains of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will soon become a winter sports stadium,” the Olympic Council of Asia said in a statement.
The Saudi offer was approved “unanimously” in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday.
The Winter Games are scheduled to take place in Trogina, an area in Neum where “winter temperatures dip below zero and temperatures throughout the year are generally 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the area,” according to the project’s website.
During the summer months, the temperature is around 40 degrees.
mirror city
In July, Crown Prince bin Salman presented plans for the “Mirror Line” project in NEOM. The Saudi City of Mirrors consists of two parallel skyscrapers spanning over 170 kilometers of mountainous and desert terrain. The city has received previous attention for its plans for flying taxis and robotics.
The Trojans should be fully operational in 2026 and plans include a year-round facility for winter sports. Here, among other things, there will also be an artificial freshwater lake and “ultra-luxury” hotels.
The Winter Asian Games consist of competitions in figure skating, figure skating, ice hockey, and figure skating.
sports
if she is Kingdom Saudi Arabia The government investment fund, PIF, which will be responsible for financing the project, with Crown Prince bin Salman taking over the chairmanship of the board. Since this summer, PIF is also the owner of Premier League club Newcastle United and the investment fund is financing the controversial LIV Tour of golf. Bin Salman is also the chairman of NEOM.
Saudi Arabia has come under some criticism for trying to discredit it (“sports laundering”) when it comes to, for example, human rights.