Sportswashing increasingly absurd
Saudi Arabia is bringing the Winter Games to the desert
10/04/2022, 5:00 p.m
Skiing in the desert state: Saudi Arabia is to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029. The deserts and mountains would “become the playground of winter sports,” it was said after the Winter Games were awarded to a city that doesn’t yet exist.
Slalom with a view of the Red Sea, biathlon in the mountain desert: the Asian Olympic Committee has approved a controversial billion-euro project and awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games to Saudi Arabia. The “Trojena” mountain area near the planned city of Neom, which is currently under construction, was awarded the contract at the 41st general meeting of the committee in Phnom Penh/Cambodia.
“This is a great victory for the Saudi nation and the entire Gulf region,” said Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal. 47 competitions are to be held at the event. Trojena, 50 kilometers from the coast, lies at an altitude of 1500 to 2600 m. In winter, temperatures sometimes drop to freezing point, but the area is bone dry. Although all snow competitions must be held on artificial snow, the energy should come from 100 percent renewable sources.
Not a skyscraper, but a desert with a length of 120 kilometers is to be built in Neom.
(Photo: picture alliance / abaca)
The nearby futuristic megacity Neom is currently being built on the Red Sea for an estimated 500 billion euros. With the metropolis, the strictly autocratic state wants to compete with cities like Dubai or Doha. The Asian Winter Games were last held in 2017. Saudi Arabia took part in the Winter Olympics in Beijing for the first time in 2022, alpine skier Fayik Abdi was the only starter and finished 44th in the giant slalom. “I never imagined that I would be able to ski in my home country,” he said.
The Gulf state, which has been criticized for human rights violations, is trying to improve its reputation with lucrative sporting events. With a lot of money, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman brings top-class sporting events to the country, including Formula 1, boxing, horse racing and golf. The decision of the Asian Olympic Committee is a further step in establishing the kingdom as one of the leading countries in sport, wrote the sports minister.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia announced the construction of the megacity Neom on the Red Sea, which, with an area of 26,500 square kilometers, is to be larger than Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The city is being built in the northwest of the country on the borders of Egypt and Israel. Air taxis will also be on the road in Neom. It is planned that the mountain region of Trojena, which is part of the mega-city, will be converted into a winter sports area. The winter games will also take place there. However, there will only be artificial snow there.