In early October, the Olympic Council of Asia announced that the Kingdom had won the right to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which it intends to host in a mountain resort to be built in the future Red Sea town of Neom.
This is an unprecedented achievement in the history of the region and in the history of the Kingdom, and it could not have been achieved without the support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, as well as the subsequent interests of His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman – may God protect them -.
For his part, Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal commented when announcing the Kingdom’s victory in hosting the event, saying: “I am delighted to convey my sincere congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince – may God preserve them – on the occasion of the victory of the Kingdom in organizing the Asian Winter Games 2029. The Kingdom is the front for all sporting events.”
He added: “Sport is one of the pillars of the Kingdom 2030 vision. Our goal is winter games that meet and exceed the highest technical standards and create a unique and sustainable future experience for athletes and fans alike.”
With this achievement, the Kingdom opens a new historical page with sports, as it looks forward to the introduction of previously unknown sports in the Kingdom, such as snowboarding, hockey and other famous winter games.
The Kingdom will host the ninth Asian Winter Games after they were held four times in Japan in 1986, 1990, 2003, 2017, twice in China in 1996, 2007, once in South Korea in 1999 and the same number in Kazakhstan in 2011 year.
The Asian Winter Games have never been held in Western Asia as the Kingdom should have priority in this area.
It is planned to complete in 2026 the development of the Trogina mountain resort, which will include an open ski run, an artificial freshwater lake and a nature reserve. The Trogina project is part of the NEOM zoning scheme, which is located 50 km off the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
According to the project website, the destination of Trogina includes altitudes from 1500m to 2600m above sea level and covers an area of about 60 square kilometers.
After winning the Trogina 2029 bid, Saudi Arabia became the first country from Western Asia to host the Asian Winter Games, after Doha became the first city in the west of the continent to host the Asian Games (Masters) in 2006.
NEOM is the most ambitious project under the Kingdom Vision 2030 to diversify the sources of the Kingdom’s economic income, including through the development of sports, and the NEOM project, which covers an area of 26,500 square kilometers (10,230 square miles). ) on the Red Sea, in addition to industrial and logistics zones, will include a carbon-free city called Liniya.
