The sudden decision to grant Saudi Arabia the organization of the Asian Winter Games for the year 2029, is subject to a double logic, between the use of sports competitions as a front to polish the image, and the policy of international sports bodies fleeing forward in their desperate search for countries to host their events, according to a report prepared by AFP.
It is hard to imagine the huge gap between organizing ski competitions in Japan’s “Sapporo”, which hosted the first edition of the Winter Masters in 1986 and the last in 2017, and holding them in the mountainous desert of Trogina, which is fifty kilometers from the coast of the Red Sea and has not been visited by a single skier before.
Frenchman Johan Cleary, the Olympic runner-up in the downhill competition, expressed his regret at this and told the channel “Arm C”, on Tuesday, that it was “dramatic for our sport”, while the Secretary-General of the International Ski Federation, Michel Fillon, said he was “surprised” by the decision of the Olympic Council. Asian.
At the end of 2021, Dubai hosted the slalom competition for the Winter Olympics in Beijing in a cooled hall of a huge shopping mall, and the temperature outside was 30 degrees Celsius.
But many questions are raised regarding the holding of these games in Saudi Arabia, which is facing the problem of climate change, with an expected rise in temperatures, through the poor diversion of local water resources and the creation of artificial slopes.
“Attention”
But seeing Saudi Arabia advance on the world sports map is not in itself surprising, given the investments it has made, whether by organizing Formula One races, cycling, international golf competitions or also in football by buying the English club Newcastle United, as well as preparing for its hosting of the FIFA World Cup. Football for the year 2030.
Behind every project to be achieved there is a specific goal. The goal of the Asian Games is “economic above all,” according to AFP, Raphael Le Maguaric, a specialist in the geopolitics of sports in the Gulf states at the University of Tours in France.
The researcher believes that there is an ongoing hidden competition with the Qatari and Emirati neighbors, the regional pioneers in sports diplomacy, and that Riyadh “essentially wants to shed light on its future city” NEOM.
The multi-billion dollar NEOM complex, which was imposed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is nothing more than an attractive design so far. But its promoters want to launch it in 2026, with year-round ski slopes, an artificial lake, palaces and luxury hotels.
“There are a lot of unknowns regarding the ice and regarding getting the whole project done,” warns Le Maguirec.
From a climatic point of view, very low amounts of precipitation (less than 50 mm per year according to various sources) reinforce the hypothesis that snow does not fall naturally even in the middle of winter.
But “at this point,” Saudi Arabia’s awarding of the Games constitutes “above all else a distraction,” and must be understood “in an entirely regional context,” in Le Maguaric’s estimation.
By hosting the Asian Games, the kingdom “is not seeking to address the European public”, but to draw the attention of the wealthy classes in the Middle East, Russia, India and China, “with a neoliberal logic and lacking ideas regarding the environment or human rights.”
On the other hand, the choice of the Olympic Council of Asia may seem surprising, as sporting bodies increasingly weigh their reputations on the social and environmental impacts of their competitions, which have been carefully identified by researchers and NGOs.
In the absence of another candidate, “the Olympic Council of Asia cannot be so scrutinizing and decided that it was better to go to Saudi Arabia than not go anywhere else,” said Pim Vershoren, a sports geopolitics specialist at the University of Rennes in France.
Japan and China organized the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the Winter Olympics in Beijing, and they abandoned the Asian Winter Games following hosting six of the first eight editions, while the Olympic Council of Asia needs countries to host the next sessions.
AndSaudi Arabia announced on TuesdayIt won the bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which it intends to organize in a mountain resort that will be built in the future city of Neom on the Red Sea coast.
The Saudi Olympic Committee said, “The Olympic Council of Asia announces the victory of the Trogina 2029 bid to host the ninth Asian Winter Games during the 41st General Assembly,” which was held in Cambodia.
According to Archyde.com, the development of the mountain resort Trogina will be completed in 2026, and will provide an outdoor ski run, a man-made freshwater lake and a nature reserve.
The Trogina project is part of the district plan in NEOM, which is located 50 km from the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. The Trogina destination includes elevations ranging from 1,500 m to 2,600 m above sea level and covers an area of approximately 60 square kilometers, according to the project’s website.
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