Unbuilt Ski Resort In Saudi Arabia to hold Asian Winter Games
4th October 2022
Last modified on October 6th, 2022
Trojena has been told it can host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The £448 billion resort area is still on the drawing board. NEW
The decision was made at the Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly in Phnom Penh and has been reported on InsideTheGames.
Trojena is part of the Neom project that is backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trojena was the only candidate for the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
“The deserts and mountains of Saudi Arabia will soon be a playground for winter sports,” said the Olympic Council of Asia.
The Saudi alpine skiier, Fayik Abdi, said that he “never believed I would ski in my homeland”.
The Asian Winter Games include competitions for skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey and figure skating – 47 events in all, 28 on snow and 19 on ice.
The Saudi bid was unanimously approved.
We reported on the possibility earlier on PlanetSKI and looked at the project:
تــــــــاريـــــــــــخــــي🚨🚨🚨🚨
📝| المجلس الأولمبي الآسيوي يعلن فوز ملف #تروجينا2029 باستضافة دورة الألعاب الآسيوية الشتوية في نسختها التاسعة خلال الجمعية العمومية الـ41 ✅
أهــــــلًا بــكــم في شـــتاء الــسعــودية 🤩❄️ pic.twitter.com/PiYoOzQw2E
— Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (@saudiolympic) October 4, 2022
The area has mountains rising to more than 2,600m, but sees little natural snowfall.
It aims to be constructed by 2026.
Temperatures in the area drop below zero in winter and artificial snow will need to be made alongside the natural snow.
Trojena is situated 50 kms from the Gulf of Aqaba.
Facilities planned include a ski slope, hotels and other accommodation, shops and restaurants, watersports facilities, mountain biking and a nature reserve.
It claims it will attract 700,000 visitors and 7,000 permanent residents by 2030.
Critics of the Saudi regime have accused it of seeking to distract from its record on human rights through so-called ‘sportswashing.’
Saudi Arabia is trying to improve its international sporting presence by introducing the breakaway LIV golf series, hosting Formula 1 Grand Prix, backing Newcastle in England’s Premiership and other sporting initiatives.
Amoung the criticism of the Saudi regime is:
- The state-ordered assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- Its role in the bombing in Yemen.
- Harsh restrictions in place on women’s rights.
- Its use of the death penalty.
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