Saudi Arabia postpones 2029 Asian Winter Games at futuristic NEOM project

The Saudi Arabia flag flies over the consulate in Istanbul, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia’s Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia have agreed to indefinitely postpone the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which were to have been held in a mountain resort in Saudi’s futuristic city project NEOM.

In a statement released Saturday, the Olympic Council of Asia said the two bodies had agreed “to an updated framework for future hosting” of the games, which will be postponed “to a later date to be announced in due course.” It did not provide a reason.

Instead, Saudi will host a series of standalone winter sports events in coming years, the statement said. It added that the decision came after “extensive consultations between the two organizations and reflects a shared strategic commitment to the long-term and sustainable development of winter sports in Saudi Arabia and across the West Asia region.”

The games were to have been held in Trojena, planned as a year-round ski resort in the mountains of NEOM, a $500 billion project to build a new city in Saudi Arabia’s western desert on the Red Sea.

The kingdom is slated to host a series of major events in coming years which require tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure investments, including the 2030 World Expo in Saudi’s capital, Riyadh, and the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

The events are part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s sweeping Vision 2030 project that aims to modernize Saudi society and its economy, build a sports hosting portfolio and help diversify the economy from its reliance on oil. At its core is spending on sports by the $900 billion sovereign wealth operation, the Public Investment Fund.

But with oil trading at around $60 a barrel as global demand slows, affecting the kingdom’s revenues, the postponement of the Asian Games was an indication that the ambitious projects are coming under pressure.

The decision to award the Asian Winter Games to Saudi had come under criticism from leading World Cup skiers and other critics, who noted the environmental impact of hosting a winter sports event in a location naturally poor in water and precipitation.

The Associated Press