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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Seren Morris

Saudi Arabia to host Asian winter games in a city that doesn’t exist yet

Saudia Arabia will host the Asian Winter Games at Neom

(Picture: NEOM/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia will host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a desert megacity that doesn’t exist yet.

The country is set to host the games at a mountain resort at the £440bn flagship Neom project, which is expected to be complete by 2026.

Neom is one of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 development-plan projects, which aims to reduce Saudi Arabia’s reliance on oil.

It will feature The Line, a mirrored, linear city intended to be home to nine million residents, which will be built in the north-western Tabuk province. The zero-carbon city will extend from the Red Sea to 170 km inland.

The Saudi sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal said in a tweet: “With the unlimited support by the Saudi leadership and HRH Crown Prince to the sport sector, we are proud to announce we have won the bid to host AWG Trojena 2029 as the first country in west Asia, which will continue to place the kingdom as one of the leading countries in sport.”

The NEOM project shared a message on Twitter from its CEO: “With Trojena winning the Asian Winter Games 2029 bid, the CEO of NEOM offers his thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for their leadership and support.”

Neom said the event would be hosted at its “world-class, cutting-edge” mountain destination in Neom’s Trojena region.

During the winter season, Trojena will offer skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating, and will host a winter fashion week, a music festival, and a film festival.

According to the Neom website, winter temperatures in Trojena drop below zero celsius and are generally 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the region.

As well as a ski village, Trojena will also feature a lake, an observatory, and “ultra-luxury” mansions.

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