Kazakhstan will replace Saudi Arabia as the host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Thursday said Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty would be the new venue for the event.
The 2029 Asian Winter Games had originally been planned to be held in Neom, a planned city and mega-project on the Red Sea in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Announcing the decision on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, OCA President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamas Al Thani thanked Kazakhstan for its commitment to and development of winter sports.
“Almaty is a city with deep connections to winter sports and we have very fond memories of when we last hosted the Asian Winter Games in 2011,” he said at a press conference.
“We have no doubt we will build on this legacy and deliver an unforgettable Games in 2029,” Al Thani added.
Why are the 2029 Asian Winter Games being moved from Saudi Arabia?
The move to Kazakhstan comes after Saudi Arabia and the OCA agreed in January to delay the kingdom’s staging of the Asian Winter Games at Trojena, an under-construction mountain tourism resort and a centerpiece of the Neom mega-project.
The postponement was confirmed after Riyadh appeared to try to push back the delivery of the ski resort.
A source at the Saudi Olympic Committee told the Reuters news agency that the nation was still aiming to hold the Games in future, adding that the delay would allow time to develop a winter-sports culture.
While the postponement has not been explained, it marks the latest blow for the mega-project, which is part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious “Vision 2030” strategy championed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler.
The project, which also foresees the construction of two parallel mirror-encased skyscrapers extending over 170 kilometers (105 miles) through desert and mountain terrain, has faced repeated delays and doubts over its feasibility.
Riyadh has been forced to reassess several large-scale development projects amid rising costs and stagnating oil prices.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
