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Asian Winter Games to return... in Saudi Arabia?


Bear

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It seems that the Asian Winter Games will return in 2029, after having disappeared for the 2021 and 2025 editions for some reason...

The only confirmed bidder is... Saudi Arabia.

The proposed location in Saudi Arabia is Trojena, a planned ski resort within the greater NEOM mega-project.

According to the Trojena project website, the ski resort would be located 50 km from the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, within an elevation of 1500 - 2600 m, and has winter temperatures of "...below zero celsius...". It is scheduled to open in 2026.

The Trojena 2029 AWG bid already has international support, specifically from the UAE.

The 2029 AWG host is expected to be announced on October 4.

sources: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1126972/2029-asian-winter-games / https://www.neom.com/en-us/regions/trojena

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19 hours ago, Bear said:

It seems that the Asian Winter Games will return in 2029, after having disappeared for the 2021 and 2025 editions for some reason...

The reason is Covid, or else we would have one in Beijing already.

 

19 hours ago, Bear said:

The only confirmed bidder is... Saudi Arabia.

NO. Just NO. Winter games in the most unlikely of places, i give them that; shows a runaway for survival of winter sports in these global warming times, i guess. BUT COME ON?!!

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“It forms part of the $500 billion (£448 billion/€510 billion) Neom project spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.”

“Trojena was the only candidate for the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which have not been held since 2017 as the OCA has struggled to find hosts.”

“Saudi Arabia, where temperatures rarely drop below eight degrees Celsius except in the Sarawat Mountains, will become the first West Asian country to stage the event.”

“The resort is set to be powered by renewable energy, and a ski village, luxurious family and wellness facilities, the region’s largest freshwater lake, and an interactive nature reserve also feature among the plans.“

 

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On 10/4/2022 at 4:00 PM, SportLightning said:

The 2025 Games isn't official yet, but it is expect for Gangwon, South Korea.

Surprised Japan wouldn't bid to be honest, but Gangwon seems fairly popular for major international winter events at the moment, and can hopefully ride the wave of a successful Youth Winter Olympics in 2024, especially if they use the venues they plan on using there, which are apparently left over from when they actually hosted the Winter Olympics.

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“The resort, which will "offer year-round outdoor skiing" is being built around 50 kilometres from the Gulf of Aqaba coast in a mountainous area that has elevations ranging from 1,500 metres to 2,600 metres.”

“It will be the first location in the country where outdoor skiing will be possible.”

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5 minutes ago, yoshi said:

I mean it doesn't change the fact of this being a monumentally daft idea but is it actually any of the IOC's business? It's an Asian Games event organised by the OCA, if they want to be completely insane do the IOC have any way to stop them?

Well, it IS the Olympic Council of Asia, it uses the five rings in its logo and it comprises all the Asian NOCs, so it really does have an inextricable link to the IOC. Whether the IOC has a stake or right to comment on its host selections I guess depends on its rules of governance.

What I think this whole Trojena farce highlights, though, is just how much Gulf and Arabian peninsula riches is starting to overwhelmingly skew just about all the hostings of major sports events in Asia - not just by the OCA but also in football etc. And if its not an oil state hosting things these days, it’s China who’s hosting any other scraps the sheiks leave over.

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