RIYADH: Saudi Arabia plans to develop its sports sector with a fund worth more than $600 million helped by the privatization of football teams, a senior official said on Wednesday.
“The fund will be no less than 2.5 billion riyals ($666 million),” Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud told the MISK Global Forum.
On Monday the kingdom’s main economic coordinating body, the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, called for creation of the fund within three months.
It aims to “support different sports, development and investment in the relevant areas,” while contributing to privatization of sports clubs and the establishment and funding of amateur sports programs, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Most professional football clubs in Saudi Arabia are reportedly government-owned.
Princes Reema, named three months ago as Vice President for Women’s Affairs at the General Authority for Sports, said privatization of football would provide “the seed capital of our future.”
Her agency is trying to boost the kingdom’s international competitiveness and to get more Saudis exercising.
She said her own focus is on promoting healthy lifestyles, which would also have economic benefits in the conservative kingdom where sport opportunities, particularly for women, are limited.
“Today, the value of sports as a sector could equal, unbelievably, 250,000 jobs for women over the next two years,” she told the forum which linked business leaders with young Saudis in a bid to inspire them to help diversify the oil-dependent economy.
She said she wants to encourage young people to walk more and to ride bicycles, but in the Saudi capital there are only about two shops selling bikes for serious adult riders.
She urged young entrepreneurs to take advantage of such market potential.
Princess Reema sees sport fund at more than $600 million
Princess Reema sees sport fund at more than $600 million
Turki Alalshikh announces record nine-darter prize for Saudi Arabia Darts Masters
RIYADH: Turki Alalshikh on Thursday announced the biggest prize in darts history for a nine-darter, with players at next week’s Saudi Arabia Darts Masters able to win up to $200,000 for a perfect leg.
The tournament, part of Riyadh Season, will be held on January 19 and 20 at the Global Theater in Boulevard City and will feature 16 players, with eight Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) stars taking on eight of Asia’s leading players.
Any player who hits a nine-darter during the event will receive a $100,000 bonus, with the chance to double it through the Riyadh Season Bullseye challenge.
After landing the perfect leg, the player will be given one dart at the bullseye to try to secure the full $200,000 — the largest nine-darter prize ever offered in a PDC-sanctioned event.
Reigning world champion Luke Littler headlines the line-up after previously hitting a nine-darter on the World Series stage in Bahrain in 2024.
He will be joined by 2023/24 world champion Luke Humphries, world championship runner-up Gian van Veen and three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
The PDC contingent also includes former world champion Gerwyn Price, world No. 7 Stephen Bunting, former UK Open winner Danny Noppert and 2023 World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.
Asia will be represented by Singapore veteran Paul Lim — who famously threw a nine-darter at the 1990 world championship — alongside Filipinos Alexis Toylo, Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida, Japan’s Motomu Sakai, Ryusei Azemoto and Tomoya Goto, and Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung.
